Page 244 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

Afterword 235

When you’re creating, you have to risk looking or sounding a little
foolish, and you have to let it out.

So often when leading brainstorming sessions or playing the
“Guess my socks” game or some other in-room exercise at my training
programs, I can see it in people’s eyes that they’re holding back. I can
see the excitement of having a wild idea battling with the self-
consciousness of exposing one’s inner whims.
Every great thinker of every great idea has faced the moment when
he or she had to make the decision to go public with their concept or to
hold back. We should all be grateful that so many people have the guts
to let those wonderful ideas out. Conversely, imagine how many great
ideas have been lost on the tip of someone’s mind, pen, paintbrush or
keyboard.
Fortunately, I had my brother and his 80-decibel Crayolas to help
me learn that important lesson early in life: If you don’t let ideas out, no
one will ever know what’s on your mind.