Rebellion
By Peter LloydHow do you feel about this statement? "A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical."
What if I told you I'm quoting Thomas Jefferson? Do you agree or disagree? When I ask this question to groups of Americans, as you might expect, they generally agree when they see Jefferson's name below the quote.
But what if I told you these are actually the words of Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City? Feel any differently?
Again, as you would expect, Americans almost always disagree with the same statement when they see McVeigh's name under the quote.
Are all Americans incapable of independent thought? I don't think so.
In fact, I think their reactions are justified. Because when McVeigh says "rebellion," the word drips red with the blood of senseless slaughter and misguided revolution.When Jefferson says it, why it's a red-white-and-blue declaration of independence. You can't make a statement that isn't colored by context.
One of the keys to successful creative problem solving is escaping context. Getting outside of the problem, throwing off comfortable assumptions, and taking the radical point of view—or any point of view other than the one that seems most logical.
To do this, creative thinkers constantly challenge authority, rebel against accepted notions, and stay alert for revolutionary ideas from anywhere. The further out in left field, the better.
In short, "a little rebellion is a good thing."
By the way, the quote comes from Jefferson, but when Timothy McVeigh was arrested, he wore a T-shirt bearing Jefferson's call to rebellion.
Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.