Shoot the Moon

Shoot the Moon

December 17, 2008. By Peter Lloyd

I've been taken to task more than once for stating that anybody can be creative. Sorry, I won't take it back. But I will elaborate.

Anybody can be creative. But that's kind of like saying anyone can play baseball. Of course they can. But there's office softball and then there's the major leagues. And an awful lot in between.

Same with creativity. You can rearrange the furniture in your office or rearrange the solar system. In either case, you're bound to make waves. And that's good.

In some offices, where management's tolerance for creativity is extremely low, you can get fired for hanging an unapproved poster. But if you really want to hang onto your Picasso, you probably don't want to work there anyway.

It's no different in the creative big leagues. One highly regarded mathematician, once proposed destroying the moon. He figured it would moderate the tides, even out the polar ice caps, and create what he calls "eternal spring" over most of the planet.

Talk about making waves! He had the scientific community spinning. All sorts of new ideas went flying around. And the ripple effect... Who knows? Maybe some company president read about the debate and was inspired to open a satellite office.

The point is, there's no such thing as a bad idea. So no matter what league you play for, let's try to mix it up a little. Toss your wildest idea on the table. If everybody looks at you like you're a lunatic, at least you'll know you're on the wrong team.

If your idea flies, you'll prove to yourself what all creative people know for certain—your right brain works.

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest business problems.

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