What is the opposite of a snowball?
February 20, 2012 4:17 PM Subscribe
This is a slightly strange one, so bear with me if you will!
I have been building a rubber-band ball ever since I read the Warren Buffett biography "Snowball". I wanted something in my office that symbolized the snowball idea -- little achievements that gradually grow into something big -- and that I had made myself. It is growing pretty big right now.
It occurred to me the other day that a successful strategy requires a dual approach. So now I am thinking that slow and steady is only half the picture. The other half is impulse, intuition, go-with-your-gut and, as my handle indicates, seat-of-my-pants!
My question: What can I put in my office that symbolizes this spontaneous trait. The ying to the yang of snowball. The quantum-leap approach, if you will!
I want to have something that is either interactive or made by myself so that it is not just an inanimate glump sitting on a shelf.
Thank you for indulging me and I look forward to your insights.
Lego sculpture?
posted by oceanjesse at 4:23 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by oceanjesse at 4:23 PM on February 20, 2012
A marble run that you can tinker with yourself.
posted by acidic at 4:26 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by acidic at 4:26 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
Make yourself a Jackson Pollock style painting?
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 4:26 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 4:26 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
I say build a little Katamari sculpture. Just keep a tube of super glue in your desk and when ever the mood strikes, glue it up!
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 4:27 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 4:27 PM on February 20, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. Just some nudging of ideas to fine-tweak my direction:
Rocket: Yes!
Lego: Sounds more snowbally to me.
Marble run: To gradual, snowbally.
Jackson pollock: Hmm, perhaps. Maybe leans towards creative and artsy too much. Looking more productive in general.
Diving board: Nice and fun.
Katamari: Thanks for teaching me something new. Seems to be more snowbally.
Slingshot monkey: I got a got a good laugh but doesn't quite show achievement or productivity.
To put articulate my idea in another model, try this: The snowball effect is the evolution of success and productivity; I am looking for the big-bang effect.
posted by seatofmypants at 4:44 PM on February 20, 2012
Rocket: Yes!
Lego: Sounds more snowbally to me.
Marble run: To gradual, snowbally.
Jackson pollock: Hmm, perhaps. Maybe leans towards creative and artsy too much. Looking more productive in general.
Diving board: Nice and fun.
Katamari: Thanks for teaching me something new. Seems to be more snowbally.
Slingshot monkey: I got a got a good laugh but doesn't quite show achievement or productivity.
To put articulate my idea in another model, try this: The snowball effect is the evolution of success and productivity; I am looking for the big-bang effect.
posted by seatofmypants at 4:44 PM on February 20, 2012
Response by poster: @smashed-guitar: Not so much nuclear bomb vs coal energy, more nuclear energy! (Not to belabor the point... I am crsytalising the idea as go along).
Flux capacitor is great but perhaps needs too much interpretation.
posted by seatofmypants at 4:53 PM on February 20, 2012
Flux capacitor is great but perhaps needs too much interpretation.
posted by seatofmypants at 4:53 PM on February 20, 2012
A little superball? Every so often, you could grab it and fling it to the floor really hard like you used to do when you were a kid, and watch it go bouncing around everywhere.
posted by illenion at 4:54 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by illenion at 4:54 PM on February 20, 2012
A "Shoot the Moon" marble game.
posted by itstheclamsname at 4:59 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by itstheclamsname at 4:59 PM on February 20, 2012
Best answer: Lightbulb. If you want it to be DIY, wire up a little lamp yourself (use an LED and batteries if you want to make it really easy).
posted by lollusc at 5:02 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by lollusc at 5:02 PM on February 20, 2012
To be true to your objective no object anyone suggests will work. Only you will know know what the item is and you won't know what it is until you see it, buy it, and bring it to your office.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:06 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by plastic_animals at 5:06 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
What about a yoyo?
posted by one little who at 5:23 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by one little who at 5:23 PM on February 20, 2012
Response by poster: I like the light bulb idea. Am thinking of bidding on this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/270918822136
posted by seatofmypants at 5:24 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by seatofmypants at 5:24 PM on February 20, 2012
Can you rig the light bulb to go on randomly? Once in a while you'll look up and notice it's on - a way to catch your attention. A reminder to be spontaneous or change your thinking for a minute.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 5:35 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by crankyrogalsky at 5:35 PM on February 20, 2012
Response by poster: interesting idea, rogalsky. i am sure it is possible.
posted by seatofmypants at 5:37 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by seatofmypants at 5:37 PM on February 20, 2012
Best answer: This is a commercial product which is designed exactly for your purposes: Creative Whack Pack.
posted by bukvich at 5:47 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by bukvich at 5:47 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
A copy of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, front and center.
posted by thinkpiece at 6:01 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by thinkpiece at 6:01 PM on February 20, 2012
Oh, sorry I didn't read closely enough to notice that you wanted the opposite. Clearly you are looking for a nice crystal bowl with pop rocks in it.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:20 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 7:20 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
A kaleidoscope.
Or try the Celestial Orb - it's like a kaleidoscope for your hands.
posted by Jade_bug at 8:32 PM on February 20, 2012
Or try the Celestial Orb - it's like a kaleidoscope for your hands.
posted by Jade_bug at 8:32 PM on February 20, 2012
Hang the rubber ball thing from the ceiling, by a bungee cord. Just the idea of hitting it or imagining how it will bounce around madly captures spontaneity, and you won't need a second object cluttering things up. Often opposites can be united in one object/structure, so you don't need another.
posted by Listener at 8:53 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by Listener at 8:53 PM on February 20, 2012
A set of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:18 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 9:18 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
You could impetuously throw away the ball, and be reminded of your willingness to not be beholden to old habits by its absence. Bonus...the absence of the ball and the memory of the ball will be with you everywhere, not just at the desk. I would also argue that "no ball" is the strict opposite of a ball. You could have a plaque denoting where the nonexistent ball sits on your desk if you need a concrete reminder.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:49 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:49 PM on February 20, 2012
Tank of helium, balloons?
Rainbow maker?
Popcorn machine?
Dice? Juggling balls (esp if you also learn to juggle)?
posted by thylacinthine at 10:22 PM on February 20, 2012
Rainbow maker?
Popcorn machine?
Dice? Juggling balls (esp if you also learn to juggle)?
posted by thylacinthine at 10:22 PM on February 20, 2012
Inception utterly ruined these for me, but I've always associated small, brass, spinning totems/tops with these sorts of ideas (i.e. chance mixed with impulsiveness).
This may be a bit too subtle or abstract for your liking, though.
posted by fakelvis at 11:18 PM on February 20, 2012
This may be a bit too subtle or abstract for your liking, though.
posted by fakelvis at 11:18 PM on February 20, 2012
Oblique Strategies is pretty hard to get hold of in physical form, but it is available online - set it as a home page!
posted by mippy at 4:18 AM on February 21, 2012
posted by mippy at 4:18 AM on February 21, 2012
Firecrackers.
posted by flabdablet at 9:29 AM on February 21, 2012
posted by flabdablet at 9:29 AM on February 21, 2012
Best answer: Get one of those plastic pockets that you attach to the wall for holding file folders. Then take an old favorite pair of pants, cut out the seat, and use it to cover the surface of the file holder (secure with glue). Attach the file holder to your wall -- voila! Seat of your Pants, looking at you all day long, incongruous yet useful. And you could stick pens and pencils in the pockets, and hang things on the belt loops.
posted by Corvid at 11:56 AM on February 21, 2012
posted by Corvid at 11:56 AM on February 21, 2012
Don't spend time on ebay buying a thing to inspire you. Use your energy more carefully. What crazy idea inspires you most? For me it would be a Pet Rock, or a copy of 101 Uses for Dead Cat, both silly products that made a bunch of money. But, most important, stop focusing on how to be creative, how to be inspired, and spend more time doing.
posted by theora55 at 4:02 PM on February 21, 2012
posted by theora55 at 4:02 PM on February 21, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jayder at 4:20 PM on February 20, 2012