Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self

by Don Hahn

So now put yourself in a social setting like a work retreat. You’re having a good time exchanging ideas, writing them down with felt markers on those huge Post-it notepads. Suddenly your boss says to you in a vaguely accusatory tone, “Don, I overheard you talking in your group and it sounded like you had some ideas for better-quality products here at the Widget company. What were those ideas?” Lizard brain, being our social survival coach, immediately speaks up in your head: “This is a setup, he’s going to shoot you down no matter what you say, deflect the question! Keep your mouth shut, keep it shut!” All lizard brain remembers are the times when parents, teachers, and other bosses humiliated you. The sad result? A new idea is edited before it is spoken. The boss feels a certain satisfaction and superiority in your embarrassment. Neither person has contributed to a productive creative exchange. But your lizard brain and all the fears that go with it is here to stay, and your job is to figure out a way to ignore it sometimes, and when the coast is clear and you are in a safe room, say what you deeply feel without fear of reproach.