The Beauty of Taskmaster
I’ve recently started watching the series Taskmaster and I’m hooked.
Each contestant is given the same unusual challenge yet the range of responses is endlessly inventive.
Some take the instructions literally, others find clever loopholes.
Some build elaborate contraptions, others use a single object.
Some use logic and precision, others respond with urgency and chaos.
Some approach the task with sincerity and focus, others twist it into something surreal or absurd.
It consistently demonstrates the beautiful uniqueness of how people think.
The scoring is subjective, even whimsical. Points are awarded by the Taskmaster based on his own logic - or mood. Effort doesn’t guarantee reward. Nor does success.
Which makes failure expected - and inconsequential.
So what’s left? Play. Exploration. Surprise.
Taskmaster is pure lateral thinking in motion. It rewards unexpected questions, odd leaps, and bending the rules entirely.
Many of our systems reward vertical thinking: logical, structured, optimised.
But lateral thinking invites different questions:
➜ What else could this be?
➜ What happens if I break the rule?
➜ What if I use this object for something it wasn’t designed for?
Many of the products, tools and ideas we now rely on were born from this kind of thinking:
Post-it Notes, which came from a failed attempt at making a strong adhesive.
Airbnb, which asked: what if people stayed in each other’s homes instead of hotels?
Velcro, inspired by burrs stuck to a dog’s fur.
The Dyson vacuum, created by questioning why vacuums needed bags at all.
Lateral thinking creates space for seeing something from an angle that linear logic often overlooks.
That’s what Taskmaster does brilliantly. It turns problem-solving into something joyful, subversive, and alive.
What would happen if more of our real-world challenges were approached this way?
What if the way we’ve always done it isn’t the only way - or even the best way?
Is there a routine or rule that no one questions - but you quietly do?
