Page 89 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

80 ASK A BETTER QUESTION

ably on these worksheets, the early answers tend to be pretty lame.
And I’ll take the blame, because I was asking pretty lame questions. I
was asking questions that allowed you to stay in the known. It’s human
nature to want to know the answer. Since our childhood years we’ve
always strived to know the answer, and the answer is something that
already exists, so we tend to go with what already exists. Besides, say-
ing “Bela Lugosi in a swimsuit” without permission is really putting
yourself out there. If you immediately answered, “Bela-Lugosi-in-a-
swimsuit socks!” I might even think you’re a little strange, and I’m the
creative thinking coach who’s trying to get you to think out of the box.
The mind is capable of imagining much more than what you know,
particularly if encouraged to do so. It’s just that we tend to put our-
selves in a predefined context in terms of solving problems or answer-
ing questions. This determines how we approach a situation. We put
ourselves in a context that can be addressed with a known, but when
asked progressively more probing questions, you had no choice but to
push your mind out to a place you’ve never been before. By definition,
the question forced you there.
This Lobotomy tool, as I stated, is called Ask a Better Question. It’s
been around since the beginning of time. Wasn’t that the Socratic
method? Questions?
Questions have caused people to think better for years. When you
asked a question in college, didn’t your best professors answer with a
question? Why? Because that made you think.

Some of the greatest thinkers of all time have asked great questions.
You, when you’re at your creative best, ask great questions, too.

BETTER QUESTION/BETTER AD

I received this lesson early in my advertising career. I was working on
the first tennis shoe commercial to air on television. It was a product
owned by Colgate-Palmolive, called the Fred Perry tennis shoe. And I
remember when research told us... drumroll... “comfort” was the
major benefit of this shoe. “Okay,” the other creative team members
and I said with a deflated sigh. “Okay. Comfort. Big deal.” But then the
entire team, account people and creatives, started asking better ques-