Oblique Strategies

Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt printed their Oblique Strategies on cards to break creative deadlock.¹ This is the Push version: a set of lenses, frameworks and question lists for approaching a problem indirectly when the direct route has stalled.

The thread through all of it is the manifesto's evidence-based stance. Decisions rest on what can be observed and tested, not on assumption or opinion. Each lens is a different way of asking "what does the evidence say?" and "what am I not seeing?"

How to use it🔗

It is not meant to be read top to bottom. Name the kind of stuck you are, pick the guide that matches, and use one or two of its lenses to interrogate what you already know.

• The data is confusing or too big. Use Reading the Data: who, what, where and when; the six Vs; data to information to knowledge; the analytics techniques and the friction in the system.
• The people are the problem. Use People and Communication: circles of influence, communication styles, the stakeholder types, bias, and the skills that let you be heard.
• The business case is fuzzy. Use Business and Strategy: shared value, business-model canvases, digital business models, vision, RASCI and Kevin Kelly's twelve forces.
• You have a problem and no plan. Use Approach to Problem-Solving: the six steps, the goal, reality and options questions, and the list of questions to ask a new stakeholder.
• You have an answer and nobody is listening. Use Presenting and Storytelling: the story circle, the song-arrangement shape of a pitch, and five rules for sentences.
• There is a disagreement or a behaviour to confront. Use Disagreements and Behaviour: the RISA framework, confronting behaviour in five steps, and the three ways of helping.
• You need a primer fast. Use Technology Primers: blockchain, large language models and the software design principles in one place.

The stance behind the lenses🔗

An evidence-based approach is a method of solving problems or making decisions that relies on data and scientific evidence. This approach is based on the idea that decisions and solutions should be based on verifiable facts and data, rather than assumptions or opinions. The goal of an evidence-based approach is to make decisions that are as objective and unbiased as possible.²

Applied to a problem space, an evidence-based approach would involve the use of statistical methods and data analysis to understand the underlying patterns and relationships within the data. This would involve collecting and analyzing large amounts of data, and using techniques such as dimensionality reduction and clustering to identify patterns and structures within the data.

The critical approach would involve a deep and thorough examination of the data, taking into account various factors such as the limitations of the data, the assumptions made, and the potential biases that may be present.³ This approach would also consider the interpretability and generalizability of the results.

A combination of evidence-based and critical approaches would enable us to understand a problem space in a more comprehensive and rigorous way. This approach would ensure that the results are based on solid evidence and are free from biases and assumptions, while also being able to critically evaluate the limitations and interpret the results in a meaningful way.

Related reading🔗

• A Toolkit for Getting Unstuck on which lens to reach for first.
• Ambiguity and Bias on the two failure modes every lens is trying to catch.