Oblique Strategies
by Martin
There are times when the creative process comes to a deadlock. The Oblique Strategies is a series of cards initially conceived by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975 that help attack the problem of a mental block or a creative dilemma in a tangential (and random) way; pick a card, and work from where the text suggests.
There is a certain oracular feel to the deck, but the concept does not impose a “go from point A to point B” for a solution. This set of ideas was modified in different versions, and included some blank cards to be filled as needed.
In Eno’s words, “If you’re in a panic, you tend to take the head-on approach because it seems to be the one that’s going to yield the best results. Of course, that often isn’t the case – it’s just the most obvious and -apparently- reliable method. The function of the Oblique Strategies was, initially, to serve as a series of prompts which said, “Don’t forget that you could adopt *this* attitude,” or “Don’t forget you could adopt *that* attitude.”
Gregory Taylor has a site devoted to the Oblique Strategies, which includes the text for the various versions of the deck.
Update: There is an Oblique Strategies Dashboard Widget and an iPhone app out there, but it’s not as nice as keeping your set of cards in a little box near your desk.
Also, it appears that Brian Eno is now twittering, and most of his updates are Oblique Strategies. (Via the comments at Drawn!)