A Paradigm Shift: The Sound of One Hand Clapping

If you always think what you have always thought,
Then you will always do what you have always done,
And you will always get what you have always gotten.

— Thoughts About Thinking

A paradigm is a belief structure within which you think and act. The paradigms within which you operate affect your creativity. Usually, they box you in and produce tunnel vision. A paradigm shift changes your belief structure, changes your perspective, and allows you to see things differently.

An old Zen riddle asks, "How do you get through a gateless gate?" Do you mean how you accomplish the impossible? You start by defining the problem creatively, shifting paradigms, generating many ideas, and combining them into creative trigger-ideas and workable solutions. Then come committed action plans and the real work.

A Riddle: How Do You Get Through a Gateless Gate?

How do you do the impossible at work?

Note the paradigm shift.

Start by defining the problem creatively, shifting paradigms, generating ideas abundantly, and combining them innovatively into creative solutions. After that comes committed action and the real work.

At the beginning of my creative thinking workshop, I often ask, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Most people give no answer. Some say the sound is silence, a breakthrough in realizing that the answer does not have to be clever.

When I ask children this question, they look puzzled. Sometimes they wave one hand through the air, listening for the answer. Actually, the waving of one hand is one answer to the question. This is hard for some people to understand.

In some Zen training, the riddle of the "sound of one hand clapping" is given to novices beginning to master Zen. The novice meditates on its meaning and makes daily visits to the Zen master for about three years to absorb its teachings.

According to Yoel Hoffman in The Sound of One Hand: 281 Koans with Answers, the acceptable answer is for the novice to face the Zen master, take a correct posture, and silently extend one hand forward. This answer embodies much of Zen philosophy. It is immediate, nonverbal, spontaneous, and intuitive, and so is creative thinking.

The Zen answer has many nuances that we need not pursue. Suffice it to say that three years of meditating on the "sound of one hand clapping" produces a paradigm shift in the novice's view of reality.

Shift Paradigms to Achieve Quality Solutions

My purpose in using the riddle is to produce a quick paradigm shift that helps creative thinking. Paradigm shifts help creativity.

I want to jolt people into realizing that the way we perceive a problem limits our thinking. Almost immediately, some participants recognize creativity-spoiling habits that block their thinking. This change in perception can alter how they approach creativity and how they enhance it.

They see that ideas can be expressed nonverbally as well as in writing. They see the value of being spontaneous and intuitive as well as rational, and immediate as well as reflective. They see that creative thinking can be helped by changes in perception.

All this is triggered by a Zen riddle. This book is also like a Zen riddle in that it is intended to change perceptions, produce paradigm shifts, and enhance creative thinking with advanced creativity techniques.

A True Story

This chapter is the result of trigger-ideas and paradigm shifts sparked by reading about a dozen books on Zen. These ideas evolved into concepts that I incorporated into the design and activities of my creative thinking workshops and throughout this book.

I did not interrupt the text to point out Zen applications because I did not want to distract from the flow of ideas. The Zen trigger-ideas usually evolved into outcomes unrelated to their Zen origins.

What Is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?

Well, it's like the sound of one brain thinking creatively.

Note this paradigm shift.

Oh, you mean it is a silent explosion in the universe.