Creativity Bootcamp prologue

I am often asked about developing new ideas and just how to you actually start. For many people the barrier they have to overcome is simply a frustration, fueled by a  feeling of lack of confidence. Which is understandable but strange. Creativity is an art they haven't practiced probably since they were six. At six they were brilliant at it. When you were six you did things for yourself, not because you had a target to meet or a sales figure to hit or a KPI to acheive but because you just could. There was no agenda, no reason, no justification, no peer respect. No sense of failure.

Which that means that for most of us now, with the pressures and burdens we carry (Mostly in our heads) that in most cases we just simply don't know, or don't remember, where to begin; whether it is in looking at how we might improve an old process or developing a new service or product, or fashioning a new idea that differentiates the business from the commodity fog. There are tons of books out there, and I think I’ve read most of them, on how to brainstorm, how to get in the zone, how to be creative. I think most of them do miss the point, which to me is the relevancy of creativity to what we could, grandiosely, call the Human Condition but prefer  to call Spirit.  It’s what makes us who we are. And we have, for the most part, lost that element of our experience. I feel the loss comes directly through our addiction to the concept of not failing.

Creativity means doing it for yourself, just because you can. Beethoven wrote sublime music not to pay his taxes, …you can add you own favourite artist in here from the list of thousands….Most entrepreneurs don’t actually create businesses for the money.  They may hide behind that but if you talk to most of them, once they have it,  it’s about creating something out of nothing.

Creativity is more of a state of mind.  Create for yourself, with no agenda and the ‘for ‘comes later, if there is a for.

To me Creativity is about; 

the  Horizon, not point.

The Process, not answer.

The Ball, not scoreboard.

The Discovery, not answers.

The Pursuit, not attainment.

The Journey, not destination.

Grab  a coffee, go fro a walk. Let yourself run free with those ideas for a bit. 

Not so easy? I'll be back soon with the next bit to explain a bit more about what I mean.

 

Pic of the week

When all the world around you seems to be crumbling, it's nice to see an eternal optimist.

My new elevator statement

86 % of over 300 CEO's  surveyed state that innovation is in the top three priorities for their organisation.  

Less than 10% had an innovation management programme in place.  

We show them how to fill that gap.

Idea filter tool

OK, you have a room full of post it notes, , a blizzard of flip charts, a list of product or service  ideas. You have brainstormed until your  grey matter is dry and wrung out like a window washers rag. 

How do you know which idea  is going to work and is worth pursuing?

If you can't answer yes to any of these three questions the answer is simple, bin it. Somewhere where you can find it later though - The present may just not be ready for it yet.

Here you go.

1. Does this idea fundamentally change the value chain of the client. Are they getting something that they would perceive as having added value?

2. Will this idea fundamentally change the expectations of the customers.

3. Will this  change the competitive landscape of the industry.

If you answer YES to any of these then move on to two more questions ..

4. Will you be making a contribution

3. Can you make money from this idea?

If the answer is Yes to the last two then congratulations.  You have an idea that stands some chance of success.

That was the easy part. Next comes the hard part. Innovation. How you get that idea out there.

Hitting the floor running

I’m often, in my workshops and in coaching business leaders, looking at trends and how organisations  can adapt internally to position themselves to captilise on the opportunities. Much of that time currently is spent putting into perspective the fact that we've always had downturns; there's still plenty of growth opportunities. One thing is for sure, that applying creativity to those plans and making innovation the heart beat of an organisation, to hit the floor running when the ties loosen and things start to get moving again, isn’t just a nice thing to think about, or have, but is fundamental.

What has become evident is that probably the most pressing issue for leaders today is in bringing things back to the core. While uncertainty and chaos disrupts global markets, there continue to be the basic truths that still apply: understanding your industry, competition, skills requirements, the gap in capabilities, but most importantly understanding your customer and the ability to respond their requirements quickly and effectively, are the factors that will define any organisations’s future success. Thinking outside the box is all well and good But you still have to look in your own box too to see what really is there. But in a different way

So what can you do right now to make sure you are at least on the starting blocks when the pistol is fired?

Think expand.
In the current climate it undoubtedly is depressing and demoralising and it's all too easy right now to lose your motivation and direction. Don't let that happen! The future is out there still! So think opportunity: Apple, GM, (Bad example ;-)MIcosoft were all founded in periods of recession.

Check your reaction times
Agility is the key word. You have to have a team that can react to opportunities faster than the competition. That means giving them the freedom to make decisions, not bodychecked by internal processes and management pyramids. Allow them to take real responsibility for their own budgets and have fixed goal posts that everyone understands. Your people are better than you think. Let them think.

Immerse in creativity. 

Idea generation is now at warp speed- products are insect like in their life span.  but appear out of nowhere. Here today, gone tomorrow. Twitter didn’t ‘exist’ 12 months ago until Stephen Fry talked about it on national TV. Audio Boo is about to take it on head to head. Rapid product change is not just desirable its what is happening now: we don’t have choice in dealing with it, reacting to it and embracing it. We just have to face it.

Check your knowledge.
Your abililty to access ever more scarce, specialized skills will define your future success. It's your ability to establish a fast, agile, quick-to-assemble collaborative team that will define your ability to grab all the opportunity that is emerging out there. If you don’t have, it get it. Creative talent is your most valuable asset. Not mini-me’s and karoake ideation. Look outside your industry. A sign of a truly crap company, waiting like a dinosaur for the meteor to hit, is their recruitment advert which says must have xxx years experience in such and such an industry. The job that should be advertised in that company is for a new CEO .

Know thine enemies.
Where are the threats likely to be coming from? Could new business models, technologies, new regulatory , political or social trends impact your bottom line in a way that you hadn't thought of before? The biggest clothing retailers are now the supermarkets!

Scout for talent.
Heads and ideas are your most precious asset and are going to be a scarcer resource. Just as football team scout the playing field of the world you must do the same. And don’t look in the normal places such as the Universities; look outside, at the new entrepreneurs, the children in school enterprise clubs and develop the management skills to utilise these in the best way for them, not you. People leave bosses, they don’t leave companies. The rewards in developing your talent pool are way above any ROI calculation. 


Define your voice.
You have to keep people focused on the future. Leadership is all about keeping your team focused on opportunity and goals, and then carrying the water for them to deliver. Positivity, talking about the future and consistency reinforce that. If you waver, so will they and then you are on pushing a snowball up a volcano.

Visualisation demi-God

I'm a great fan of napkins and  pencils. 

I think I'm on my 167th   little Black notebook. It serves as my idea engine and data capture system.  Not just words but doodles and  images ,  clouds and mind maps.  I find for me and I know not everyone is the same, that visualising a process or route cause helps enormously.   My office is a blizzard of post it notes, on all four walls.  Its amazing what you can  achieve with just four colours and some electricians tape to give you the lines.

Anyway  I came across this by Paul Hughes and  I just love this approach and would just like to lick this off the screen. It looks so good. 

 

Follow this for the full presentation at flckr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulhughes/sets/72157603312387650/show/

This is a tough time for people who don’t like change.

Which is the most successful company in your sector? Depends what you mean by success of course. The chances are it’s the one that applies imagination and creativity to meet their customer needs.

Who is the most valuable person in your business?
It’s the girl or guy who actively think, and then helps others to think and provide solutions. Sometimes referred to as the mavericks, rebels, oddballs - they probably have a surfboard strung up over their desk. Sweeping stereotype there but my apologies. I just liked the image in my head.

And who is the happiest person you know? Again what do we mean by happy? I'd venture that it is the one person you know who has found the point where their passions and talents meet.

What do all the three have in common? Well apart from feeling very proud of themselves, and so they should, you could say that each has found a way to plug into and use their creative power within themselves.

But, before we go on, let me tell you what creativity isn’t.

The word creativity has been hijacked somewhere along the line. Its use now is as a catchall, encompassing word, sometimes applied in a slightly derogatory way especially when used by those who ‘don’t get it’ to describe the slightly bohemian, hippyfied amongst us or those people who march to a different drum - It is used as both and adjective and a verb those that write paint, play, dance, sculpt, do stuff with their hands, generally hang around at Hobbycraft. It is often accompanied by a slight shaking of an exasperated head. We have a guy in Barnsley who wears shorts, knee high scarlet socks and matching bobble hat every day of the year; He is just brilliant and you can see him marching proudly around our shopping centre almost everyday in any weather. Is he creative or just weird? Bit of both really

So here is my view; It's so much broader than that - you just can't describe just how broad an impact it has made and will continue to make in our World.

Creativity is what happens when imagination has focus; innovation is what happens when creativity has a bottom line; enterprise is what happens when innovation meets ability, entreprenurship is what happens when all the aforementioned are put on the same cart and passion becomes the fuel.

And, if you ask most entrapraneurs, which is what I do a lot in my innovator workshops ; after they get over the shock of realising that they can actually make money from something they love most will say that it’s the fulfillment of creating something from nothing that makes them warm and fuzzy. And then it’s a compulsion to do it again and again. They like the money too, obviously. Now that is creativity. OK it’s a bit of simple analysis I grant you but at least it gets you thinking. And lets me move on a bit.

To this bit actually - There are roughly 6000 languages spoken in the World, ( although we have just lost Manx apparently) These weren’t dreamt up spontaneously by the dictionary compilers or an infinite number of blindfold monkeys with typewriters but by humanity's inherent ability to create. There is a glorious bloke down my road who has some fantastic flower beds. Bob at Number 48 is linked directly, in so many ways both genetically (Obviously as I now know from the current avalanche of of books articles and programmes on the subject) and spiritually, to another eminent biologist and current media flavour of the year, Charles Darwin - Why does it take an anniversary to remind us just how blooming remarkable people are. Each, in their own way, required a certain spark to illuminate, the ability to look at things in a different way, to see a new pattern.

But I am digressing slightly. Why is creativity or innovation so vital and especially now in our current economic and social conditions? Well some would say the current situation is largely the result of 'karaoke' thinking in the banking industry, an exercise in bandwagon riding over the edge of a cliff as it happens and innovation impotence. The old ways, methods and rule books are having to be torn up. The impact and success of companies will now depend on as much as the ethical way they do business, their CSR programmes and how they manage their customer relationships to establish trust and credibility as much as the value of product or service they market. Innovation and different thinking has never been so keenly needed to be enabled universally, not just by individuals but by every public and private organisation.

Innovative companies attract innovative thinkers which contributes to them becoming more innovative and attracts the….so the cycle goes on. What are you doing to day to address the innovation gap?

You may like to reflect on this. ‘Creativity can be applied to any aspect of human endeavor and enterprise’. Well there is brassy and bold statement. Certainly it can be used to improve or change a process, or a product, or a service, or to improve a relationship.

For what its worth I beleive that anyone can be creative. the label 'creativity' applies to just any progressive thinking. The creative superstar starts to think where the others stop. They break out of pattern, they zig while the others zag. You both get there in the end but they go a different route. By doing so they uniquely separate themselves out from the rest. And, curiously they appear to have a hell of a lot more fun and fulfillment than the zaggers in doing so. The happiest person you know? Maybe, probably.

The really good news, and this is really, really good news, is that anyone and any organisation can learn to harness creativity in all its manifestations. Its not hard. Learning to unleash your creativity is like learning to play golf. We can all swing a club and hit a ball ( except my mum) but that every so often anyone can connect and hit that one beautiful shot. It is the promise of repeating that shot that keeps us coming back for more. Everyone has that in them, the possibility to hit a hole-in-one but…. not all of us can be Tiger Woods. Creativity requires practice and the more you practice the better you get. But somebody has to show you how to do it right to start off or help you so you can experience that feeling of the sweet sound of connection and power as the ball flies into the sky often as possible.

Alternatively you and your colleagues can be (un)happy with your lot,and sit feeling sorry for yourself, quietly fermenting in the culture of mediocrity. Conformity and risk aversion has come home to roost and he is a big, big turkey with a bad attitude.

If you were to ask me, and I hope you are, embracing creativity and innovation, at its fundamental core, is the recognition of the fact that that we don’t know everything but it’s really fun trying to. Well that’s the answer I would give today, but I’m not sure about tomorrow. None of us are. That is the point. But what I am sure of is that the only people who will lead us out of this mess are those that can truly embrace change, and apply their creativity muscles.

Darwin was right on so many levels. We have before our own eyes proof that it is not the Survival of the Fattest. It is those that can adapt most quickly to opportunities that survive and flourish. And we have a tool that surpasses every other leaping, flying, jumping, seeing, skill. Our minds. An incredible tool that can visualise a Billion futures and a Billion solutions. We had better start learning how to use them again.

The next big thing? Remember the date you saw this.

Following on from my creativity crisis  blog and my railing against the education system which was a bit of a rant,  every so often you see something which simply blows you away and just reinvigorates your own creativity levels and faith in what the human mind can deliver, if it is let loose with imagination and what if' questions.

Wondering what the next  must have product will be? The product that will redefine  the market place, for pretty well everything? The product that makes the IPod look like an abacus. Here is the answer! Remember the date you saw it.

ASTONISHING!!!

The Creativity Crisis

One of my current clients is presenting me with a series of  quite challenging problems based around  the question "How to engage business and the educators  so that they link together and help collaboratively to develop our children's full potential?' 

The focus, ('cos that is where the government funding comes from, bless them)  is on the basic skills and developing literacy and numeracy, which, of course are vital. 

The problem is that they seem to miss a very big point. That creativity lies at the root of everything. The ability to think differently, to break patterns, to not mind making a mistake. Without that we produce simply Russian dolls  who can take exams... stop me before I get too carried away and  do some real damage...

Innovation is creativity with a bottom line.  Enterprise is creativity applied commercially.

Following is a video from 2006 ago from my fellow scouser Sir Ken . 

And a quote from 1776...  'the greater part of what is taught in schools and universisties.. does not seem to be the proper preparation for that of business'  The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith. 

Not much has changed really has it?

This video should be  statutory viewing for every teacher on their first day of each term, for every educational administrator before every budget meeting; for every politician at every photo opportunity with a child;  and for every  parent, whenever they wonder if they are doing 'the Right thing'

Please pass it on. Please, please  pass it on. 

Sheffield Buzzes

My thanks to all the attendees at the Big Start-up workshop in Sheffield yesterday. Just a joy to see and share the enthusiasms and passions. 

Alex, great to see you back on fire  and Tim, just one authentic and inspiring bloke.

Is this the smartest guy you have ever heard?

The future is here and it is now!

'Nothing really good has been invented yet'.

Isn't that the most exciting phrase you ever ever have heard?

Creativity- what's it all about then?

Creativity explained 

Zapparisms

Reading Daniel Gilbert's book  came  across an attributed brilliant quote from Frank Zappa

'Writing about music is like dancing about architecture'

to which I would add

'writing about creativity is like juggling about sculpture'

add you own...

Innovation handbook for CFO's

With over 25 years experience of throwing myself at brick walls of various heights and thickness, trying to develop a culture of innovation and creativity in a wide range or organisations I can say, without any shred of doubt, that the biggest barrier to establishing an innovation culture is convincing senior management of its value, and exactly how to measure its impact to justify investment.

Less than 1% of companies have any innovation performance metrics and reporting systems in place but that 1% are the top performers in their sectors A coincidence maybe. Are you mad?

The word cloud below illustrates some of the key  considerations and serves as a memory jogger for senior management. Or, you can simply carry on as you are, and watch as your competitors harness their innovation and creative talent and burst out of the recession first, leaving you trailing in their wake.  

I know what I'm doing today.

Innovation word cloud

In a recent presentation to a group of CEO's in Yorkshire ' Innovation, the key to recession survival'  I was trying to sum up what should or could be management's approach to innovation and adjusting their organisation's mindset. 

Hope this helps

20 20 hindsight Wish more people would be so honest

Here is a really Interesting post from the guys at one of my associates regarding their predictions for 2008 in internet development

http://tinyurl.com/92ys44

What does 2009 hold for you?

Recession opportunity

I'm posting this as a reblog from my personal hero and innovation guru Phil Mckiney. You can find him at Killer innovations Phil is the CTO for one of the top 20 Innovation companies in the World, so it is interesting to to get his views on the opportunity that the Credit Crunch opens up, to people with a vision. I'd only add that I think it applies to NGO's, NFP's and indeed any organisation. In fact never have innovation champions and active management been more sorely needed.

'With the recent economic downturn, the world is changing. More and more people are waking up to the new reality that they don't understand the fundamentals of the new economy.

What drives share price? What has changed?

What makes up share price? Over the last twenty years, we have seen the decreasing role of book value (machinery, buildings, etc.) on the overall market value for public companies. What is replacing book value is the value attributed to intangibles (ideas, innovations, management teams, etc.) In 1978, market value for US public companies was 95% of the book value. Twenty years later, book value was just 28% of market value while 82% was made up of intangibles.

Not all intangibles are equal. I would argue that intangibles that don't ultimately create value (e.g. the skill to create complex financial instruments such as re-packaging mortgages did not create any value) should be valued at or near zero. Investors believed in the value of these intangibles to later find out that there wasn't any real value being created. What was missing was increased transparency of the value attributed to the intangibles.

So is there a bright spot in this economic downturn?

One look at intangibles tied to innovation is the the Innovation Index(1), a weighted stock price index of the top 20 innovators in North America. The Innovation Index fund returned 66% in 2007, and returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006). By comparison, the S & P 500 returned 28% the NASDAQ returned 34% and the Dow Jones Index returned 30% thru December 31, 2007. More recently, the Innovation Index Fund is up 9% in 2008 through September 19 (per there blog site). I haven't checked recently but I'm sure it hasn't been completely immune to the most recent market issues.

How does the Innovation Index select companies that create real value from innovation?

Keep in mind that this one of many ways to look at the value from ideas/innovation but the The Innovation Index lists their criteria as:

Rankings of world’s top innovative companies as published by BusinessWeek and Boston Consulting Group
Rankings of the top Innovators as published by Forbes, Fortune and other business publications
Analysis of revenue, earnings, cash flow and management performance
Assessment of the tangible value of the Innovators including their brand value
Historical analysis of launched innovations – products, acquisitions, pricing, distribution, business model, services, process – and their impact on current and future revenue and earnings growth
Analysis of planned market innovations and potential revenue growth
Independent analysis by S & P, Zack’s, Barron’s, IBD and related resources
Complete analysis of the Innovators’ customers, competitors, environment and macro-economic factors that could impact their growth and stock performance
Wherever possible, interviews with key members of the management
As the economy churns (thanks to the global marketplace), investors need to put a higher premium on the capacity to translate ideas into innovations. Some organizations may make the disastrous decision to cut-back or stop their investment in innovation at exactly the wrong time such as this economic downturn. Those that cut innovation may never recover when the market comes back.

How will this play out in the economic recovery?

In this new world, the winners during the economic recovery will be companies with an innovation culture, an established methodology to create and capture ideas along with a creative labor force that can translate the best ideas into innovations.

Are you posed to be a winner? If not, now is the time to get ready ...

Painting the picture

A few of my clients, and myself included are going through some curious times, trying to evaluate the direction and plan their next steps, reacting to the current financial crisis - or maybe is it an opportunity to do something different?

The beautiful question is here to help and today to HELP people imagine what they need to become in order for their goals to manifest. Today that means to ask questions that will help them ( and me) imagine in detail what they want to acheive


1. What will this decision look like in 10 years?

2. For your life to be perfect, what would have to change?

3. What kind of person do you definitely NOT want to become?

4. Is this experience helping you become the best version of yourself?

5. If you pursued this dream, what would your life look like in 30 days?

6. What would REAL fulfillment look like in this area if you were truly living your life purpose?

We need to position ourselves in the future to EMPOWER people to speak from the future, then look back to identify the steps that led there.


1. How do you want the world to know you 3-5 years from now?

2. What three things can you do TODAY to increase your freedom tomorrow?

3. Look ahead six months: standing there, what decisions would you make today?

4. What three small acts you could take today to prepare for the life or work that you’d like?

5. What steps need to be taken to make you feel like you’ve achieved a Return on Investment from this new endeavor?

6. What has to happen in the next year for us to be able to look back and say, “That was best possible use of our efforts”?

Then we need to ask questions to INSPIRE people to paint a compelling, detailed picture of the desired future and make meaningful strides toward it.


1. What would your life look like right now if you were truly healthy?

2. If everyone did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?

3. What are the essential features of the world you want to live in so you can be your best?

4. When you imagine living the life you want, how do you see yourself starting your day?

5. What would REAL fulfillment look like in this area if you were truly living your life purpose?

6. What if, overnight, a miracle occurred, and you woke up tomorrow morning and the problem was solved – what would be the first thing you would notice?

There is nothing more powerful than a question

There is nothing more powerful than a question.

A question can ENABLE learning.
A question can PREDICT the future.
A question can EXPLODE people’s brains.
A question can CRACK open a new world.
A question can ENLIST your creativity.
A question can SEND you off to the races.
A question can CUT deeply, yet playfully.
A question can VISUALISE ideal conditions.
A question can EMPOWER others to turn inward.
A question can FORCE you to confront yourself.
A question can FUNCTION as that little nudge, push, tipping point or last straw you needed.

In my experience as a writer, speaker, coach and entrepreneur, the most important moments in my career have revolved around asking myself specific, profound questions.

Questions that shifted my paradigm.
Questions that changed my business model.
Questions that doubled and tripled my annual income.

In the coming posts I'll share with you the the questions that I think are the most important, so set up your feed, book mark and please just pay it forward.

Take care out there

Quote of the day

If the wind isn't blowing, you had better start rowing