Page 111 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

102 180° THINKING: A TNEREFFID WAY TO IDEATE

with this idea if I just decided to think of different ways to make beds
better? Perhaps. I don’t really know. I do know, however, that I did
come up with this idea using 180° Thinking. And I did it quite quickly.
Many ideas appear to have been arrived at using 180° Thinking,
whether or not the thinker knew he or she was using the technique: the
shampoo bottle with the cap on the bottom, the sewing machine needle
with the eye at the “wrong” end, the engine in the front of the car (it
started in the back, contrary to what old Volkswagen lovers may like to
think). There are also many ideas that have been developed using 180°
Thinking at some stage in the process, even though the results of this
opposite mentality may not be apparent in the final results.
What I like about 180° Thinking is how easy it is to get your mind
out of the predictable patterns and into new places. Even if you just use
it as a thinking blockbuster and the final idea bears no resemblance to
the initial 180° thought, it doesn’t matter as long as it shakes you from
your predictable rational process and your final result is good.

BAD OR BETTER?

One of the greatest lessons to be learned from 180° Thinking is
that we should not be so quick to discount our so-called bad ideas or
mistakes.

Don’t discount an idea just because it is wrong according to traditional
thinking or because it isn’t what you intended. If an idea is totally
against what you intended to do, or partially against it for that matter,
don’t be so quick to think it’s not valid.
Some notable examples of accidental 180° Thinking that could be
included in the innovation hall of fame: Vicks NyQuil, the cold remedy
that was initially thought to be a failure because it put people to sleep,
and Post-it notes, those little pieces of sticky paper that use that
“bogus” adhesive whose molecules stick to only one surface. Failed
products, according to the original intention, but accidentally brilliant.
Chapter 14, “Accidental Genius,” gives you more examples of how
being open to things you weren’t looking for is an important part of
creativeness.