Card #73 – ”Don’t Fall in Love” from the Creative Whack Pack
Available on the iOS App Store and as a physical deck of cards

Avoid falling in love with ideas — especially those that have brought you success in the past.
For example, Henry Ford had been successful making cars available in one color (“Any color you want, as long as it’s black”). He believed that he had a formula that worked, and he didn’t want to change it.
This prevented him from seeing the rise of a post World War I consumer class that wanted a variety of colors and styles from which to choose. As a result, Ford lost market share.
If you fall in love with an idea, two negative things can happen:
1) You’ll want to use it everywhere — even in places where it’s inappropriate; and,
2) You may not see the merits of alternative approaches and may miss an opportunity or two.
The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi said: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” His point is that turning a teacher into a sacred fetish misses the essence of the teacher. The same philosophy applies to ideas: if you embrace them too closely, you can suffocate them.
Remember: One of life’s great pleasures is letting go of a previously cherished idea. Then you’re free to look for new ones.
— What part of your idea are you in love with?
— What would happen if you kissed it goodbye?
Tip: Eliminating “favorites” can help you generate more ideas.
This approach was employed by the renowned graphic designer Paul Rand. Whenever he was working on a design that didn’t feel “quite right” to him, Rand would remove his favorite part of the design. Sometimes that would improve the design; sometimes the design would fall apart. But Rand felt this strategy gave him an opportunity to consider alternatives.