The Do It Yourself Lobotomy: Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

275 Pages·2002·1.71 MB·English

by  Tom Monahan

THE
DO-IT-YOURSELF
LOBOTOMY
Open Your Mind to Greater
Creative Thinking
Tom Monahan
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

THE DO-IT-YOURSELF
LOBOTOMY
Adweek Booksis designed to present interesting, insightful books for
the general business reader and for professionals in the worlds of
media, marketing, and advertising.
These are innovative, creative books that address the challenges and
opportunities of these industries, written by leaders in the business.
Some of our writers head their own companies, others have worked
their way up to the top of their field in large multinationals. But they
share a knowledge of their craft and a desire to enlighten others.
We hope readers will find these books as helpful and inspiring as
Adweek, Brandweek,andMediaweekmagazines.
Published
Disruption: Overturning Conventions and Shaking Up the Marketplace,
Jean-Marie Dru
Under the Radar: Talking to Today’s Cynical Consumer,Jonathan Bond
and Richard Kirshenbaum
Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning,Jon Steel
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads,Luke Sullivan
Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand
Leaders,Adam Morgan
Warp-Speed Branding: The Impact of Technology on Marketing,Agnieszka
Winkler
Creative Company: How St. Luke’s Became “the Ad Agency to End All Ad
Agencies,” Andy Law
Another One Bites the Grass: Making Sense of International Advertising,
Simon Anholt
Attention! How to Interrupt, Yell, Whisper and Touch Consumers,Ken
Sacharin
The Peaceable Kingdom: Building a Company without Factionalism, Fiefdoms,
Fear, and Other Staples of Modern Business,Stan Richards
with David Culp
Getting the Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall, and Comeback of Volkswagen in
America,by David Kiley
Forthcoming
Beyond Disruption: Changing the Rules in the Marketplaceby Jean-Marie
Dru
And Now a Few Laughs From Our Sponsorby Larry Oakner
THE
DO-IT-YOURSELF
LOBOTOMY
Open Your Mind to Greater
Creative Thinking
Tom Monahan
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This book is dedicated to
the five most important people in my life: my wife,
my best friend, my honey, my partner, and my soul mate.
Of course, that would be Audrey.
Copyright © 2002 by Tom Monahan. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans-
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976
United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Pub-
lisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copy-
right Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone],
fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to
the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York,
NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@
WILEY.COM.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard
to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not
engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assis-
tance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-41742-4. Some content that appears in
the print version of this book may not be available in this electronic edition.
For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com
Contents
PARTI.
What Do Great Ideas Do? 1
Introduction 3
How This Book Works 21
The Rewards of a Great Idea 28
The Consequences of a Bad Idea 32
1. The First Real Chapter (Finally!) 36
PARTII.
Understanding and Demystifying Creativity 47
2. Creativity=Problem Solving 49
3. Change Your Thinking about Change 57
4. Creativity versus Talent 62
PARTIII.
Tools for the Job of Thinking Creatively 71
5. Ask a Better Question 75
6. Ask the Question Early 87
7. 100 MPH Thinking: Thinking at the Speed of
Enlightenment 90
vi Contents
8. 180°Thinking: A Tnereffid Way to Ideate 99
9. Intergalactic Thinking 107
10. Collaborate with Genius 121
11. Conceptual Solitaire 128
12. How to Put These Tools to Work 132
PARTIV.
Dimensionalizing Your New Creative Tools 139
13. Aids to Creativity 141
14. Accidental Genius 147
15. Stop Making Sense 155
16. Redefining the Acceptable Range 160
17. Selling Creative Ideas Requires Its Own Creativity 167
18. Mind Farming 186
19. Storming the Brain 206
20. The Five Greatest Barriers to Creativity 217
21. The Real Bibliography 224
22. Proceed with Passion 228
Afterword 233
Appendix 238
Acknowledgments 261
Index 263
P A R T I
What Do Great
Ideas Do?