Index
A Technique for Producing Ideas (Young), 8
A Time to Kill (Grishham), 179
A Whack on the Side of the Head (von Oech), 124
accomplishments, deadlines, 115
achievement, creative, 90
action, putting ideas into, 174–175
Adams, Thomas, 178–179
Ade, George, criticism of his writing style, 174
advertising
agencies, 17
nature of, 87
Aeolian Piano Company, 150–151
age, mental image, 32
airplanes, the first, 88
Allen, Fred
boring adults, 25
the molehill man, 173
Allen, Steve, allergies and asthma, 117
Allen, Woody
believing in God, 18
fear of dying, 83
taking action, 173
America, discovery of, 87
analogues, using comparisons, 118–119
answers
easy, 41
alternative, 162
Apple Computer, 179
architecture, new designs, 120
art
children’s, 21
individual pursuits, 94
new techniques, 119–120
Asimov, Isaac
exciting phrases, 17
letting your unconscious solve a problem, 170
Ask, researching on the Internet, 153
assignments. See exercises
assumptions
changing, 138–141
limiting choices, 109–110
astronauts, NASA recruit selection, 63
astronomy, modern, 126
athletics, new techniques, 120
atom, image of an, 103
attention, attracting, 36–37
attitude, performance, 46
attorneys, patent, 177
bacon, advertisement for, 146–150
bar, Capo d’astro, 151
barbed wire, Winner, 177
Bartley, Bill
Knudsen yogurt billboard, 96
leadership images, 104
baseball, center fielding, 53–54
basketball, free throw exercise, 54–55
Baudelaire, Charles, childhood genius, 26
Bean, Bob, observation game, 76–78
Becquerel, Henri, 87
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 120
Bell, Alexander Graham, 86
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, 22
Bernbach, Bill, need of a springboard, 152
Berrett–Koehler, Steven Piersanti, 65
billboards, Knudsen yogurt, 96
Black Plague, burial of victims, 138
boats, burning your, 178
Bohr, Niels, 103
Bolles, Richard, What Color Is Your Parachute?, 179
boss, teamwork presentations to, 99
boundaries
crossing disciplinary, 124
unconscious, 109–110
Boyd, Bud
poster on persistence, 181
bacon advertisement research, 146–150
Boyd, Johnny–Boy, accident prone, 36
Bradbury, Ray, writing short stories, 71, 88
brainstorming, teamwork, 99
brakes, air, 125
breaks
fun, 21
taking, 168
Bronowski, Jacob, creative activity, 5, 6
Brower, Charles, fragility of ideas, 84
Brown, Charlie, 153
Brown, Norm, knowing your destination, 132
Burnett, Leo, making mistakes, 59
Butts, Alfred Mosher, 64
Caesar, Julius, no retreat, 178
Camus, Albert, 85
Capo d’astro bar, 151
Carême, Antonin, 121
Carlson, Chester F., 64
cars, design of, 31
Cartier, Francis H., discovering relationships, 6
cash register, 125
chair
drawing a, 78–80
new designs, 120
Chamberlain, Wilt, free throws, 43
chances, taking, 62–63, 126–127
change
enabling, 46–47
fear of, 85–86
personal mental image, 48
Chekov, Anton, belief in self, 46
chewing gum, 178–179
Chicken Soup for the Soul, 65
clock, alarm, 19
cogito,5
Columbus, Christopher, 87
comfort, performance level, 44–45
commercials
heated shaving cream, 97
Knudsen yogurt, 96
commitment, to making it work, 176
comparisons
analogues, 118–119
evaluating solutions, 61
of similar products, 150–151
concepts
capturing, 3–4
infinity, 103
insight, 4
mind over body, 47
conditioning, problem solving 10
confidence
childhood, 27
following rejection, 65
performance, 43–45
connections
new, 89–90
quick, 72
consciousness, focusing attention on a subject, 153–154
constraints, assuming, 109
conversations, between fruit and vegetables, 32
cookbooks
breaking the rules, 121
proliferation of, 38
cooking
creating recipes, 115
creation of, 18
learning from failure, 60
cookoff, office chili, 22
Coover, Harry, 87
Corby, Larry
about the illustrator, 201–202
capturing ideas, 42
Coué, Émile, easy answers, 41
courage
finding, 84–85
taking action, 174–175
Craig, Jean, targeting the right market, 97–98
creativity
basis of, 17–18
and failure, 62
humor, 19
mental, 9
unlikely juxtapositions, 7
within a limited framework, 114
criticism, taking honest, 83
Crocker, Jim, 126
Crum, George, 86
cummings, e.e., 120
No Thanks,179
Cuppy, Will, Aristotle’s teachings on brain function, 145
Curie, Madame, 86
curiosity, insatiable, 30–31, 68–69
current
alternating, 163
electric, 86
da Vinci, Leonardo, disciplined creativity, 114
Dali, Salvador, 18
darts
mentally throwing, 55
playing, 21
Daugerre, Louis–Jacques–Mande, 87
Davenport, Guy, Goethe’s humor, 15
days, dress–up, 22
de Bono, Edward, lateral thinking, 106–109
deadlines
accomplishments, 115
setting, 176–177
Della Femina, Jerry
failure and creativity, 62
quick connections, 72
Descarte, René, 126
design, automobile, 31
desserts, breaking the rules, 121
diapers, disposable, 179
Diller, Phyllis, beauty parlors, 51
discoveries
implementing, 180–181
from bad ideas, 86–87
from breaking the rules, 119–121
from changing the question, 133
from unrelenting effort, 163
See also inventions
Donovan, Marion, 179
donuts, increasing sales, 139–140
dots, connecting nine, 110
doubt, self–image, 44–45
downsizing, free time, 49
Dr. Seuss, 65
Drew, Richard, 86
drivers, race car, 60
Dryden, John, rhymed verses, 115
Durant, Will, cosmic truth, 28
Eames, Charles, 120
Edison, Thomas
deadlines, 176–177
extent of human knowledge, 145
on failure, 62
ideas in the air, 42
inventing the lightbulb, 88
the mind of a child, 28
Einstein, Albert, 28
getting good ideas, 167
images, 102–103
problem statements, 132
Einstein, Cliff
generating ideas, 158
SOAPRIZE, 95
electromagnetism, field of, 126
elements, combining old, 4, 69, 71
elevators, waiting for, 134–136
Eliot, T. S.
creating a new whole, 6
creativity within a framework, 114–115
Ellington, Duke, music for specific instruments, 115
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
enthusiasm, 175
nature of a child, 25
employees, solving management
problems with lateral thinking, 106–109
enthusiasm, accomplishments, 175
Essay on Population (Malthus), 125
Eureka Effect, 168
excuses, eliminating, 178
exercises
basketball free throw, 54–55
classroom, 111–113
half of thirteen, 160–162
paper airplane, 111
Ping Pong ball, 111–112
Swiss Army knife, 40–41
the 2x2x2 wood block, 159
See also problems
experiences, opening yourself to new, 72–74
explanations, using analogues, 118–119
failure
fear of, 63–64
refusing to accept, 64
searching far enough, 60
self–image, 45
success, 61
fairs, arts and crafts, 21
family day, at work, 21
Faraday, Michael, 126
Farmer, Fanny, 121
fear
criticism, 84–86
failure, 63–64
fences, swinging for, 89–90
Fischer, Martin H., reaching a conclusion, 101
Fleming, Alexander, 87
Florida, spring break behavior, 136–137
focus, subconscious attention, 153
Ford, Henry,
changing the question, 133
positive attitude, 46
worker’s wages, 120
Fosbury, Dick, 120
Foster, Jack, about the author, 199–200
Fowler, Gene, writing, 157
framework, solving problems, 113–114
freedom, taking chances, 62
friends, teamwork, 94
Frost, Robert
mental abilities, 51
remembering associations, 6
frustration, using distraction to reduce, 134–136
fun
idea conditioning, 16
workplace ambiance of, 19–22
Galvani, Luigi, 86
galvanometer, mirror, 103
games
observation, 76–78
Scrabble, 64
“What If?” , 121–123
white horse, 75
gasoline, antiknock, 86
Gatling, Richard, 163
Gaudi, Antoni, 120
gears, switching, 169
genius, childhood, 26
geometry
analytical, 126
Euclidean, 120
Gide, André, reading about new subjects, 72
gifts, great, 97–98
Glidden, Joseph, 177
goals
staying with your, 182–183
visualization, 52–54
Goethe, humor of, 15
Gogolak, Pete, 120
Goldberg, Philip, The Babinski Reflex, 168
Goldwyn, Samuel, truth, 93
golf, tournament leaders, 43
Goodyear, Charles, 86
Googling, on the Internet, 153
Graham, Bette Nesmith, 64
gravity
law of, 180
theory, 18
Greatbatch, Wilson, 87
Greenfield, Jerry, fun at work, 22
Grishham, John, A Time to Kill, 179
groceries, delivering to the customer, 133
Grudin, Robert
creative achievement, 90
The Grace of Great Things,85
guns, machine, 163
Hadamard, Jacques, invention, 5
handicapped, hiring the, 108–109
Harvey, William, images, 102
Heller, Joseph
focusing imagination, 114–115
ideas in the air, 42
Hemingway, Ernest, 85
Hilbert, David, concept of infinity, 103
hockey, hallway, 21
Hoffer, Eric, researching subjects, 154
Hooke, Robert, 180
Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 120
Housman, A.E., recognizing objects, 2
Hubble telescope, 126
Huckleberry Finn (Twain), 179
humor, creativity, 17–19
Hunt, Walter, 115
Huntsman, Benjamin, 125
Hutchins, Levi, 19
ideas
being possessed by, 154
capturing, 42
defined, 2
expectation of finding, 38
frequency of, 36
generating multiple, 89, 158–159
producing, 11
recognizing, 2–4
visualization, 104
being childlike, 24
defining the problem, 130
digging up ideas, 128–129
failure, 58
gathering information, 144–145
generating energy, 92–93
getting into condition, 13
having courage, 82
having fun, 14–15
incubating an idea, 164
multiple inputs, 66
raining ideas, 34–35
rethinking, 100–101
searching for ideas, 156–157
selecting the best solutions, 172–173
unusual combinations, 116
visualizing success, 50
wondering about a question, xiv
images, thought process, 102–105
immunology, 86
impasse, overcoming an, 168–169
inaction, eliminating excuses for, 178
incubation, subconscious, 8–9
inertia, breaking, 176
infinity, concept of, 103
information
data gathering, 146–150
gathering background, 177
knowing when you have enough, 163
resources, 152–154
inspiration, illumination, 8–9
instinct, sublimation of, 103
intelligo, 5
Internet, researching on, 73, 152–153
invention, father of, 17
inventions
great gift, 97–98
from a refusal to accept failure, 64–65
from crossing disciplinary boundaries, 125–126
from image comparisons, 103
from specific needs, 115
selling it yourself, 178–179
See also discoveries
James, Richard, 87
James, William, attitude adjustment, 46
Jenner, Edward, 133
Jobs, Steve, 179
Johnson, Samuel, lacking ideas, 35
Jones, Franklin P., taking criticism, 83
Kelvin, Lord, 103
Kennedy, Florynce, inaction, 157
Kettering, Charles, 86
Kirkegaard, Søren, 85
Knebel, Fletcher, statistics, 67
knowledge, gaining specific, 152
Koestler, Arthur
asking the right questions, 133
bisociation, 17–18
solving problems, 42
The Act of Creation,7
Kravitz, Steve, rejecting alternative solutions, 145
Krazy Glue, 87
L’Amour, Louis, opening yourself to new experiences, 74
Lardner, Ring, humorous commands, 18
Latin proverb, finding alternatives, 157
Leaves of Grass (Whitman), 179
lessons, learning from failure, 61
Levenson, Sam, hereditary insanity, 25
Lichtenberg, G.C., real genius, 35
lightbulb, inventing the, 88
limitations, assumptions, 109, 113
limits, solution framework, 113–114
Lipman, Hyman L., 19
Lippershey, Hans, 87
Liquid paper, 64
lists, to do action, 177–178
literature, analogues, 119
Lobachevsky, Nicolay Ivanovich, 120
locks, comparative images, 104
logic, lateral thinking, 106–109
looking, vs. seeing, 75–76
Malthus, Thomas, Essay on Population,125
Mann, Thomas, being possessed by an idea, 154
Mars, the orbit of, 89
Master locks, comparative images, 104
matches, friction, 87
Maxwell, James Clark, 180
May, Rollo
sources of inspiration, 168
The Courage to Create,114
writing poetry, 115
Mays, Willie, center fielding, 53–54
medicine, new treatments, 120
meetings, in the park, 21
memory, observation, 80
Mencken, H.L.
failure, 59
human knowledge, 67
methods, idea production, 8–9
mind, altering your self image, 47–48
mindset, conditioning to solve problems, 10
Minsky, Marvin, The Society of Mind,2–3
money
committing resources, 176
increasing saving, 141
Monk, Thelonious, taking chances, 127
moon, motion of the, 103
mop, inventing the, 19
Morecambe, Eric and Ernie Wise, on forgetting, 165
Morgan, Lloyd, waiting for answers, 168
motivation
finding, 162–163
satisfaction, 183
Mumford, Ethel Watts, knowledge and power, 67
natural selection theory, 19, 125
negativity, avoiding, 99
Negroponte, Nicholas, creativity, 7
Newman, Paul, epitaph, 59
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 85
No Thanks (cummings), 179
notebook, keeping a personal, 81
now, knowing about, 30
observation
conscious, 75
the game of, 76–78
memory, 80
Oersted, Hans Christian, 126
Ogilvy, David, 120
making work fun, 17
spreading gloom, 99
operations, household, 31
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, childhood sensory perception, 28
opportunity
recognizing, 39
rejection as an, 88
Osborne, Alex, brainstorming, 99
ovens, microwave, 87
pacemaker, 87
packaging, product, 31
Pareto, Vilfredo, Speculators and Rentiers, 37
park, meetings in the, 21
Pascal, Blaise, 86
patent attorneys, 177
patents
new products, 38
sewing machines, 180–181
Winner barbed wire, 177
Pauling, Linus, getting good ideas, 158–159
Peanuts, Charlie Brown’s tongue, 153
pencils, with erasers, 19
penicillin, 87
perception, childhood sensory, 28
performance, confidence, 43–45
persistence, omnipotence of, 181–182
perspective
a cat’s, 32
childhood, 28–29
playing “What If?” to change, 121–123
Peters, Tom J., fun at work, 22
Phillips, Bum, Don Shula’s coaching prowess, 117
photography, 87
Piaget, Jean, being more creative, 27
pianos, researching, 150–151
Picasso, Pablo
breaking rules, 120
and computers, 131
pictures
baby, 21
thinking in images, 104
Ping–Pong ball, class exercise, 111–112
Pirsig, Robert, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,29
Plunkett, Roy, 87
poetry, breaking the rules, 120
Poincaré, Henri, taking a break, 167
police, Florida spring break problems, 136–137
Poole, Mary Pettibone, laughter, 15
posters, omnipotence of persistence, 181–182
Postman, Neil, effect of school on children, 30
potato chips, 86
Predator of the Universe: The Human Mind (Wakefield), 9
presentations, to the boss, 99
press, printing, 18
Presume, Dr. Livingston I, 117
Price, Ralph, handling rejection, 61, 87–88
Priestley, Joseph, 86
printing press, 125
problems
changing the definition, 134
connecting nine dots, 110
forgetting about, 166–171
scientific method of solving, 8–9
solving with “What If?” , 121–123
stating correctly, 132–133
unconsciously solving, 170
using analogues to solve, 118–119
using lateral thinking to resolve, 106–109
See also exercises, solutions
procedures, improving workplace, 31
production, improving, 141
products, researching, 150–154
proverbs, Jamaican on courage, 83
publishing, self, 179
questions
asking, 30–31, 138–141, 146–150
changing the, 141–142
scientific, 30
queue, use of a, 31
radio waves, transmission of, 180
radioacitivity, 87
radium, 86
rationalizations, staying with your goal, 182–183
Ray, Man, images, 103
reading
changing your self–image, 48
new experiences, 72–74
research, 153
regrets, actions not taken, 182
rejection
confidence following, 65
fear of, 84
as an opportunity, 88
relationships
fun and work, 20–22
identifying existing, 8
overlooked, 152
between unrelated objects, 30
between work and effort, 171
relativity, theory of, 28
relaxation, mental, 168–169
Rentiers, 37
research, surfing the Internet, 152–153
Research Quarterly, improving performance, 54–55
resources, committing, 176
restrictions
assuming, 109
unconscious boundaries, 110
resumes
evaluating, 62–63
magazine ad, 69–71
retention, employee, 107–109
rewards, new ideas, 33
Richardson, Owen Willans, 126
Riney, Hal, the creative process, 158
Ritty, James J., 125
Robbins, Bud, advertising grand pianos, 150–151
Roentgen, Wilhelm, 87
Rogers, Will, taking action, 173
Rombauer, Irma, The Joy of Cooking, 179
Rooney, Andy, meeting deadlines, 166
Rosseau, Jean–Jacques, word combinations, 117
roulette, 86
routine, changing daily, 71–74
rubber, vulcanized, 86
Rubinstein, Moshe F., scientific problem solving, 8–9
Runyon, Damon, betting on a race, 18
Russell, Bertrand
thinking, 101
working underground, 167
Russell, James, 64
rut, changing routine, 71–74
Ruth, Kent, new thoughts, 35
Saarinen, Eero, 120
safety pin, 115
Sagan, Carl
children’s questions, 30
unconscious problem solution, 170
Saint, Thomas, 181
salad, Caesar, 115
sales, improving cold sales call results, 142
Salk, Jonas, asking the right questions, 133
Sartre, Jean–Paul
courage, 85
self–concept, 46
word combinations, 117
savings, increasing, 141
Schick Electric Company, 97–98
school, effect on children, 30
Schultz, Charles
knowing the answer, 1
running away from problems, 131
Scotch tape, 86
Scotchgard, 87
Scrabble, 64
search engines, research with Internet, 153
security, endangering our, 85
seeds, fun at work, 20–22
seeing, vs. looking, 75–76
self–image, performance, 43–48
self–publishing, 179
sewing machines, 180–181
shaving cream, heated, 97–98
Shaw, George Bernard, wasted youth, 25
Sherman, Patsy, 87
Shula, Don, coaching prowess, 117
Silverman, Hal, 162
simplicity, ideas, 3–4
Sinatra, Frank, word combinations, 117
Sister Carrie,65
smallpox vaccine, 133
SOAPRIZE, 95–96
solutions
changing the problem definition, 134–136
childlike, 33
conditioning, 10
limited by assumptions, 109–110, 113
teamwork, 98–99
verification of, 9
visualizing, 105
See also problems
speaking, public, 44
Speculators, 37
Spencer, Percy LeBaron, 87
spirit, team, 16
spring break, student behavior, 136–137
springboard, need for a, 152
St. Augustine, intelligo, 5
start, waiting to, 176
statement, mission, 132
steel, crucible, 125
Steffens, Lincoln, improving the existing world, 39
Stevens, Rise, moving the Met to Lincoln Center, 151
stories
failure to implement a discovery, 180
writing short, 88
strategy, creative, 132
Stravinsky, Igor, 120
stubbornness, refusing to accept failure, 64–65
students, Florida spring break behavior, 136–137
subconscious, incubation in the, 8–9
success
failure, 61
self–image, 45
Suits, C.G., General Electric research laboratories, 167
surfing, the Internet, 73, 152–153
surrealism, 18
Svevo, Italo, forgetting, 165
Swiss Army knife, 40–41
Syrus, Publilius, forgetting who we are, 165
tables, radical new designs, 120
tapes, altering your self image, 48
tardiness, employee, 106–107
teamwork
friends, 94
placing blame, 93
team size, 99
Teflon, 87
telephone, 86
telescope, 87
Hubble, 126
tenacity, legendary, 163
Tesla, Nikola, 163
The Act of Creation (Kostler), 7
The Babinski Reflex (Goldberg), 168
The Courage to Create (May), 114
The Dancing Wu Li Masters (Zukav), 26–27
The Grace of Great Things (Gruden), 85
The Joy of Cooking (Rombauer), 179
The Society of Mind (Minsky), 2–3
Theorem, Pierre de Fermat’s Last, 163
theories
gravity, 18
relativity, 28
Thimonnier, Barthelemy, 181
thinking
in images, 102–105
lateral, 105–109
milking cows, 167
thirteen, half of, 160–162
Thomas, Dylan, childhood perspectives, 28–29
thought, joining matricies of, 18
Thurber, James
knowing the questions, 131
thinking, 101
time, getting ideas, 49
Tomlin, Lily
answering questions, 1
individual responsibility, 93
the rat race, 51
toys, Slinky, 87
training, employee retention, 107–109
trees, bark, 73
tunnel, light at tne end of the, 93
Twain, Mark
answering questions, 1
Huckleberry Finn, 179
underground, working, 167, 170
Upton, F.R., Edison’s work habits, 177
vaccine, smallpox, 133
Valéry, Paul, serious people, 17
van Gogh, Vincent, breaking rules, 119
Vidal, Gore
human problems, 131
success and failure, 59
videos, altering your self image, 48
Virgil, self–image, 45
visualization, methods, 52–54, 56
von Helmholtz, Hermann
getting ideas, 167
three steps to new thoughts, 8
von Oech, Roger
A Whack on the Side of the Head, 124
father of invention, 17
Wakefield, Charles S., Predator of the Universe: The Human Mind,9
Walker, John, 87
water, carbonated, 86
Weakley, Jeff, magazine ad resume, 69–71
Wegener, Alfred, relationships of images, 103
Westinghouse, George, 125
What Color Is Your Parachute? (Bolles), 179
“What If?” , playing, 121–123
white horse game, 75
Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass, 179
Wiener, Norbert, scientific problem solving, 42
Wilde, Oscar, seriousness, 15
Wiles, Andrew, 163
Winner barbed wire, 177
Wise, Ernie and Eric Morecambe, forgetting, 165
wonder, childlike sense of, 30
wood block, finding uses for a 2x2x2, 159
Wood, Grant, getting good ideas, 167
work
the assembly line, 133
attire at, 20
fun at, 16–22
taking breaks, 168–169
work plan, creative, 132
workers, compensation of, 120
Wozniak, Steve, 179
Wright, Frank Lloyd, imagining concepts, 102
Wright, Orville and Wilbur, 88
writer’s block, 29
writing
new styles of, 120
in teams, 94–95
x–rays, 86–87
Xerox machine, 64
Yahoo, researching on the Internet, 153
yogurt, billboard for Knudsen, 96
Young, James Webb
A Technique for Producing Ideas,8
combining old elements, 4, 7, 69
producing ideas, 11
specific knowledge, 152
Zen, story of Nan–in, 27
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirzig), 29, 65
Zukav, Gary, The Dancing Wu Li Masters,26–27