Try the opposite

THE PRINCIPLE

Thinking of the opposite of what’s usually done may lead you to a practical solution

When we try to think of solutions to a challenge our first impulse is to return to the methods that have already been tried.

Instead, figure out the opposite of the way it’s usually done. Then brainstorm how the opposite could be turned into something that works.

Example One: When the producers of the film Gorillas in the Mist were concerned about how they could possibly get gorillas in the wild to do all the things in the script, a young member of their staff suggested, ‘Why not let the gorillas write the script?’

What she meant was that rather than making the gorillas fit what’s in the script, shoot whatever they do naturally and then work the script around that. And that’s what they did.

Example Two: You are opening a new store and you’d like to attract crowds. However, the press are not interested and it looks like nobody is going to show up.

The usual: Tell everybody.

The opposite: Keep it a secret.

Of course, if you literally keep it a secret, nobody will come. But if you brainstorm about secrets, and how appealing they are, you might hit upon the idea of writing a ‘confidential’ letter on the store’s letterhead to your store manager, indicating that a famous person (let’s say David Beckham) happens to be related to one of the salespeople and will be dropping by on opening day. Add that the manager must not tell anyone because the place might be mobbed.

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You could make a hundred or so copies of this letter and happen to leave them ‘accidentally’, one by one, in public places. When people start ringing to ask if it’s true, the store manager might say ‘No comment.’

Of course, on the day, to avoid being attacked by the crowd you might want to have a David Beckham lookalike drive by in a limo and have him wave. (This actually happened, but the details have been changed – for instance, it wasn’t David Beckham – to protect the guilty.)

Your turn. Summarise the problem on a piece of paper. In a column down the left side of the page, jot down three or four usual things people do to try to solve the problem. Down a centre column, jot down the opposite of each of the usual methods. And in a right-hand column, write down what practical ideas come out of thinking of the opposite. Even though it’s no longer really the opposite, it’s highly likely it will be more productive than the usual methods that were your starting points.

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