“Reversals
destabilize your conventional thinking patterns
and frees information to
come together in provocative new ways”
(Michael Michalko)
I have a love-hate
memories when I think of Singapore (Whatever!) It is an interesting place, of
course. There they have the world first nocturnal zoo and is one of the most
popular tourist attractions. It is called the Night Safari. What amazing about this zoo is that, ‘unlike traditional nocturnal houses, which
reverse the day-night cycle of animals so they will be active by day, the Night
Safari is an entire open-air zoo set in a humid tropical forest that is only
open at night.’* The concept of a nocturnal park in Singapore was suggested
in the 1980s by the former executive chairman of the Singapore Zoo, Dr Ong Swee
Law. Instead of having a day zoo, they reversed the situation to having a night
safari. If you haven’t been there, I encourage you to experience it yourself.
Reverse thinking. It is looking at your problem and
reframes it by reversing the order of the problem in order to view it from a
completely different angle. Creative
people sometime come up with great ideas by reversing the problem by reversing
their thinking about that problem. For example, a student came to me one day
and ask if we can get more helpers during the camp because he said that based
on the program we have a shortage of manpower. Instead of looking for more
helpers, and obviously we had not enough people, I reversed his thinking and
asked him, “Can we decrease some of the
program activities instead?” By doing that we managed to organize the camp
with no unnecessary extra helpers, lower budget and relaxing-well-planned
program.
Marelisa Fabrega, lawyer
and entrepreneur, writes, “Start at the end;
think of what you don’t want; flip it on its head… these are all examples of
reverse thinking. Now think of a problem that you’re having or an obstacle that
you’re facing, and apply reverse thinking. You might be surprised by the ideas
you come up with.” Consider other possible areas in which reverse
thinking are prove useful. Just read how this statement by John F. Kennedy can
impact our lives: “Ask not what the
nation can do for you but ask what you can do for the nation.” Reverse thinking.
Powerful, isn’t it? Now let’s be honest, you cannot practise reverse thinking
all the time but there will be opportunities to do so. “Reversing the way you look at things encourages you to consider
things that may not be considered at all,” said Michael Michalko in
his book Cracking Creativity. “Reversals break your existing patterns of thought and provoke new
ones. You take things as they are and then turn them around, inside out, upside
down, and back to front to see what happens.”
Do you want to nurture and be more creative? Think in
reserve.
God, Give Us
Today Our Daily Idea(s)
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