Thinking and doing the opposite

As you journey through life, there are things, situations, and people that challenge you to bravely tread the road of unreality, to take chances, to go against conventions, to consider going in the opposite direction, to celebrate your choices and the successes and failures that go with them.

Paul Arden, a former executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi advertising, came up with a book he called Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite for you to get quick and easy lessons that perhaps would take years to pick up. The creative master brings it on with generous servings of wit, lucidity and fluidity. It takes you on paradigm-shifting expeditions that fragment your thoughts and compel you to reframe, reclassify or completely alter your outlook and convictions, big or small.

The book opens with the story of a little-known athlete who transforms the world of high jumping by going against what is customary. He redefines what a better way to jump is and in the process, breaks all previous records in the sport. His example proffers a number of confrontational beliefs designed to allow you to shatter the rules and look at the world and your existence through new lenses.

The points delivered by Arden are aptly illustrated in the story of Eddie and Erica, two characters who have two differing approaches to life. Eddie is a classic example of what an organization man is. He is a good worker, with nary a job going awry. While he delivers the work assigned to him, he lacks the innovativeness that can propel professional development. Erica, meanwhile, is not a corporate creature. Her superiors and colleagues see her ideas as unrealistic, too daring and ridiculous.

So, who between Eddie and Erica ends up on top? Eddie climbs quickly at the beginning of his career. Everyone considers him a very valuable member of the team, but at some point people realize that he has not developed into a game-changer. He simply performs what his boss tells him to do. His career flattens and at age 47 his professional life plateaus. He doesn’t reach the top.

Erica gets fired several times because of her exasperating and sometimes silly ideas and approaches. Her career is littered with challenges but she faces up to them with courage and resolve. Since her work is always seen as different and fresh, there is always a company that will hire her. When she reaches the age of 40 she has a track record of producing pieces of work that are cutting-edge, innovative, and brilliant. She is labeled a maverick and is appreciated for her creativity. Erica acts differently and her career rockets to the top.

Arden’s inspirational digest is peppered with quotable quotes and motivating snapshots and artworks yielded by these lessons on how to make your life more beguiling and extraordinary.

• Life is about the choices you make and having the courage to pick yourself up from the hurt. It’s better to regret what you have done than what you haven’t. You may have reached the age of 40, only to realize you have missed out on life. In many cases you had everything going for you, except when the gauntlet was thrown your way, and you lacked the bravery to lift yourself up. When you look back there will be things you will be sorry about. Life is all about choices. Whatever choice you make is the only one you can make. Otherwise you would make a different one. Everything you do, you choose. So what is there to regret? In the first place, you are the person you chose to be.

• I wish, I want. “Wouldn’t it be nice if…?” is an “I wish” statement. If you consistently make the right decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else. “If I want it enough I will get it” is an “I want” concept. Getting what you want means making the decisions you need to make to get what you want. Not the decisions people around you think you should make. Making the safe decision is dull, predictable and leads you to nowhere new. The unsafe decision makes you think and respond in a way you hadn’t thought of.

• Risk and recklessness. When you are young you jump into the pool whether you can swim or not. It is either you swim or you drown. Before the age of 30 important things happen to you, which shape the rest of your life. The first is you become more conscious of yourself and your own philosophy. You reach the age of reason. The second is you discover your adulthood and begin to think in a more mature way. You become grownup. Recklessness and risk, as you may have learned, are not compatible with age.

• An overprotected choice is hazardous to your health. You want a stimulating life, but are frightened to take the bull by the horns. You take a convenient option for a thrilling existence. You live your excitement through other people, maybe aligning yourself with famous rebels like Steve Jobs, John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Mahatma Gandhi, Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino, among others. These people took the outrageous track when faced with a decision, not knowing where it might lead them, but knowing that a safe decision also had danger written all over it.

• Going beyond your limit. When the Berlin Wall was due to come down, Arden was a junior executive of Saatchi & Saatchi. He came up with an idea for pasting a poster on the other side of the wall. His superior said, “Good idea, but where are you going to get the money from to do it?” Arden said that he had some saved up. His superior asked, “How will you get it done?” Arden retorted, “I’ll get it done.” And he did. He pasted the Saatchi & Saatchi name on the other side of the wall and made worldwide news. Needless to say, Arden went off to start his own company. All the best ones do.

• Perfection. You may spend too much time trying to perfect something before you actually do it. Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you’ve got, and fix it as you go.

• A slap in the face is better than a pat on the back. If you show somebody your work and you ask them, “What do you think?” they will probably say it’s okay because they don’t want to offend you. Next time, instead of asking if it’s right, ask them what’s wrong. They may not say what you want to hear, but chances are they will give you a truthful take. Truth hurts, but in the long run, it can make you better.

• It is fashionable to try to lose your ego.  This is especially true if you are a “thinking person.” That’s what some people believe. Well, think again. Presumably you were given an ego for a reason. Great people have great egos; maybe that’s what makes them great. Ego, particularly the healthy kind, can be put to good use. Don’t deny it. Life, for the most part is all about “I,” “me” and “myself” anyway.

• Be satisfied with dissatisfaction. You can’t afford the house, the car, or the trip of your dreams. That’s why it is the house, the car, and the trip of your dreams. Again you have a choice. You either find a way to get them and ensure you find the means to get them, or be contented with discontentment.

• Good idea, bad idea. A good idea is one that happens. If it doesn’t, it’s a bad one. Ideas are a matter of taste. A good one is a clever solution to a problem, one that you have not seen before. But if an idea is not taken up and used as a solution to a problem, it has no value. Ideas have to be applied before they are recognized as good ideas. Even a bad idea executed is better than a good idea undone.

• There is no right point of view. There is a popular point of view and there is a personal point of view. But there is no right point of view. You are always right. You are always wrong. It just depends from which pole you look at. Advances in any field are built upon people with a small or personal point of view.

• If you want to be interesting, be interested. In an interview it is better to listen carefully and sincerely to what interviewers have to say than put on a show of your own brilliance. That way they will be interested in you without you saying a word. You are a better communicator when you are a better listener.

• “Be astonishing” is good advice. That was the challenge given by Alexey Brodovitch, art director of Harper’s Bazaar, to the young Richard Avedon, who was destined to become one of the world’s great photographers. “Astonish me!” was Brodovich’s mantra. “Bear these words in mind, and whatever you do will be creative,” he declared.

• Rejection is desirable. Don’t be negative about rejection. When Arden was a creative director, he gave a young man a grilling for producing an underwhelming piece of work. Later in the day, somebody told him that the young man was in his office crying. Arden went to console him, saying, “Don’t worry, I was useless at your age, too.”

On the whole, Arden’s tiny, simple yet provocative book is anchored on the principles of violating some rules, doing the reverse and thinking differently. As Ibn Mars said, “Most people try to conform to the norm, to be always correct and trying so hard to be right. Because of that most people are only becoming a head in the crowd.”

* * *

E-mail bongosorio@yahoo.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.