Everyday wisdom: An oasis in a desert

“Expect the Unexpected”
Roger Von Oech
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002


Have you met someone who is bursting with information – current events, statistics, encyclopedic knowledge, every item in the Guinness Book, and every detail about science and business? But, you aren’t impressed – because the same guy – for the many years you’ve associated with him – has not said anything original. Or he hasn’t come up with any idea that comes close to brilliance – or even and insight,

It’s true then, it’s truer not – and Heraclitus said it 2, 500 years ago: “Knowing many things does not teach insight.”

If one is too purified up with information – and is proud of it – he has not time to distill such knowledge. “Practice forgetting,” said Roger Von Oech, and you are on your way to gaining insight. Who is Von Oech? He is the author of a bestselling creativity classic, “A Whack on the Side of the Head,” who came up with a freshly minted book – “Expect the Unexpected,” the subject of this review.

You must learn the value of forgetting. Von Oech relates this story: A creativity teacher once invited his student for afternoon tea. The teacher poured some tea into the student’s cup. Even after the cup was full, he continued to pour, and the tea over-flowed into the floor.

The student exclaimed: “You must stop pouring … the tea is not going into the cup.” The teacher replied: “The same is true with you. If you’re to receive any of my teachings, you must first empty out the contents of your mental cup.” We also heard id said that if your soul is full mundane concerns, the Divine cannot fill you with His power.

This Executive Read could have been titled “Heraclitus Re-visited,” because this book under review is a collection of 30 epigrams culled by the author from some 125 epigrams compiled by the 19th century compiler Hermann Diels. Heraclitus’ style, according to Von Oech, is similar to a Zen teacher’s paradoxical koan or a Delphic Oracle’s ambiguous prophecy. In my opinion, it partakes of the parable of Jesus of Nazareth.

His epigrams – whether oracle, koan or parable – provide insight into life. And you stumble into them like oases in an endless stretch of desert sand.

Consider this astonishing thought: “Expect the unexpected, or you won’t find it.” The author paraphrases it, saying “If we open our minds, we’ll discover wondrous array of ideas to help us solve the problems inevitably fall into out path.” I summarize this with a statement: “e prepared for a surprise!” In fact, many of our readers who have come upon a brilliant idea experienced such “surprising” or unexpected blessing.

“Drop an assumption,” the author says, and relates an anecdote about celebrated inventor Thomas Edison, who had a simplest to measure the “unexpectedness quotient” of prospective employees. He would invite a candidate to lunch and serve him a bowl of soup. He would then watch whether the person salted his soup before tasting it. If he did, he wouldn’t be offered the job. Edison felt that people are more open to possibilities if they don’t salt their experience of life before tasting it.

One epigram has a word of caution to the powerful and the mighty who have ascended to their “thrones”: “The way up and the way down are one and the same.” He who lives by the sword will die by the sword, the Scriptures say. He who wrests power by guns, goons and gold will also lose such power by the same three G’s. Recent history bears us out.

We are always told to look at the “big picture.” Or, we will miss the forest for the trees, as they often say. Heraclitus contributes this epigram: “The cosmos speaks in patterns.” We find patterns all around us.

We see similarities: stellar galaxies and water emptying out of a bathtub both spiral in the same way. We see relationships: The tighter a government’s restrictions on its press, the less prosperous that society’s economy is likely to be. We truly hope the last statement would soon ring true.

Have you marveled at the wisdom of your venerable dad or mom, when he or she links what are otherwise unconnected – and then come up with something astonishingly new? Heraclotus again has a gem of wisdom: “A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.” Guttenberg joined the wine press and the coin punch to create moveable type and the printing press. Greek metallurgists alloyed soft copper with even softer tin to produce hard bronze.

When there is not sun, we can see the evening stars. You discover something new when a dominant feature is removed. The executive bosses should try getting out of their offices and thus enable their subordinates to shine.

“The doctor inflicts pain to cure suffering.” If a part causes the whole to suffer, cut it. An editor removes a favorite paragraph in order to save the manuscript. This article has said enough about this refreshing book. Before any sentence is cut, this piece must end. Let Heraclitus speak.