Sometimes we are faced with a problem, and dealing with this problem merely involves thinking about the problem in a different way. We need a shift in perspective. This is the message of Berthold Gunster in his book flip thinking. One of the many examples that he gives concerns the airline Virgin Atlantic who lost pepper and salt sets from their business class cabin. Whatever the airline tried, travelers took these sets with them. Rather than finding a way to stop the theft of these sets, they flipped the problem around by making the sets even nicer and marking them clearly with the words Virgin Atlantic. Customers would take the pepper and salt sets home and display them proudly on their dinner table. In that way they would do advertising for the airline. It only took flip thinking of the airline to turn the problem of theft into the opportunity of low-cost advertising!
I recently applied flip thinking to the problem of the books in my office. I will retire in the near-future, and don’t want to bring more books home than I have already. I also know that libraries are awash in books and are not looking for more books. Then I realized that there are many people at my university who would love to own some of my books. I told students and colleagues that they can come to my office and pick out a book. On the photo you see four Mines football players who are in my Science and Spirituality class who came by and picked books on quantum physics, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and mental health. They were thrilled by the gift and left with a happy grin on their face and books in their hands. By giving away books I turned the “problem” of getting rid of books into the joy of giving away books which makes others happy.
There are also situations where we feel a situation “must” be resolved in a certain way. This is what David Bohm in his book On Dialogue calls the impulse of necessity. At such moments we feel that we have to say something or do something. But that action may not be the wisest way to act. In this situation flip thinking may prompt us to take a deep breath and release the impulse of necessity and not do anything for the moment.
What is a “problem” that you face that you can turn into an opportunity simply by thinking about it in a different way? Do you feel the impulse of necessity to respond in a certain way? What do you need to release to create opportunities for creative action? How can you use creative thinking to look at a “problem” in a new way?