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Determining what you will not do is a powerful way to jump-start the creative process by establishing boundaries that break habitual patterns, eliminate clutter, and force original problem-solving.
The sources describe several ways this "negative" approach sparks innovation:
1. Imposing Rules and Constraints
Setting a framework of what is forbidden can act as a catalyst for new styles.
- Breaking Patterns: For established artists, temporary rules can break a stale routine and reveal their true voice without the distraction of their technical skill.
- Dogme 95: Director Lars von Trier used a "Vow of Chastity" consisting of ten rules that strictly forbade things like special lighting, optical work, or genre movies to reduce artificiality in filmmaking.
- Culling Obvious Solutions: By making a problem more specific and removing obvious paths, the remaining "culling" process gives work a unique character that sets it apart from past efforts.
2. Elimination and Miniaturization (SCAMPER)
The "E" in the SCAMPER technique stands for Eliminate, based on the idea that subtracting something can yield entirely new concepts.
- Trimming to the Essence: Repeatedly trimming objects or processes can narrow a subject down to its truly necessary function. For example, by eliminating the "war-making" functions of a tank and keeping only the tracks and weight, one creates a tractor.
- Simplifying Problems: Frank Gehry experimented with "one-room buildings" because they had the "least amount of excuses" to rely on conventional architectural tropes.
3. Limiting Information
Creativity can be jump-started by deliberately withholding information from yourself or collaborators to prevent being influenced by "firstborn" ideas or conventional choices.
- Protecting the Process: Music producer Rick Rubin often limits the information he gives to studio musicians—such as not letting them hear a songwriter's demo—to ensure they are not informed by the demo's musical choices and instead bring more of their own creative decision-making to the project.
- Avoiding Intimidation: Painter Ed Paschke intentionally avoided using "exquisite" or perfect visual statements as source material because they were too intimidating to improve upon; instead, he chose flawed images that allowed him more latitude to develop his own work.
4. Reversing Assumptions
Determining what you won't do often involves identifying the basic assumptions of a field and deciding to do the exact opposite.
- The Reversal Technique: By listing every assumption about a subject (e.g., "restaurants serve food") and reversing it ("a restaurant that does not serve food"), you can create "impossible" business models, such as an exotic venue where people pay a service fee to bring their own picnic baskets.
- Disturbing Ruts: Reversals "dam up" old thinking channels and force information to seek out new, more productive patterns of flow.
5. Defining the Boundaries of a Problem
Knowing the "unknowns" and the limits of a task helps center the creative effort.
- Identifying the "Not": The CIA's "Phoenix" checklist for problem-solving includes the question, "What isn't the problem?". Identifying these boundaries helps clarify what truly matters in the search for a solution.
- Refusing Habits: Choosing to be a "monkey" rather than a "kitten"—someone who refuses to cry for help and instead chooses to work through obstacles—is an essential mental stance for creative growth.
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