This technique, which Michalko translates as “masks,” uses inversions: Finding Ideas by Reversing Conventional Assumptions.
Michael Michalko recommends challenges tear off those masks: “Problems are often salted with assumptions that inhibit creativity.” As an example of such masking, the author shows two lines of equal length.
One of the lines appears to be longer, as it has arrow-like tips at both ends that point outward. The seemingly shorter line has arrows pointing inward. If you remove the “mask” of the arrowheads, the true (equal) length of the lines becomes visible.
Michalko cites an example from industry where a reversal has been successfully applied. At the time Henry Ford entered the automotive business, the conventional approach was, “Put people to work.” Ford reversed the principle to “bring the work to the people” – the result was the assembly line.
Nothing is sacrosanct (untouchable) and any assumption can be questioned. Inversions destabilize our conventional thought patterns and release information that emerges in provocative new combinations. It’s not so much about finding the one, right answer directly, as it is about finding new perspectives on existing information.
“False Faces” is related to “Headstand Technique” – but invert in the sense of “False Faces” generally does not mean invert negatively, as in the Headstand Technique.
