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"Inno-waiters With Whine Lists" – The Breakthrough Cafe featured in January 2006 issue of
Even Michelangelo's David
Started Out as a Block!

by Mitchell Ditkoff
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Stuck? Confused? Blocked? Get over it by filling in the blanks and reading your story aloud!

Boy, am I blocked! I haven't felt this bad since ________________. I've tried ________________ and ________________, but nothing seems to work. It's almost laughable the way I seem to be spending all my time ________________. I feel so frustrated I could ________________.

If I was a dog, I'd ________________. Damn, I hate it when ________________. It makes me feel like a ________________ without a ________________. I'm so tired of ________________. Just yesterday, I felt so ________________ I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. But now it feels like the tunnel is filled with ________________ and the light at the other end has turned to ________________. What if I stay stuck like this forever? I can see the writing on my tombstone now: "________________." What an epitaph! That would really make me feel ________________ .

I wish there was someone I could blame besides myself! Hmmm, maybe ________________ would make a good person to dump on. If they were here now, I'd ________________. How'd I get into this situation anyhow? I never really intended to ________________. All I wanted was ________________. Why does it have to be so difficult? If only I could stop feeling so ________________. Just last week I got tons of ideas about my project - ideas like ________________ and ________________. Either one of those brainstorms could be the key. Hey, even if they didn't work , I could always ________________. I could even call ________________ and ________________. They're tuned into my idea! Maybe they'd have a clue about how to proceed. Actually, this is all quite funny. I seem to love focusing on my problems instead of possible solutions. Talk about creative! I must have ________ ways to avoid taking the next step. Which reminds me…I guess the next thing I need to do is ________________. And after that I'll ________________. Isn't it interesting how this stuff works? In a little while, I'll probably look back at this time and realize that ________________________________.


This article is excerpted from BANKING ON INNOVATION, a 172-page workbook that accompanies Idea Champions' 2-day creative thinking training.

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