Coloring Outside the Lines: Business Thoughts on Creativity, Marketing and Sales

When you're raised with the oft-repeated admonition to stay inside the lines when you're coloring, the message sticks. When you're an adult, coloring outside the lines, out of the box thinking, and challenging the status quo can be really difficult. The old tapes come on and hold you within established boundaries. Creativity is a useless exercise: it's outside the limits. And that's our problem. We're all so bound by limits, we can't find new solutions. We're stuck with the old solutions, even though the problems, the playing field, and the rules have changed. And the tape plays on.It is said that if you tie an elephant to a stake with a thin rope when it's young, the elephant learns that it is secured to that stake. The learned behavior "sticks," enabling handlers to secure huge, powerful elephants to stakes with thin ropes. The elephant doesn't believe it can break free. Humans are not so different.Then Jeff Tobe comes along and shatters all those imaginary boundaries. A salesman and professional speaker, he specializes in stimulating creativity and innovation in business organizations. As demonstrated by his stories in this book Tobe helps companies break through "innovation deficiency," characterized by Internal Myopia and the Ostrich Syndrome. He argues that business leaders-and everyone else in the environment-must change the way they perceive, think, and behave to succeed in today's competitive world. You get an immediate sense that this book is going to be a bit different when you open the cover. There is no traditional Times New Roman type between these covers. The typeface--throughout the entire book--looks like something from a primary school primer on the fine art of printed word penmanship. The message is clear: this book is going to be different and fun. And it is, but it's serious, too."Coloring Outside the Lines" is organized into three sections: Creativity, Marketing, and Sales. Each section has 6-9 chapters that stimulate the thinking and illustrate how things can be done differently. The lessons are valuable-some are fresh and some are the old saws that we've all learned for years. Each lesson is presented in the context of a story that you might hear on a fun walk through a meadow with the author. The chapters are filled with personal stories and experiences with titles like "Are Your Bagels Hot?" to "Step into My Office." These narratives are enjoyable (yup, chuckles in this book), comfortable and reasonable, yet highly instructive. The book is deceivingly simple in appearance; the educational aspect sort of sneaks up on you. This easy-to-read volume will be thought-provoking and stimulating for salespeople, marketers, and other executives and managers who welcome inspiration (or permission) to do things just a little bit differently. If the thinking and behavior or different, (surprise!) the outcomes are different.

The basic metaphor is obvious. Less obvious is the profound importance of understanding (a) why there are "lines", (b) how they got there, and (c) who decided where to place them. Of even greater importance is understanding how to take initiatives in those areas in which creative thinking is not only appropriate but essential. New product development, for example, or positioning which differentiates an organization from its competition. (Other areas obviously require "coloring" only inside the "lines." There are some highly creative accountants who now receive their mail at a federal penitentiary.) I am all in favor of "thinking outside the box" even as I remain convinced that, at least most of the time, answers to questions or solutions to problems can only be effective when implemented inside a "box" of some kind. Only breakthrough thinking (e.g. mass production of automobiles, development of the Internet) creates entirely new "boxes" which then replace the old ones. Subsequent innovations then reconfigure the "lines" until other new "boxes" become dominant. Of course, Jeff Tobe understands all this as he shares his thoughts on creativity, marketing, and sales. He has a great deal of value to share. His is a much more personal book than those written on the same general subject by others such as Claxton, de Bono, Levesque, Michalko, and von Oech. It covers less material. That's OK. This book would be much easier to re-read on a regular basis (which I highly recommend) for those involved in marketing and sales who need to reactivate their creative "juices" from time to time. Of course, it would also be of substantial value to just about anyone else. To school and college students, for example, or to those who have only recently begun a career, or especially to those who have (voluntarily or involuntarily) reached a crisis point in their career. One of the book's greatest benefits is derived from Tobe`s own "coloring" outside various "lines" throughout his own life and career. Perhaps he agrees with my own opinion that most human limits are self-imposed. That is to say, on many occasions we feel constrained by "lines" we ourselves have drawn. (Long ago, Henry Ford said something to the effect "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.") Tobe wrote this book primarily (but not exclusively) for marketing and sales executives. As indicated previously, I recommend it to anyone who now feels constrained by real or imagined "chains." Tobe offers new "crayons" with which to "color" and strong encouragement to re-think assumptions about creativity. Two chapter titles suggest how: "If It Is [italics] Broke, Don't Fix It...Yet" and "To Err Is Right...or at Least Necessary." Once you have read this book, you will be much better prepared to read other books written by the aforementioned Claxton, de Bono, Levesque, Michalko, and von Oech. More to the point, you will be much better prepared to increase and enhance your ability to think creat

I read approximately 20 business books per year and I have never read a treatise that combines marketing, sales and creativity in such a complete and succinct way. The content is solid, commonsense advice to skyrocket your product or service to the front of the pack. Kudos to Jeff Tobe for finally sharing his wisdom with the business world in print form. It's long overdue!!!

Whether you are in business or not, Jeff's principles can be applied to every area of your life. What if you asked yourself, what if ? As a new real estate sales associate I am excelling, thanks to Jeff ! His book can teach you how to unlock your true potential. Thanks again Jeff! I'll let you know when I achieve "rookie of the year".

This book is only a little over 100 pages long. I'm used to the 1000 page books from Microsoft and others. Some of the chapters were only 2-3 pages long! But...Jeff can pack more pearls of wisdom into 2-3 pages than others can pack into 1000.If you liked "Who Moved My Cheese", you will like this guide to unconventional thinking too. I also had the opportunity to hear Jeff speak at a Business Marketing Assn lunch meeting in Pittsburgh recently. He is as good on his feet as with a pen (oops - computer word processor).Great work Jeff.