Oblique Strategies

Oblique Strategies (subtitled over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas) is a set of published cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. Now in its fifth edition, they were first published in 1975. Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation.

A few examples at random:

• State the problem in words as clearly as possible
• Only one element of each kind
• What would your closest friend do?
• What to increase? What to reduce?
• Try faking it!

From the introduction to the 2001 edition:

These cards evolved from separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognised in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition),sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated.

They can be used as a pack, or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear...