Have You Considered the Opposite? A Question for Reframing Excuses
Considering the opposite to get at the root cause of your excuses and complaints
Edward de Bono, the father of Lateral Thinking, and author of the best-selling Serious Creativity, talks about the concept of considering the opposite for new ideas. Here’s how it works:
- Take an existing idea. It doesn’t have to be original or creative. For example, consider the idea of paid newsletters.
- Think about the opposite. Take a concept within the idea and flip the script. Paid newsletters -> Free newsletters. Paid newsletters (people pay to receive them) -> Pay out newsletters (people get paid to receive them).
- After flipping the concept, let the new idea wander in your mind. What connections can you make with other industries, sectors, businesses, and other ideas? For example, when I thought about pay out newsletters, I thought about the idea of charging spammers for sending out emails. Since spammers send millions of emails and the typical person only sends a few hundred, charging spammers a cent makes spamming cost-prohibitive, whereas it’s only a minor hindrance on the typical person sending a few hundred emails.
Have an excuse? Flip it
I’ve used lots of excuses in my life.
- Why don’t you work out more? I don’t have the time.
- Why don’t you do this specific workout? I don’t know how.
- Why not write a book? I don’t know where to start.
Do you use some of these excuses? Take your excuse and flip it.
I don’t have the time -> What do you have the time for?
I don’t know how -> What do you know how to do?
I don’t know where to start -> What can you start with?
I’m willing to bet that you do have the time for other activities. And that you know how to do other workouts, even if you don’t know how to do a specific workout. Finally, you likely can start writing, as you know that’s part of writing a book. In other words, it’s not a matter of time or know-how, but a matter of priorities.
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