Walk around a contemporary art gallery and you might hear a delighted visitor remarking, “I never would have thought of that!”

A more accurate statement could be: “I never allow myself to think in that way.”

So often, we have overactive filters — creative minds that are muted by social norms and our fears of judgement and rejection.

It’s not that we can’t think of things; it’s that we don’t allow ourselves. We pre-filter and disregard ideas that are risky and unusual. We’re so set on avoiding bad ideas that we don’t allow ideation enough freedom to generate good ideas.

In other words, we’re sometimes dreamers who don’t give ourselves enough time to dream.