Do It Yourself Lobotomy by Tom Monahan
by Adrian Hanft, (3 comments)
Where do new ideas come from? Tom Monohan tackled that interesting question tonight when he gave HOW's Keynote called "The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy: Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking." I have to admit I wasn't really excited about this one. There is just something wrong with watching a Powerpoint (or in Tom Monahan's case, Keynote) about how to be more creative. With that said, it was a pretty interesting talk. Some of the gems I walked away with were:
1. Creativity = Problem Solving.
2. Force yourself to ask questions you don't know the answer to. That will allow you to find new solutions.
3. Ask questions early. Your mind likes to play with questions it doesn't know the answer to.
4. Don't be afraid of bad ideas. Think of them as fertilizer for the really good idea.
5. Fail boldly. Successful people fail more than regular people.
Tom's had a few fun exercises like brainstorming ways to improve luggage. The exercise was called "100 MPH Thinking" and with 3000 designers cranking out as many ideas as they could, there was undoubtedly some great ideas. Wouldn't Samsonite have loved to get there hands on the notes from 3000 designer's ideas for improving luggage.
Another exercise was called "180 Degree Thinkng." Tom's point was that intentionally thinking of bad ideas for a project forces you out of your traditional thinking. It allows you to find truly creative ways to approach the project.
It wasn't revolutionary stuff, just solid advice, and practical activities. Tom got the conference off to a good start, and prepped the crowd for a couple of great days at the 2005 HOW Conference.
Tom ended by giving the following links to follow up on his Keynote:
www.before-after.com/HOW
www.doityourselflobotomy.com/HOW
(Tom said those links should be working by Monday)
Comments (3)
Bennett said:
I think our best solutions for the suitcases were, a modular suitcase system and a suitcase that turns into a tent.
Creativity is so hard to pin down. I don’t know where I would begin. I think he did a pretty good job of it. It all comes down to forcing yourself to come up with ideas even when you’re not in the mood or right frame of mind. When you are in the business of being creative, we don’t have the privilege to wait until we feel inspired.
Posted on June 12, 2005
Jane said:
Tom was a delightful speaker and had the crowd going with plenty of interaction. Although his presentation wasn’t dramatic, he still humored us with the “baby head” approach, yet kept us focused on what he had to say rather than how he created it!
And it was a good reminder to dust off the 180ｬ thinking, and infuse the hour with quotes, such as Voltaire’s “the best is the enemy of good.”
Posted on June 13, 2005
Henry said:
This is the worst book I’ve read in months - too simple, nothing new, nothing ingenious plus bad writing. Feels like the author’s first book or something and perhaps some factory worker who never thought about creativity would find reading this book helpful and interesting.
Posted on June 30, 2008