They Call It "A Creativity Tool for Innovators." We Call It a Really Fun Toy.

by Virginia Postrel  •  Nov 26, 2006 at 3:10 pm

http://www.dynamist.com/1814/they-call-it-a-creativity-tool-for-innovators-we

One day two samples of something called Roger von Oech's Ball of Whacks showed up in my mail. There was no press release in the package, and no explanatory letter--just two samples. Each ball contains 30 magnetic prisms--a review on the ball's Amazon page says they're rhombic triacontahedrons (I wouldn't know)--which you can reconfigure into all sorts of fun shapes, many resembly Manga spaceships or strange alien creatures. Whether playing with these stimulates productive innovation, I can't say for sure. But the Ball of Whacks does seem to illustrate the power of play, as I explored in TFAIE and related work. And it would make a great present for anyone old enough not to swallow the pieces. Here are some sample creations from Professor Postrel.