The one-sentence summary

Nothing exists in limbo and context is everything, so you need to out-think the problem by changing a piece of it.

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WHAT THE BOOK SAYS PREDATORY THINKING

  • This is a series of anecdotes providing sage wisdom on all matters creative.
  • Billed as a masterclass in out-thinking the competition, the book’s main message is to look at situations you can’t solve and change them into ones that you can solve.
  • The main themes are:
    • Creative is an adjective not a noun – you have to think about it all the time and make ideas happen.
    • Life is a zero-sum game – you can’t have more than 100% of anything.
    • 90% of advertising doesn’t work – it’s not even noticed, let alone remembered.
    • You can run from it or you can learn from it – learning isn’t the same as being taught.
    • Less really is more – when his son combines his two favourite foods (Twiglets and strawberry ice cream), it doesn’t tastes twice as good.
    • Taste is the enemy of creativity – if it’s comfortable, it won’t be distinctive enough.
    • Form follows function – get the brief right first, and then the rest flows properly.
    • The human mind is our medium – we see things not as they are, but as we are.
    • The journey is the destination – whatever it is, you might as well get on with it now.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT

  • The principles here are most powerfully conveyed in short stories – drawing on anything from his family, the Second World War, Socrates, and Picasso, to a range of colleagues and students.
  • Unsurprisingly, the philosophy is the same as his previous book, but many of the themes bear repetition:
    • All you’ve got to beat is yourself – we stop us, not anyone else.
    • You don’t have to win – you just have to make the other lot lose.
    • Being interesting is much more interesting than being right.
    • If you’re creative, then you have to create. If you don’t do it, it won’t happen.
    • No one knows what’s in your head – you choose your own reality.
    • Nothing is ‘wrong’ – just inappropriate.
    • People don’t think like we think they should think – punters haven’t read the brief.
    • Reasonable people don’t do much – so be unreasonable.

WHAT YOU HAVE TO WATCH

  • The story on the back cover is at least 20 years old. It’s the one about the guy who puts his trainers on – not to outrun the tiger, but his mate.