A Whack on the Side of the Head
How You Can Be More Creative
by Roger von Oech
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech is a brisk collection of prompts, brief anecdotes, and thought experiments designed to unsettle habitual thinking. The material is fragmentary and bite-sized, making it easy to dip into before meetings or when you need a quick creative spark. Useful as a warm-up or idea-generator, but limiting if you want detailed implementation guidance or long-form case studies—some readers will find the recurring gimmicks and short-form tricks repetitive rather than deep.
Read this if...
- •product manager running a stalled roadmap sprint who needs a five- to ten-minute exercise to push the team out of obvious solutions — supplies quick prompts that loosen pattern thinking.
- •high-school or college instructor planning a single class on creative thinking who wants short, classroom-ready activities and discussion prompts — material is brief and easy to adapt.
- •freelance designer or copywriter facing a tight deadline who needs fast idea-generators to unblock a brief — short lateral exercises offer fresh entry points without major setup.
Skip this if...
- •you want a step-by-step creativity system with metrics and long-term implementation — this offers prompts, not project plans.
- •you dislike repetition or gimmicky exercises; you'll likely put it down when the same playful format repeats and novelty wears off.
- •you prefer dense theory, long workplace case studies, or tightly argued academic grounding — the tone stays anecdotal and light.
This is the 25th anniversary edition of the creativity classic by Dr. Roger von Oech. Over the years, A WHACK ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD has been praised by business people, educators, scientists, homemakers, artists, youth leaders, and many more. The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and us...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:easy
Audience Fit
- product manager running a stalled roadmap sprint who needs a five- to ten-minute exercise to push the team out of obvious solutions — supplies quick prompts that loosen pattern thinking.
- high-school or college instructor planning a single class on creative thinking who wants short, classroom-ready activities and discussion prompts — material is brief and easy to adapt.
- freelance designer or copywriter facing a tight deadline who needs fast idea-generators to unblock a brief — short lateral exercises offer fresh entry points without major setup.
- you want a step-by-step creativity system with metrics and long-term implementation — this offers prompts, not project plans.
- you dislike repetition or gimmicky exercises; you'll likely put it down when the same playful format repeats and novelty wears off.
- you prefer dense theory, long workplace case studies, or tightly argued academic grounding — the tone stays anecdotal and light.
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books, Writing, and Psychology.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Neville Medhora
“You can flip to any section and find some 'new way of looking at a problem' in this book.”
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
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Hans RoslingHow recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.