No more excuses!
I can’t hide it. I do wish I’d written this book. The Houdini Solution, by Ernie Schenck. Heck, I don’t have to have written it. I just wish I had been the one to see so clearly this “thinking inside the box” perspective that Ernie built his book around. Not only is it brilliant, it’s damn true. Very often, the best ideas do happen in the box. And if you can’t succeed there, well, I think you’re in trouble.
Let me first say that Ernie Schenck and I are old pals. We’ve known each other since our teens. Actually played in a band together. Ye Druids. Ernie’s idea. (Not an idea I was ever particularly envious of.) E, as I affectionately call him, was the guy who convinced me to go into the ad business, “It’s air conditioned and it has carpeting, man.” Ern could be so persuasive. No wonder he turned into one of the best ad writers of all time. That said, this is not an advertising book. It’s a thinking book.
“Houdini Solution” - full title includes “Put creativity and innovation to work by thinking inside the box” - is a concept that is so very simple and elegant. If you can’t work within the realities of your box, be it your boss’ preconceptions, your industry’s regulations, the budget, the deadline, whatever, then what reality do you exist in?
The world is a box. There are limits. Ernie points out, in story after story, illustration after illustration, some very big ideas that emerged not in spite of the box, but because of it. I won’t steal the thunder here. Read the book. The only major flaw most readers might find between these pages is that it takes away almost all your excuses for not having great ideas.
I believe it’s a major midcourse correction in the study of creative thinking. The Houdini solution is available at Amazon and other booksellers. For some other wonderful books on creative thinking see my suggested reading list.
