How will they help me get unstuck?

Let's start by thinking about what it means means for our thinking to be "lateral" as opposed to our typical step by step, vertical thinking, as in climbing a flight of steps. Lateral thinking, is sideways thinking. It doesn't come naturally to most of us, especially those of us who favor our left brain.

When we are stuck, often it feels like we are banging our heads against a brick wall. We are approaching the problem head on and it's not working. This leads to fatigue, and just feeling burned out. (Which reminds me of two other things we can do to help ourselves with creative thinking: Get enough sleep and exercise!)

So when the direct approach isn't working, it's time for an indirect approach, an Oblique Strategy, if you will.

But what do I do with these cards?

As I mentioned, each card has a sentence written on it, an Oblique Strategy. Here are some examples.

• Honour thy error as a hidden intention.
• Ask your body.
• What would your closest friend do?
• What to increase? What to reduce?
• What else is this like?
• Do the last thing first
• Tape your mouth
• Use an old idea.
• Humanize something that is free of error
• Try faking it!
• State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
• Only one element of each kind.
• Work at a different speed.

There are no rules for using the cards, sometimes it may seem that the sentence on a given card does not apply to your current problem. But Eno asks that you trust the card anyway. Take time with each card you draw to meditate (or if you prefer contemplate) how it may apply to your situation.

Here's what Brian Eno has said about using the cards:

"These cards evolved from our separate observations of the principles underlying what we are doing. Sometimes they were recognized in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated. They can be used as a pack (a set of possibilities being continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card from a shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if it appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident."

Don't fall into the trap, of thinking that there is a right way or a wrong way to use the Oblique Strategies. That would mean you are falling back on your convergent thinking, which isn't useful in the creative process.

Some people draw four or five cards at a time and take them as a set of strategies to use. Others use them as a group and discuss what to do in response to a given card. Some take the cards very literally and, for example, actually tape their mouths as one card suggests.

Since Eno is a musician, many of the cards seem geared towards music, such as this one: "Listen in total darkness, or in a very large room, very quietly" and this one: "Use fewer notes". Still, even us writers and artists and other creative types can consider them in the context of our own project.

BTW Oblique Strategies have been used by many artists such as R.E.M., Coldplay, the late David Bowie, to name just a few.

Do you think you will try Oblique Strategies? What are your strategies for getting unstuck?