B-TIER technique
The Wrong Game — clown exercise to break perceptual autopilot
100k ft — What is this?
The Wrong Game — clown exercise to break perceptual autopilot
50k ft — Why care?
Point at an object and confidently name something it isn't. A 30-second clown warm-up that jolts attention, imagination and willingness to be wrong; stumbling or going blank counts as finding the clown.
10k ft — Key takeaways
• Resist pre-planning clever answers
• Use it as a quick creative warm-up before ideation
5k ft — Tools & techniques
(no tools tagged)
improv warm-up
1k ft — Deep-dive / try it
🚫 The Wrong Game 🚫
Bust out of autopilot! Get in touch with the world around you!
The Wrong Game is super quick clown exercise that wakes your brain up.
Point at an object.
Confidently say what it isn’t.
That’s it. You win by being wrong. 🙃
Go play for 30 seconds, then come back and tell me the funniest wrong answer your brain came up with. 👇✨
Transcript excerpt
Wanna make the ordinary more interesting? Here is a clown exercise to boop your brain out of autopilot. I call this the wrong game. First, open your eyes really wide and blink. Next, take a deep breath, look around, find an object, point at it, state with conviction anything the object is not. A paperclip, darkened hallway, courage, crucifix, tuna fish sandwich, character worksheet, crying baby. When you do that, you won the game. You're jumpstarting your attention, imagination, curiosity, language, and a willingness to be wrong, which is where the clown's brain usually lives. Suddenly, the world seems more interesting. You're discovering it instead of just moving through it. I've been playing the wrong game every day this week and I have noticed two very interesting things. First, it's really funny to see where my mind goes. And secondly, I found myself wanting to be clever. It was hard not to pre-plan a funny thing to say because, of course, I want to come across to you as the funniest human being alive. That's not the point of this game. If you stumble, mumble, stutter, go blank, congratulations, you found the clown. And now, off you go. Play the wrong game for 30 seconds and then I would love if you came back and told me the weirdest or funniest thing that your brain came up with.