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, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. 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?