Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

chuckblake wrote: post #3

genjipress wrote: post #2

I have the app version of the Oblique Strategies deck, but at some point I mean to pick up the real thing.

I am in the same boat. I would love to get my hands on one of the original decks one day. That app is very good and is a nice substitution.

Also the twitter account [0]

https://twitter.com/obliquebot?lang=en

Re: Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

#7

Post by jph » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC

I love oblique strategies. For programmers and team leads, there's a similar set called "The Primes" that works wonders with my technical teams, because it has the brainstorming ideas plus effective guidance: https://theprimes.com/book

Re: Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

#8

Post by mattmcdonnell » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 5:09 PM UTC

This reminds me of the I Ching (of Man In The High Castle fame, plus y'know, 3000 years of history) approach to decisions, where you ask a question and then receive a random hexagram with a collection of general wisdom. It stimulates thinking around the subject, surprisingly effectively.

Both that and the card deck have a lack of causal connection that works in favour of creativity.

Brian Eno's Visual Music, which I think shows the problem solving card deck, amongst many other artistic experiments, is also supposed to be good.

Re: Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

#9

Post by chuckblake » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 5:21 PM UTC

mattmcdonnell wrote: post #8

This reminds me of the I Ching (of Man In The High Castle fame, plus y'know, 3000 years of history) approach to decisions, where you ask a question and then receive a random hexagram with a collection of general wisdom. It stimulates thinking around the subject, surprisingly effectively. Both that and the card deck have a lack of causal connection that works in favour of creativity. Brian Eno's Visual Music, which I…

I recall reading about some other musicians that used I Ching - I think John Cage was one of them.

Re: Creative Problem Solving with a Deck of Cards

#10

Post by richard_todd » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 5:43 PM UTC

mattmcdonnell wrote: post #8

This reminds me of the I Ching (of Man In The High Castle fame, plus y'know, 3000 years of history) approach to decisions, where you ask a question and then receive a random hexagram with a collection of general wisdom. It stimulates thinking around the subject, surprisingly effectively. Both that and the card deck have a lack of causal connection that works in favour of creativity. Brian Eno's Visual Music, which I…

Any divination strategy with a rich semantic palette will work like this (tarot is my personal favorite), and besides that it’s fun.

There was also a guy that derived a set of problem-solving principles based on a study of patents (TRIZ), where you try to apply innovation principles, such as “does it help if you can you make one thing do the work of two things?” And if you think abstractly enough it’s kind of the same oblique process, just starting from a more empirical basis. I wish more people tried it!