Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

I love oblique strategies. For programmers and team leads, there's a similar set called "The Primes" that works wonders with my technical teams, because it has the brainstorming ideas plus effective guidance: https://theprimes.com/book

chuckblake3• 5 years ago

cool, I'll check out "The Primes" book.

mattmcdonnell3• 5 years ago

This reminds me of the I Ching (of Man In The High Castle fame, plus y'know, 3000 years of history) approach to decisions, where you ask a question and then receive a random hexagram with a collection of general wisdom. It stimulates thinking around the subject, surprisingly effectively.

Both that and the card deck have a lack of causal connection that works in favour of creativity.

Brian Eno's Visual Music, which I think shows the problem solving card deck, amongst many other artistic experiments, is also supposed to be good.

chuckblake3• 5 years ago

I recall reading about some other musicians that used I Ching - I think John Cage was one of them.

novosel• 5 years ago

Leonard Cohen was also using it at a time.

(as seen in Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen)

richard_todd2• 5 years ago

Any divination strategy with a rich semantic palette will work like this (tarot is my personal favorite), and besides that it’s fun.

There was also a guy that derived a set of problem-solving principles based on a study of patents (TRIZ), where you try to apply innovation principles, such as “does it help if you can you make one thing do the work of two things?” And if you think abstractly enough it’s kind of the same oblique process, just starting from a more empirical basis. I wish more people tried it!

mattmcdonnell3• 5 years ago

Sounds interesting, it looks practical but perhaps less immediate than the card/hexagram based solution, which might be limiting its uptake (not necessarily fairly). Do you use it regularly?

cseleborg• 5 years ago

Is there something similar for business and entrepreneurship?

rolha-capoeira• 5 years ago

Do you consider your endeavors to be non-creative?

I'm not being difficult—I understand what you're asking for. But perhaps instead of a more-specific deck of cards, a more generalized POV can help.

bluetwo• 5 years ago

Yes, more on point for creative business application is Roger Von Oech's Whack Pack series of card decks. Get them at Amazon or wherever.

lazyant• 5 years ago

Reminds me of Dice Man

imwillofficial• 5 years ago

I tried the web version and got: “Fill every beat with something” Hmmmm

Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

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