How the Actor Jack Nicholson Used Creativity in the Movie “Five Easy Pieces”

Jack Nicholson would like a side order of toast with his breakfast in a restaurant.

However, the restaurant does not have a side order of toast on the menu.

Nicholson gets creative, and thinks out-of-the-box to get his toast by ordering a chicken salad sandwich (a number 2) on toast, and asking the waitress to hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise and the chicken (between her knees), which would leave him with TOAST, but leaves the waitress “toasted.”

The exchange between Nicholson and the waitress is not a good example of being respectful, but this scene is an excellent example of how creativity can be used to solve a problem.

The end of the scene gives a whole new meaning to, “Let’s table this discussion.”

Although Jack Nicholson’s technique is not the best way to “Win Friends and Influence People”, you can borrow his approach (minus the table clearing) to work around bureaucratic rules that might be blocking a solution to your problem.

Go ahead and borrow, because Picasso said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

If you want to hear a 200-year-old comeback line that equals anything Jack has said, then please visit, The Most Creative Comeback Line in History.

curtisp@creativity-workshops.com

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