A tool for innovators designed to break creative blocks and encourage lateral thinking
Inspired by the card game called “Oblique strategies” designed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, our edition adapts the original intent to the world of Research & Development. While Eno and Schmidt aimed to help artists, we have contextualised the prompts to the issues faced by innovators. Although both groups are creative thinkers, they face different pressures in terms of funding landscapes, politics or hype.
About the author:
The prompts for the game are based on a research project conducted by Dr Ola Michalec at the University of Bristol.
Between 2023-2025, Ola has engaged with dozens of entrepreneurs and tech workers to understand the development of digital innovations in the energy sector.
Hence, this edition draws on the themes that resonated with research participants: digital twins, data sharing, innovation culture, hype and innovation funding.
The card deck was designed by 
Carla de la Torre, the website was designed and built by 
Nick Lewis based on the research conducted by Dr Ola Michalec.
Many thanks to interviewees who shared their views on their innovation challenges!
The project has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Innovation Launchpad Network+ Researcher in Residence scheme (grant numbers EP/W037009/1, EP/X528493/1).
You can use and adapt our cards for free and share them with others for non-commercial purposes under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license as long as you attribute the creators, Carla del Torre and Ola Michalec.
Oblique Strategies game which has inspired our project is under copyright by B. Eno and P. Schmidt 1975, '78, '79. You can purchase the cards on Enoshop.
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