A book by John Klymshyn. Illustrations and illuminations by Isaac Naor.
The new path to creative play.
Every time creativity came up, he would describe a valve on the side of his head and the act of opening it. Editors heard it. Collaborators heard it. The working title used to be Mind Set, built around six life components (thought, speech, action, creativity, rest, risk). The phrase that kept showing up was the one nobody had written down.
So they wrote it down. Open the Valve, The New Path to Creative Play is the result, a short, illustrated guide to treating creativity as a force you can deliberately turn on, not a mood you wait for.
The 3-minute origin, in Coach K's words.
Executive coach, author, and speaker. Founder of The Klymshyn Method. Helps leaders unlock creativity by mastering language, presence, and clear thinking. Author of ten books across fiction and non-fiction, from Voices of the Valley to The Ultimate Sales Managers' Guide.
Product design and leadership veteran. 20+ years leading product, 15+ years building teams, hundreds of products shipped at scale. Inventor. Obsessed with craftsmanship, simplicity, and the 99 no's behind every yes that make quality unmistakable. Illustrations and illuminations throughout the book.
Co-author of the Spanish edition. Technology executive, entrepreneur, and host of The PreVetted Podcast, based in Guadalajara, Mexico. Founder of Density Labs, an engineering partnership firm connecting U.S. companies with teams in Latin America, with client relationships running over a decade. Author of The Invisible Distance, on how distributed teams actually work. Brought Open the Valve into Spanish on a simple conviction: Latin American leaders deserve this practice in a language that feels like home.
Digital editions on Gumroad. Pays the author the most, ships immediately, no platform tax.
Prefer a paperback? It's also on Amazon.
Want a feel for the voice first? Watch the 3-minute origin.