Page 143 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

134 HOW TO PUT THESE TOOLS TO WORK

ter helps make up the slack. That’s why you have more than one club
in your golf bag. That’s why I have developed many types of Do-It-
Yourself Lobotomy tools.

IS ITTHE TOOL OR THE WORKER?

If you’re having an impossible time coming up with a fresh idea using
this or that tool, or even if you’re coming up dry using all of the tools,
ask yourself, “Is it the tools, or is it me?”
Think about it. The whole reason I developed these tools is because
people become attached to old ideas, so they often need strong levers to
pry their minds off that old stuck place.
I have worked with companies where some people walked into the
room saying, “There’s no way to do this better.” The stuck person goes
through the motions and participates in the brainstorming session,
seemingly involved just like everyone else. But if in the end this
naysayer doesn’t come up with any new ideas, is it because the tools
didn’t work or because this person simply wasn’t open to the new ideas
that presented themselves during the thinking process? A more open,
less detached coworker gives it a shot and is very successful. You tell
me, is it the tool or the worker?
Fortunately, you are not that kind of person. How do I know this?
Because you’re reading this book.

MY GUARANTEE

I offer a guarantee at my workshops. I will offer it here. If you don’t
use any of these tools, I guarantee they will not work.

Like the tools in my basement, if I don’t use these thinking tools they
get rusty.

Conversely, the more you use these tools, the more effective they
become. I might even say they are self-sharpening tools: The more you
use them, the sharper you become.
People often ask me if I use these tools. Well, to be honest with you,
I rarely do anymore.