Reverse the spread

Asking “How can we really annoy our customers?” instead of “How can we increase customer satisfaction?” may just prod your brain into creative mode.

Reverse brainstorming and reversing the problem are fun ways to jolt the brain out of its usual ways of thinking. Sometimes a surprise shakes loose some ideas, so why not approach the problem from the opposite direction?

In reversals, you ask questions such as “How can we make the problem worse?” or “How can we cause the problem?”

Alternatively, you can reverse something in the problem definition:

“How can we increase sales of Widget X” could become “How can we stop people from buying Widget X?”

You can reverse anything in the problem statement—go backward or do the opposite. Reverse a viewpoint. Change direction. Reverse the action, or the object, or the goal of the exercise. Find an upside-down and back-to-front way of stating the problem. Then brainstorm solutions.

And with Tarot cards?

Reverse or negative brainstorming works well with Tarot cards, but techniques specific to Tarot would be to reverse the cards or to ask the “wrong” questions in the spread positions.

Reverse cards offer a wealth of meanings, mostly because there are various ways to read them. In The complete book of Tarot reversals (see bibliography below) Mary Greer offers twelve ways to read reversed cards. James Ricklef and Joan Bunning also describe ways to read reverse cards.

And in creative problem-solving, the more stimuli you have, the greater the chances of finding unexpected solutions.

The reversed spread

The first part of this spread is a normal problem-solving exercise using upright cards, so write down your problem statement, shuffle the cards, and lay them out like this:

1. What is the problem?

2. What is the most important thing about this problem?

3. How can I approach this problem?

4. What or who can help?

Now reverse the cards

Repeat 1: What is not part of the problem?

Repeat 2: How can I make the problem worse?

Repeat 3: What should I not do?

Repeat 4: What if I do nothing?

Why reverse the problem?

When you concentrate on what not to do, you surprise your brain by tackling the problem from a different angle.

Once you have generated ideas, of course, you need to reverse the “solutions” to apply to your problem.

Reversing the problem also addresses common stumbling blocks in problem-solving.

The first is working with a fuzzy definition of the problem, so that it is not clear what is or is not part of the problem. You might have defined your problem too widely (“How can we increase customer satisfaction” versus “How can we make our teenage customers happy”), or too narrowly (“How can we encourage teamwork?” versus “How can we improve staff morale?”).

You might be trying to solve the wrong problem (focusing on team spirit when the team members are unhappy about things that have nothing to do with the team).

You also do not want to spend time on a problem, only to find that the problem does not exist anymore. The urgency of the problem might have passed, or the problem might have solved itself. (Wouldn’t that be nice!)

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1. Bunning, J. (2003). Learning Tarot reversals. York Beach, ME: Red Wheel / Weiser.
2. Greer, M. K. (2001). The complete book of Tarot reversals. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn.
3. Anthony Louis, Tarot plain and simple. Bounty Books, 2008
4. Ricklef, J. (2003). Tarot tells the tale: Explore three-card readings through familiar stories. St Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn.