The "Ah-hah" of "Ha ha"

by phil on Friday Mar 6, 2009 5:26 PM

Roger von Oech, creativity consultant extraordinaire, has this story about himself:

My sixth grade teacher, Mr. Rodefer, taught me that being creative and being obnoxious are sometimes very similar, but that they are not the same thing. He taught me how to differentiate the two by giving me a creative license.

We had an agreement: I'd run a lap around the school yard for every obnoxious act, and he would reward me for my new ideas. I learned to take chances. In addition to running 128 laps that year, I did some very creative things.

I had a similar differentiating thought occur to me today. If anything, this space has taught me how to be provocative without being offensive.