CHAPTER 7

EMOTIONAL OBSTACLES

Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.

MAE JEMISON, AMERICAN ENGINEER, PHYSICIAN, AND FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT

When my daughter was a toddler, she preferred to eat penne pasta because it was the only one that would stay on her fork. Keeping spaghetti on her fork, not to mention pronouncing it, was frustrating. The skill of managing a forkful of spaghetti does take patience, a trait many toddlers don’t possess.

Enter Dan Pashman, the host of the James Beard Award–winning podcast Sporkful. Pashman’s goal was to make the ideal pasta shape. What would make it ideal according to Pashman? It would have to have three characteristics: (1) forkability (how easy it is to get the shape on your fork and keep it there), (2) sauceability (how readily sauce adheres to the shape), and (3) toothsinkability (how satisfying it is to sink your teeth into it).¹

“I came at this from an outsider’s perspective,” Pashman explained to Dom Nero of Esquire. “I’m not a chef, I’m not Italian-American, I’m not a pasta expert or historian, so I tried to embrace that perspective, you know? I just approached it from the perspective of someone who loves to eat pasta.”

Nero wrote, “Pashman made it sound so simple on the phone: ‘What’s the pasta shape that I would most want to eat that doesn’t exist?’”²

However, if you listen to Pashman’s podcast episodes on the subject, “Mission ImPASTAble,” you learn that his original ideas for pasta shapes were crushed; no one wanted to distribute his pasta until the Brooklyn-based artisan food company Sfoglini came along. What’s more, Pashman invested a great deal of his own money.

“There were so many emotional ups and downs,” he told Ashlie D. Stevens of Salon in a recent interview. “You will hear my wife running out of patience with this whole mission. My kids are part of it. I’m literally brought to tears on more than one occasion. You will learn a ton about how pasta is made, why this project took nearly three years, and you will laugh hysterically, because a lot of things go wrong in very, very funny ways.”³

You read that correctly. It took Pashman three years to bring his goal of perfect pasta, called cascatelli (Italian for “waterfalls”), to life. He saw a gap—maximizing the three qualities by which all pasta should be judged, according to Pashman. People evidently see a gain because Pashman now can’t manufacture it fast enough to keep up with demand.

There are obstacles that can get in anyone’s way when trying to generate an idea—even when a terrific framework such as the Three Gs is in place. Some external obstacles might be obvious—working full-time, a family to care for, a companion who wants your time, inadequate resources, and much more. I will offer suggestions to help with these in a bit. But for many people, one big internal obstacle is impatience. That’s why I told you Pashman’s story.

Please be patient with yourself. Creativity and actualizing an idea take time. Hang in there. As I said before, your present self might be frustrated but your future self will be very pleased you stuck with it.

What’s more, at times, a goal can be born out of adversity. Listen to Hwang Dong-hyuk’s story.

Hwang Dong-hyuk and his family were struggling financially in 2009, when the global financial crisis hit South Korea. He couldn’t secure financing for the film he was working on. His mother had retired. He, his mother, and grandmother all resorted to taking out loans.

In an interview with the Guardian, Hwang told Stuart Jeffries that he frequented Seoul’s comic book cafes.

“I read Battle Royal and Liar Game and other survival game comics. I related to the people in them, who were desperate for money and success. That was a low point in my life. If there was a survival game like these in reality, I wondered, would I join it to make money for my family? I realized that, since I was a filmmaker, I could put my own touch to these kinds of stories so I started on the script.”⁴

A filmmaker, he originally envisioned Squid Game as a film. Drawing upon the games children play, such as tug-of-war; red light, green light; and the titular game, the squid game (which Hwang played as a child), Hwang set out to write about “desperate people who sign up to play mysterious children’s games in the hopes of winning a large cash prize” (Netflix).

In the real-life version of the squid game, a physically demanding game, players are divided into two teams: attackers and defenders. Attackers advance their way through a squid-shaped area drawn on the ground while defenders try to stop them. But in Hwang’s imaginary world, Squid Game is a dystopian survival drama, where 456 down-and-out contestants compete for a prize in potentially lethal children’s games.

Bringing Squid Game to the screen was a challenging journey. Although Hwang finished the screenplay in 2009, he couldn’t secure investors or a cast. People thought it was too complex and not commercial enough. He moved on to other successful film projects: Silenced (2011), Miss Granny (2014), and The Fortress (2017).

Approximately ten years after generating the idea for Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk worked with Netflix to actualize it. Netflix afforded him creative freedom, and he expanded his story into a series. His goal as he worked on the project was to “rank No 1 on the Netflix U.S. chart for at least a day.”⁵ Squid Game has proved to be much more successful than Hwang had hoped.

Hwang’s goal was to write a screenplay to convey a message about modern capitalism. He filled a gap that resonated with a global audience. The gain? Netflix has a hit. Hwang has a hit. And hopefully the audience will have a greater understanding that the overall global economic order is painfully unequal.

Although the squid game is a South Korean children’s game, Hwang believes the message is universal. A Netflix story on the background of the series explains:

The series examines human nature and how we change from childhood to adulthood through showing adults revisit and play children’s games. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk shared, “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life.” It’s not all depressing though, as we see the characters hold onto their humanity and hope. The commentary on human nature and society is definitely thought-provoking.⁶

Overcoming Obstacles

We’ve come to the penultimate chapter of this book, and I want to make sure you feel—yes, feel—you’re ready. Emotions play a great part in how we act. In this chapter I’m going to prime your emotional side to prepare you to ideate.

Internal and external obstacles can prevent us from setting a goal and eventually generating an idea. As an educator, I don’t let obstacles stop my students from succeeding. Try these tools I have used effectively over the years with thousands of university seniors and with the faculty and business executives I mentor.

Make a Deal with Yourself

When I mentor design faculty from universities all over the United States and the world about nonfiction research and writing, one of the most oft-asked questions is, How do you manage to find the time to write?

My answer is always the same: My time devoted to writing is nonnegotiable. I explain: There are things I do that are nonnegotiable. I don’t negotiate with myself about brushing my teeth, showering, eating vegetables, or exercising. I just do those things with no arguments. (There are things I do negotiate with myself about that I shouldn’t, such as how many cookies per day, but that’s another story.) But time devoted to writing is nonnegotiable.

Sound silly? I don’t waste time arguing with myself, and I don’t let myself off the hook. Imagine all the times I could say to myself, I could take a dance class instead of writing, or, I could binge watch that new series everyone is talking about. Nope. That’s all avoided.

For some people, establishing a time of day to work on a project, write, or ideate is important to help them keep to their schedule. Figure out what works for you, and make it nonnegotiable. No arguments.

Make a commitment. You likely will encounter obstacles along the way but think of how satisfied you’ll feel if you’ve made the time you need to realize your idea.

Tackle Your Doubts

Self-doubt is a very real feeling. We live in a society where there is great pressure to achieve. And all the examples in this book are impressive. Not everyone is interested in the same things, nor are they capable of the same things. However, everyone can generate a worthwhile or even a great idea using the Three Gs.

I am glad Mocellin designed the Revolve Air portable wheelchair because I’m not capable of inventing it, nor am I interested in generating an idea for the perfect pasta, but I have generated good ideas for short stories as well as ideas for ad campaigns and designs, among other things. But if harnessing electricity had been up to me, we’d be sitting in the dark.

There’s a tendency to inflate self-doubts. Here’s a way to combat that. Jot down one thing that’s bothering you—that’s standing in your way of generating your idea. First determine whether it is a legitimate reason or whether it is a mental barrier you can overcome. Write down how you can overcome it. Also, try to determine what triggers self-doubt. Then you can resolve to do something about it.

Here’s another strategy for combating self-doubt. Replace any negative self-talk with a more productive narrative. It might feel manufactured at first; however, it will help you vanquish those pesky negative thoughts. For example, if one of my clients were to reject my design proposals, instead of thinking, I guess I blew that, I would reframe my self-talk to, I welcome a challenge to generate new design concepts. (And I would take a dance class to blow off steam.)

Focus

If you work full time, perhaps you can dedicate a half hour to your idea every day, or at least every other day. That way, it will be in your brain, and your subconscious will be working on it even when you’re not paying full attention to it. When you’re sitting on a park bench or showering, for example, your goal, the gap, or a gain may take form.

When you’re taking the time to work with the Three Gs or work with the idea you’ve generated, focus on it. Filter out distractions. Let that be the one project you work on for however long you’ve decided to dedicate to it for the day. Prioritize your projects. It’s a good way to work on what’s most urgent first and move down the priorities list from there. But it’s also good to give full attention to your idea. That doesn’t mean you have to sit at your desk and force yourself to think. As I mentioned earlier, subconscious thinking happens during an incubation period or when you’re performing semiconscious activities, such as strolling in the park or folding laundry.

Change Your Thinking

Here’s a great piece of advice to deal with obstacles and to unlock creative potential, whether your hurdle relates to your own skills or talent, the project, or the circumstances—change or reframe your thinking.

Ask yourself, How can I look at this in a different way? Can I look at this scenario, situation, object, setting, or relationship through a different lens? Or, can you obtain someone else’s vantage point, someone quite different from yourself? When you’re with colleagues or team members, obtain multiple perspectives on your research or findings.

Before you reframe, jot down what you’re thinking—your goal or your notions, a tentative goal, your concerns, your thoughts, your feelings, and so on. Now you’ve acknowledged not only what you’re thinking but a possible goal. If there’s any negative or pedestrian thinking in there, you have something to reframe.

Check what you’ve written for what’s subjective (are you being hard on yourself?) and what’s objective (what would a wise friend or colleague say when viewing your goal?). Try to stick to facts and be objective. Your thinking should be helpful, not detrimental.

Reframing also can be subtle. People often think they must be their own coach: “Yeah, you’re brilliant! Go get ’em, tiger!” Often it’s more useful to be pragmatic and think incrementally. For instance, think, This goal will take time, and I have the determination and intelligence to carry this out. I will take it G by G.

Before we move on to how reframing unlocks creative potential, one more piece of advice. Reframing can help you find meaning—that is, find the gap and the gain. Think of how Mocellin realized the gap by speaking with Paralympians and found great meaning in reinventing the wheel for a portable and sturdy wheelchair that would make a lot of lives much better.

And you can also find meaning in the Three Gs process itself. I love to generate ideas because it actually produces feel-good chemicals in my brain; once I get into thinking for a period, there’s a flow. You can find satisfaction in the process of thinking something through.

Reframing a question can change outcomes. In the TED Talk “Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce,” journalist and writer Malcolm Gladwell explained how reframing a problem can lead to successful solutions. Prego, in its pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce, hired Howard R. Moskowitz, an experimental psychologist who worked in the field of psychophysics. Although Prego was looking for the perfect spaghetti sauce, Moskowitz reframed the assignment based on his data: there is no one perfect spaghetti sauce, only different kinds of spaghetti sauce that suit different kinds of people. Instead of trying to please everyone with one sauce, Prego heeded Moskowitz’s advice and created a varied spaghetti sauce product line that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

Reframing a problem can change outcomes. Early in my teaching career, I noticed greater absenteeism at certain times of the academic year. To reduce absenteeism, I decided to make the students not want to miss a class because the classes were so exciting and interesting. I didn’t punish absenteeism—I made them not want to miss out. To this day, when I say, “I might cancel a class,” the students inevitably say, “Oh, no! Please don’t!” Well, most of them.

After completing this chapter, here are your action steps:

Think about how you can overcome any emotional obstacles that might interfere with using the Three Gs to generate, crystallize, or unlock an idea. Answering these questions will set you on a personally rewarding journey to unlock your creativity:

•Can you clear your path of (at least some) obstacles so you can realize your idea?

•Can you maximize your energy by focusing on your idea?

•Can you figure out where you can find support, even if it’s someone who can take over a small chore?

•Can you envision what you want and stay positive about it? (Don’t let negativity—your own or others’—infiltrate your goal.)

Be resilient. Accept that we all fail from time to time. Things go wrong. Most initiatives take time, resources, research, iterations, support, and determination.

The beauty of the Three Gs is that it’s a process, a system, that involves thoughtfulness. That is not a guarantee against failure. Many ideas require funding, family support, administrative support, and so on. No scientist starts an experiment knowing the outcome. I know scientists who have repeated the same experiment many times.

A quick anecdote: I had negotiated a book contract with a publisher with whom I had published previously. I negotiated well and signed the contract. Two weeks later, I received an email saying that the publisher had canceled my contract. It seemed that the person who negotiated had agreed to too high a royalty and the higher-ups decided against publishing the book. What? OK. No point in arguing. I visited LinkedIn and searched for senior editors. I found one whose publishing list fit my book and messaged her. I signed a contract with her publishing house within a week, and they published my book. I could have moped, but I was determined. (I did indulge in a few extra cookies.)

Just keep moving forward.

NOTES: YOUR IDEAS

Emotional obstacles, such as fear of failure, redirect your energy away from your goal or idea. Situations, such as being overworked, also affect you. If this is the case,

•What is the situation that is interfering with working on your idea?

•What about this situation do you find challenging?

•What is one action that you could take to mitigate the situation in order to move your idea forward?