Rules of Thumb

From SandboxWiki

Tom Hirshfield's Rules of Thumb

1. If you hit every time, the target's too near -- or too big.
2. Never learn details before deciding on a first approach.
3. Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms as it was brought to you.
4. The second assault on the same problem should come from a totally different direction.
5. If you don't understand a problem, then explain it to an audience and listen to yourself.
6. Don't mind approaches that transform one problem into another, that's a new chance.
7. If it's surprising, it's useful.
8. Studying the inverse problem always helps.
9. Spend a proportion of your time analyzing your work methods.
10. If you don't ask "Why this?" often enough, someone else will ask, "Why you?"

Source

Roger von Oech's blog Creative Think, "Tom Hirshfield's Rules of Thumb" - 11 Nov 06