Lao-Tzu thinks that the world is made up of opposites
and that every concept (or idea) is empty without its opposite.
In his book “Tao-te Ching”, Lao-tzu stresses the
need for the successful leader to see opposites all around. The wise
leader knows how to be creative and therefore:
- In order to lead, he learns to follow;
- In order to prosper, he learns to live simply.
All behaviours are made up of opposites and it is therefore necessary
to learn how to see things reverse: upside down, inside out.
The method can be broken down into the following steps:
1. State your problem “in reverse” and
change a positive statement into a negative one and vice versa;
2. Figure out what everybody else is not doing (for example, Apple Computer
did what IBM did not);
3. Now the author develops a list of opposite actions in pairs to be
applied to your problem through some questions like “What if...?”.
Then you apply one of these options to your problem. For example:
- Stretch it/Shrink it;
- Freeze it/Melt it;
- Personalise it/De-personalise it.
4. Change your perspective physically (walk around it
or do something different);
5. Try and generate as many ideas as possible by reversing the problem.
For instance, if you want to increase sales, think about decreasing them;
6. If something turns out bad, think about the positive aspects of the
situation and vice versa.
[Source:
www.mycoted.com]
[Source:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Creative] |