Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Turn on the light

Last night, at around 3AM, my 3 year old daughter woke me with several pokes to the shoulder.

"Mom!"

"Go back to bed," I told her, still half asleep.

"But mom, there's a spider in my room!"

I tried to convince her that there were no spiders in there, that spiders are our friends (a stretch I know, but I really value my sleep...). She wasn't buying it.

I finally got up and stumbled after her to her room.

"See?" she said pointing up. "It's right there!"

She was pointing to the ceiling fan. In the dim light cast by the nightlight, it did present a somewhat menacing sillouhette.

"That would be a pretty big spider! But see, it's just your fan," I told her as I turned on the light.

I think sometimes fear of failure looks like a giant spider in the dark. It can paralyze us with fear. But once we accept that sometimes we'll fail, it's like turning on the light to find it's just a ceiling fan. It's not as bad as we originally thought.

Don't let fear of failure keep you from sharing your ideas. Some of them will fail. Some of them will be bad. But just turn on the light and push through it.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

More ways to get jobs

Here's another quick way to help the people you know who are in the job market right now.

Introduce them to the other people you already know.

But -
how do you know
who you know
that they want to meet?
(what?)

Easy if you're on LinkedIn. Just invite your jobless buddies to browse your connections on LinkedIn. If they see anyone that catches their eye, offer an introduction.

Just be sure you only invite people to do this that you'd recommend for a job. Or it could have a detrimental effect on your rep...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

When to kill an idea

Early this morning, I had to get a minor surgery. No big deal, everything's fine (thanks for asking).

What was interesting, though, is what I overheard.

I was waiting in pre-op for about 2 hours. I was separated from other patients only by those flimsy curtains they pull between the beds.

To my right, I overheard this conversation:

Physician Assistant: Do you use any recreational drugs?
Patient: Yes, marijuana.
Physician Assistant: When was the last time?
Patient: Yesterday morning.

Hmmm...

To my left? This:

Nurse: What are we doing for you today?
Patient: A Hemorrhoidectomy.

Ouch...

I'm quite sure neither person wanted me listening in on these or any of their other personal medical history. Thank God for the curtain, because I was embarrassed - I can't imagine how they must have felt.

So this was just 30 minutes or so after I signed a form stating that I understood their HIPAA practices... I'm no expert, but part of HIPAA protects the privacy of people's personal health information. So how is it doing that in this scenario?

This is a great example of a well intentioned idea that, in execution, is not having an impact. Mountains of paperwork have been introduced to protect people's privacy, and still I can overhear the medical history of everyone around me (and they can hear mine). What's the point?

This happens in businesses all the time.

It's certainly happened to me. You come up with a great idea. You get buy in. Then you implement it, only to find that no one uses it. Or no one gets value out of it. Or it doesn't work in practice as well as in theory.

But you keep trying. And making people do it. Because, hey, it's a great idea! And you really want it to work!

Pretty soon, it's just useless paperwork.

Lesson? Don't be afraid to kill great theories that suck in practice, no matter how much blood, sweat and tears went into them up front.


Monday, November 17, 2008

Idea inspiration

I attended a fabulous event last Thursday night. It was Ignite Columbus. Ever heard of Ignite? Neither had I. It's very cool. Basically, it's a series of presentations. The only rules are you only get 20 slides, your slides advance after 15 seconds, and you only get 5 minutes total to talk.

The presentations on Thursday covered so many topics. Here's a sample:

So much fun and so much idea inspiration. When you're in a creative slump, it helps to get out and hear the ideas of others, and what a fabulous venue for it.

Go out and find an Ignite event in your town!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Help a fella out

Hey - everyone's belly aching about the economy now a days. And with good reason. I've got at least five friends whose jobs have been affected. Chances are, you know someone in the same situation.

So what can you do? It's simple. As you're out talking with people and networking, add one standard question to your small talk line up:

"Is your company hiring anyone right now?"

If they are, then this is your opportunity to help out your friends. Offer to send contact info (get a resume - even better) to the hiring company and pass along the company info to your out of work friends. The connection you create might just be the one to get them a new job.

It only takes minutes and could mean all the difference to someone you care about.

So hey - is your company hiring anyone right now? If so, I know some great candidates. Here are their skill sets:

  • Exercise and personal training
  • Billing and administration
  • Marketing communications
For more info, just mail me.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Simple is best

What's the easiest way to get someone to buy in to your idea? Make sure it's simple.

Not that this is necessarily easy. Sometimes it can be difficult to pare things down to their simplest terms. But the easier it is for someone to understand your idea, the more likely they are to believe in it.

The Common Craft Show does this really well. They use short videos to tell you three things:
1. what the idea is or what problem it addresses
2. how the idea works
3. why you should care

They have many very useful videos on serious topics such as social networks, elections, and blogs. This not so serious one is my favorite:



Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Let's get together

Have you visited www.meetup.com? It's one of the best ideas I've come across recently. I know I am late to the game (meetup.com was started in 2002 - a lifetime ago in web terms), but it's still really cool.

Basically, you can look for a group that has interests similar to yours that meets in your area. Or, you can start a group if none exists.

Try it! Go out and meet some new people and give your ideas a kick start.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Cut out your limits

I was driving my son to school last week. We were talking geography (his second grade class is doing a unit on landforms, like mountains, deserts, coasts, etc). We were discussing the size of different places.

Mid sentence, he paused and said, "You know, your mind is the biggest open space of all."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

When you're searching for ideas, remember not to set limits. Don't think of why things won't work or what you can't do. Let your mind go and worry about the constraints later.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Building more ideas, part VII - The roof

It might be a while before you get to adding the roof, but I'm including it here for the sake of completeness.

When you've been practicing the system for building ideas outlined below, I guarantee you'll have more ideas. It will be great. You'll be on an idea high. But then you'll have a new problem.

You'll have so many ideas, you'll lose focus. All these amazing things to implement and no time to do all of them. This is when you have to add the roof to your idea building.

What's the roof? Pick and prioritize.

Take all your ideas, write them down, pick the top 5 or 10 or whatever is doable, and let the rest go for now. Save them in your idea file and come back to them later. When you get new ideas, add them to the file, but continue to focus on the top 5 until one is complete. Then pick a new one.

Having a lot of ideas, but never acting on any of them is like a rich person who never spends any money. What is the use of dying with $5 million in your bank account? Why did you work hard and save for all those years and never enjoy at least some of the fruits of your labor?

The goal is not to be the person who has the most ideas, but the person who does the most with them.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Building more ideas, part VI - Fourth Support

By now, if you've been following along and building your idea machine, you should be seeing some noticeable results. You're getting more ideas.

The last support in our system is Generosity. Now that you have a bunch of ideas, don't hoard them.

There will be a time when you come up with something really grand, but you don't feel the time is right. Or you don't want to share it with someone else because you're afraid they'll get all the credit.

Don't listen to thoughts like these. The timing is never right, everyone will always try to steal your ideas, and all the other excuses you might have for not sharing ideas will be valid too. Let it go. Tell people about your ideas. Act on them. Don't wait.

Ideas that are hoarded will wither and die. Ideas that are shared will snowball.

Do you have any ideas you can let go of?
'

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Building more ideas, part V - Third Support

Third in our idea support system is Collaboration. Read and Apply is a great source to get a lot of other people's ideas, but isn't very interactive. By collaborating with other people, you get the benefit of their ideas, but also the rewards of the push and pull of growing ideas together.

Get out and talk to people. It isn't that hard. People love to talk about themselves and their ideas. Join a club. Talk to a new colleague. Volunteer with a charity.

All of these interactions will be valuable, but every once in a while you'll find someone that you click with. A person who wants to dream big just like you. Try to surround yourself with those people, and watch your ideas take off.

Don't forget to give back too. Help when you can. Offer to make introductions and give information. Be available to someone else who wants help getting more ideas.

How can you increase your quality interactions with others?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Building more ideas, part IV - Second Support

The second support to your idea building is Read and Apply. When you want to have a bunch of great ideas, you're going to have to admit to yourself that the best ideas come from other people. You just have to figure out how to apply them to what you're doing. The easiest and most common form of other people's ideas? Books, blogs, websites, etc - anything written.

Reading can have the same mind clearing effect as Activity. And with the amount of information available, you can become an expert on anything you want to.

One excellent source of ideas I read recently was The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. His blog is fun too.

Other blogs I subscribe to are:
Gaping Void
How to Change the World
Real Dan Lyons
Scobleizer
Seth Godin

I have kind of a reading addiction issue to tell the truth. If you aren't a reader, try starting small. Subscribe to one really entertaining or useful blog and read it every day.

Remember that the more information you put in, the more ideas you'll get out.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Building more ideas, part III - First Support

Now that we have our idea foundation built, let's start putting up some supports. There are four main supports. Let's talk about the first one - Activity.

When you need to get more ideas, sometimes it helps to perform some unrelated or creative activity. Play with toys. Take a walk. Draw a picture. Play the piano. As long as it's something that actively engages you. Watching a TV show doesn't count.

After you finish your activity, sit down and try for more ideas. You'll find that it's easier after you've cleared your mind a little.

Another thing to try is to think about how your idea might relate to the activity. For example, if you need ideas for a restaurant ad campaign, you might sit down with some play dough and sculpt the images that come to mind when thinking of that restaurant. You might come up with some good ideas from the exercise, or you might just get a bunch of silly sculptures that look more like hair than spaghetti, but the principle is the same. It allows you to clear your head and open your mind a little, so you can attack your ideas from a fresh perspective.

And the very best thing of all? It gives you an excuse to play when you should be working...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Building more ideas, part II - Foundation

Everyone's heard about building a house on the sand. It doesn't work. You've got to have a solid foundation to start from. In fact, a solid foundation is of paramount importance to a building. Construct a house on a weak foundation, and no matter how beautiful it is, it will eventually fall. So it is with ideas.

Your foundation in this case is lots of ideas. How do you get lets of ideas? Stop killing them. To start having more ideas, you have to let yourself have bad ones and acknowledge that it's ok. Bad ideas are a starting place, a learning experience. Start by letting all your ideas out - good and bad. Don't hold any back. Don't think about what won't work or what's too far fetched. And do the people around you the same favor. Encourage people to speak any and all ideas that are on their mind.

Ideas are a little like family reunion food. According to my grandma, too much is great, but not enough is a tragedy. That's because its always easier to cut things out than it is to add to what you have. So by taking all ideas, good and bad, you'll have many more to choose from. And often, the inspiration for good ideas comes from bad ones.

And ideas seem to multiply, just like tribbles. They increase exponentially.

It will take practice and courage to stop killing ideas, but keep at it. You have to lay the foundation to your idea building, and the more ideas you have to add to it, the more solid your foundation will be.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Building more ideas, part I

All of the elements you need to get more ideas can be structured like a parts of a building. And don't worry, one of them is not a high IQ. If you can take the parts, and start from the ground up, you'll have an excellent way to generate lots of ideas. But, just like building something, it will take time. You can't put it up overnight and you'll probably need some help.

Over the next few days, I'm going to give you the pieces of the building you need to get a lot of ideas. Your first building might not be perfect, so keep building more and more. Every time you practice this method, your buildings will be more beautiful.

Friday, July 18, 2008

More Customer Service Ideas

If you can't tell, I'm pretty enamored with excellence in customer service. And with Starbucks. Time after time, they exceed my expectations on service (and my expectations are pretty high). Needless to say, I visit Starbucks quite a bit. I'm not sure if it's just my Starbucks (yes, I go there often enough to consider it "mine"), but they are always ultra friendly. The one time they messed up my order, not only did they fix it right away, but they gave me a coupon for a free drink on my next visit. I didn't even ask for it!

When something goes wrong, it's such a great opportunity to exceed customer expectations. And by giving me a free coupon instead of just giving me that drink free, they increase the chances that I'll come back.

Yesterday, I noticed that they had a sign up advertising their new smoothies. As I was waiting at the window for my drink, I asked how the new smoothies were. Not only did she tell me all about them enthusiastically, but she handed me a coupon for a free one. Again, almost guaranteeing a return trip from me. And they didn't even need to do that, since they know me well enough to know I'll be back!

Of course I went and cashed in my free smoothie coupon this morning. When I handed the lady my coupon, she actually seemed excited.

"Oh! You have one of these!" "Look!" she said to the other staff members. And they all cheered. I have no idea why it was so wonderful that I was getting something free from them, but it made me feel great. Like I was really doing them a favor getting a free smoothie.

How can you take every mistake and turn it into an opportunity to generate customer loyalty?

What if you got excited every time a customer redeemed a coupon?

Oh, and the smoothie? Delicious. I'm sure I'll be back next week for another.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Conversation - a simple and big idea

Back in March, I wrote about my horrific customer service experience at the oral surgeon. To be fair, I thought I would share a contrasting experience at the dermatologist. Not to give you more personal information than you want, but a month ago I had 5 moles removed from my back (yuck). Two of them turned out to have "bad edges" which apparently means that, if left unchecked, they might later develop into skin cancer. Not good. So I had to go back in and get more of my skin removed to get rid of those nasty cells. If you read my previous post about my wisdom teeth, you understand my squeamishness about medical procedures (truthfully I'm a total weenie).

I went in yesterday to the dermatologist, where she explained that she would be making two incisions to remove the cells and would subsequently stitch them up. Unfortunately, they don't put you to sleep for such a procedure and you have to lie there awake with visions of great chunks of flesh being removed from your back. Ugh.

They get started, and as they do, they begin talking to me. Not about anything much. My kids, my siblings, their kids, their siblings, our shared fear of dentists... Before long, it was all over.
Not really so bad after all.

When I compare the two procedures (wisdom teeth versus back flesh removal), the dermatologist was actually much worse. After all, you're awake for heaven's sake. But my experiences were completely different. The dermatologist talked with me and put me at ease. This was such a simple thing for her. All she had to do was talk. And it made a night and day difference in my customer experience.

How can you take a simple idea, like a conversation, and turn it into something big?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The point of getting ideas

There is no end to the journey of getting ideas. There is no magical place you will reach where you will no longer have to have ideas. The point of getting ideas is to have more and more and more forever.

By the same token, if you come to a lull in your ideas, keep going. Keep brainstorming. Keep reading. Keep playing with toys. Keep doing all the things that inspire you because you'll get through it.

You have never reached a point in time where you will get no more ideas.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Think big

One of the things you can do when you’re looking for idea inspiration is to think bigger. When you’re reading something, don’t just think of the information in the context of that particular story. Think about the fundamentals of the information and how you can apply them to what you are doing.

For example, Dharmesh Shah over at Hubspot just put up a nice piece on product launches. He gives seven lessons on launching new software. You may take a glance at it and think, “I’m not launching any new software, now or ever. This doesn’t apply to me at all.” But look again. The underlying principles can apply to any idea.

Take the first lesson – It’s not too early to release. Dharmesh talks about how if you wait until everything is perfect, you’ll never go to market with your product. You’ll be making endless tweaks.

This applies to your ideas. If you wait to talk about an idea until it’s perfect, or until there is no risk that anyone will dislike it – you’ll never offer any ideas.

In fact, all of Dharmesh’s lessons fit perfectly with having new ideas. Here are the rest of Dharmesh’s lessons with my applications to ideas in parenthesis:

Lesson 2Be ready to iterate (Be ready to refine and tweak your ideas)
Lesson 3Provide a simple feedback mechanism (Let people respond to your ideas without getting defensive)
Lesson 4Respond to feedback (Be open to the ideas of others and use them to make your ideas better. Let go of idea ownership.)
Lesson 5Track as much data as you can (Take lots of notes - even if you don't use them now, they may come in handy for future ideas)
Lesson 6Don’t waste time coding reports (Keep your notes, but don’t obsess over them. Go back and review them later, but don’t catalog and alphabetize!)
Lesson 7Watch it spread, nudge it along (When you get a big idea, encourage others to talk about it and participate in it. Ask others for their opinions, and pay attention to who is embracing your idea or not)

You can repeat this exercise with any bit of information. Try pulling out the fundamentals and applying them to your world, even if at first it may seem a little out there. Innovation starts when we take information we have and combine it in unexpected ways.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Some good ideas have to die

I know you’re probably sick of hearing about Google. I am a little bit too. But I did enjoy this description of how they get ideas, provided by Social Media Influence. Apparently, Google gets so many good ideas from its employees that they have to kill a bunch of good ones. I think that’s an important point. Once you start having a lot of good ideas, you will not be able to take action on every single one. You will need to learn to let go or you’ll be spread too thin. When you’re working on too much at once, everything will get a crummy implementation – if it gets one at all. Believe me, I know this from experience.

It’s better to sacrifice a few good ideas than your reputation for getting things done.

Are you getting too many good ideas? Which ones should you let go of?

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The funniest people you know

When you're feeling down, it can sometimes block your idea flow.


Here's what I do to combat the blues. It's a pretty good way to generate more ideas, and it's great for a quick pick me up.

1. List the funniest people you know

2. Write down the top five most hilarious things they have done or said

3. Call them and re-live these moments

It's basically a brainstorming session of your most entertaining memories. Brainstorming something you want to think about can clear the gunk out of the pipes and make it easier to brainstorm about things you have to think about (like that project at work you haven't started on yet).

I recently called my sister to crack up (again) over the time we were having dinner together while on vacation. My mom had made pork chops and there was one left on the plate. It was shaped a little like football pants. My sister pointed to it and said, "look! meat pants!"

I have no idea now why this was so funny, but we both laughed so hard that we could no longer stand up or breath. We still laugh about this.

Yeah, I know it's not even funny. But everyone has at least one of those "you had to be there" stories that make you smile. What are yours?

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Don't hoard

The VAR guy has an interesting post on what he calls sustainable innovation. Basically, he emphasizes the importance of continuing to innovate, and not just putting all your eggs in one basket. I think it ties in nicely to one of the principles of having a lot of ideas. Don’t hoard them.

Ever get an idea that you loved, that you knew was a winner? But the timing wasn’t quite right. You didn’t think the audience would be receptive yet. You thought that this was the Next Big Thing and you wanted to wait until everything was perfect to roll it out. And you held on to it, and didn’t share it or act on it. Or you fell so in love with the idea in its current state that you refused to consider other possibilities for it.

When you hoard ideas like this, it puts a roadblock up. That roadblock keeps you from developing and building on the original idea. And often our new best ideas come from our old best ideas.

Lesson? Don’t hoard your ideas. Don’t fall so in love with one of them you think it has no faults or can’t get better.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Ideas on index cards

Jessica at Indexed has so many amazing ideas. Can't imagine them getting much riper. Of course, that's the thing about getting ideas - You can continuously improve. I can't wait to see what someone with this much idea potential does next.

A recent favorite post on innovation.

Jessica takes index cards and draws clever diagrams with clever headers. Wonder what her idea inspiration was.

Look around your home or office. How can you transform an everyday item like an index card into a great idea?

Don't kill your ideas for small people

How many times have you been in a situation where you had a good idea, decided not to speak out, and then someone else came up with something similar and everyone liked it? That’s what happens when you kill your own ideas. You miss out on opportunities to show your colleagues, friends, bosses, whoever what value you can add.

On the flip side, have you ever spoken an idea aloud that no one liked? Or worse yet, that was harshly criticized or laughed at? Ouch. That doesn’t feel good, does it? It doesn’t really make you want to go out there and share more ideas either. This is why it is so difficult to stop killing your own ideas. Killing ideas keeps you from feeling embarrassed.

When I feel belittled by someone making fun of my ideas, I like to remember this quote from Mark Twain:

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the truly great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Friday, May 2, 2008

More idea inspiration

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki (one of my favorite bloggers for idea inspiration), I discovered a great new source for ideas. Check out Roger von Oech's Creative Think blog, subtitled, "Fun ideas to stimulate your creativity."

He just released a 25th anniversary edition of his book on how to be more creative, A whack on the side of the head. I'm so glad to have found this, even though apparently I'm 25 years late to the party. But, I'll be reading it soon anyway.

Another fun tip - when you go to his website and click on his picture at the top, you get an idea prompt.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

You don't have to be smart

Feeling like you're too dumb to have great ideas? Read this article from Harvey Mackay. In it, he addresses all my favorite guidelines for having ideas, like that everyone can have more ideas or that the best ideas are built off the ideas of others.


Favorite quote (it was hard to pick just one favorite):

Of every study known to mankind, not one -- zero, zilch, nada -- says there is a
correlation between IQ and creativity. This is good, because it means every one
of us can become more creative.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Remarkably simple, yet painfully difficult

I just finished The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Great book, as always from Lencioni. One particular quote in the book stuck out to me:

In fact, building a strong team is both possible and remarkably simple. But it is painfully difficult.
This sentiment is also true of having ideas. If you substitute having more ideas for building a strong team, you get:
In fact, having more ideas is both possible and remarkably simple. But it is painfully difficult.
Simple because all you have to do is stop killing ideas. Painfully difficult because it is hard to overcome your own self doubt. It takes courage to present your ideas when you know they will likely get shot down. It hurts a little (or a lot) when you get ideas that don't work. And that's just getting over killing your own ideas. It's also painfully difficult to get over the habit of killing other people's ideas. "Yes, but" and its friends just keep jumping in the way.

But take heart. Now that you know to expect something painfully difficult, you know to stick it out and keep practicing your idea having skills. And if you can stick out something painfully difficult, it will put you ahead of the crowd.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Get ideas wherever you are

I read an interesting post over at Mission Minded Management today. In it, she talks about building innovation into every level of an organization.

I like the idea of this for a few reasons.

It encourages collaboration
If everyone in the organization is expected to have more ideas, more of them will be shared and built upon.

It reduces idea killing
When everyone is held accountable for having ideas, people will have more - without fear of failure. It helps keep people from killing their own ideas. This creates an environment where it's ok to have ideas. Thus, the likelihood that people will be killing everyone else's ideas is reduced, because they don't want it to happen to them.

It empowers everyone in the organization with ideas
If you feel like you should be having ideas, and that those ideas are listened to, you are more likely to feel like your job matters and that you are in control. This means that even those people at the front line of an organization feel like they are making a contribution.

My favorite lesson from this is the reminder that everyone can get more ideas, no matter where you are in an organization.



Friday, April 25, 2008

Find your idea champions

When I was a little girl, my favorite book was Christmas in Ladybug Village. At the age of 2, I had the whole thing memorized. This included the dedication which read:

"This book is dedicated to my mother, who has always believed in my work."

Do you have someone who has always believed in your work? Everyone should. This person is your idea champion. Sit down right now and make a list of your idea champion[s]. Then call them when you feel down. Seek out more idea champions. Surround yourself with people who are confident enough to love ideas, even when they didn't think of them.

Your idea champions believe in you even when you kill your own ideas.

Thanks Mom.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Don’t forget that ideas = $$$

Getting more ideas often equals making more cash. In fact, everyone’s talking about it right now, although they don’t call it “ripening your ideas.” That’s just my hokey terminology. The sleek and shiny business buzzword for it is innovation. But it’s the same thing. Don’t let all this talk of innovation intimidate you.

People that innovate, or get more ideas, had to practice to become good at it just like everyone else. Sure, some people have more natural talent than others, but anyone that is the best at something got that way from practicing.

To start practicing, remember our steps for having more ideas.

Step 1: Stop killing your own ideas
Step 2: Stop killing other people's ideas

Pretty soon, you won't just be getting more ideas. You'll be innovating. And they pay people a lot for that nowadays, in our outsourced economy.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Fake Steve's one pair of glasses

I love to read Fake Steve (note that if you are easily offended, Fake Steve is not for you). It's likely you've heard of it, but if not, it's journalist Daniel Lyons impersonating Apple CEO Steve Jobs via blog. Hilarious.

It's spilling over with idea inspiration. My favorite part about it is that it delivers real news about technology in a way that is much more entertaining than if I found all the articles he references on my own.

Recently, he wrote this post on Robert Metcalfe and others. Funny, if insulting, as usual, but this paragraph got me thinking:

I call it the "one pair of glasses" theory. You see it all the time. People know one thing and they think that this one thing can be applied to every problem, because it's the only way they know how to look at the world. They've got one pair of glasses.

This gave me a good concept for idea transformation. Instead of having just one pair of glasses, get yourself a bunch.

Let's say you need some fresh ideas for your business. Think about ideas that have been successful in a totally different industry. Look through those "glasses" and write down all the ways those ideas might work for you. Then put on "glasses" from a different industry and repeat. Repeat as many times as you like, with as many pairs of glasses as you can find. Then go back, pick the best ones, and refine.

Of course it doesn't have to be industry glasses. It could be product glasses, or style glasses, or profession glasses, or competitor glasses, or any other kind of glasses you can think of.

How many pairs of glasses can you look through to get new ideas?

Friday, April 11, 2008

Engaging an audience with ideas

Well, it looks like My Starbucks Idea was an idea that resonated with a lot of people. Many, many Starbucks patrons have posted ideas to the site.

I like the way they are responding to each of the ideas on their blog. My favorite is the one from 4/9 on splash sticks.

Starbucks has made a pretty clever move here. Not only are they getting a ton of free ideas, but they are building credibility with their audience by listening and implementing their ideas. Not a new idea, but a good old standard executed well so far.

Is there someone you are trying to reach? How can you use their ideas to engage them?

And PS, my idea has 140 points. Far from the 52,270 of the top idea, but oh well...

Monday, April 7, 2008

Make new friends

Often, you can get some of your best ideas from building off the ideas of others. That's why it pays a lot to know a lot of other people.

But how can you expand your network and meet new people? Try volunteering.

You could volunteer in the traditional sense. Like for your favorite charity or arts organization. Maybe you could join a committee at your child's school. Or even the board of a local professional association.

You can also volunteer at work. Seek out additional projects that will allow you to work with different people and outside departments.

It's not always easy and it takes time, but the idea payoff is worth it.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Failure = Better Ideas

I came across a quote in a Business Week that I love. The article (full article here) talks about IBM Research Director John Kelly's strategy for research and development. In it is this quote from Kelly:


"If we don't fail a third of the time, we're not stretching enough."


He lives by the first step of having more ideas.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Ideas in reverse

In Business Week Mag this week, there's an article about changing video games into movies. See the full article here.

They talk about the usual formula for a video game: take a popular movie or sports figure, make it a video game, and sell updated versions every few years.

With flagging sales, video game company Electronic Arts is trying a new approach. They are encouraging employees to think big. Create a video game that can later be converted into comics, books, movies, cartoons, TV shows, etc. "The next Batman or X-men franchise in reverse," says the article.

This is an interesting way to get inspiration for new ideas. Take a formula that works, and reverse it.

How could you reverse your current processes?

How could you reverse the processes of your competitors to gain an advantage?

Monday, March 24, 2008

Microsoft gets personal

Looks like I'm not the only one advocating the value of a personal touch when it comes to customer service. Here's a fun example from Microsoft, as told by Seth Godin.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

More ideas than you can shake a stick at

If you get stuck and need some quick idea inspiration, you might try visiting Alltop. This site, recently launched by Guy Kawasaki and others, gives you the top stories from the web's most popular sites and blogs. It's divided into several topic areas, and has way more info than you'll ever have time to read.

Right now, my favorites to browse are Egos and Food.

Friday, March 21, 2008

They have lots of my money - now they can have lots of my ideas

Starbucks just introduced My Starbucks Idea. This is a website for Starbucks fans to offer ideas and give feedback on the ideas of others. Here's the idea I just posted:

"I think you should sell free drink coupons in addition to gift cards. They would make nice small thank you gifts. I feel kind of silly giving someone a $3 gift card, but a free beverage coupon would be nice."

I'm interested to know how Starbucks will use the ideas generated on this site, and how they will let us know about them. We'll have to follow their blog to see.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Listen to ME, your customer!

When you want to make an impression on customers (and subsequently get them to listen to your ideas) don't underestimate the value of a personal touch. It's quick and powerful.

Take my dental surgery office for example. I went in this morning to have my two bottom wisdom teeth taken out. I have to admit that I was absolutely freaking out. I was scared to death that for some reason they weren't going to give me enough medicine to knock me out and I would wake up in the middle of the procedure.

I cried tears of terror in the waiting room (yes, I know I am a giant weenie). When the nurse called my name to take me back to the operating room, I pulled myself together. Then, unfortunately, when we got to the room, she made the mistake of asking how I was. More tears.

"I'm actually a nervous wreck," I said. Prepping the surgical equipment in a business like fashion, the nurse barely paused to tell me that it would be no problem. I'd fall asleep and wake up in the recovery room. Then she walked out.

A few minutes later, the doctor and friends came back in, and continued prep. They hooked me up to some monitors, started my IV, put on a blood pressure cuff. More terror tears from me. They strapped my arms to the chair (eek!). At this point, I am really trying not to go into full blown sobs. I turned to them and begged, "You promise that I will not wake up in the middle of this? Please?" I got a barely discernible nod.

Let me pause at this point to acknowledge a few truths:

  • I do know that wisdom teeth extraction is a low risk, routine procedure.
  • I'm sure that my doctor and his staff have performed hundreds, if not thousands of these.
  • They probably had many more scheduled for the very same day and were very busy.
  • My fear of this situation was completely irrational.

Unfortunately, none of the above made me feel any better at all.

What would have made me feel better? If one of them would have taken 30 (or dare I suggest 60?) seconds to stop what they were doing, take my hand, look me in the eye, smile reassuringly, and tell me that they would take good care of me and everything would be just fine.

A small gesture like this would have made all the difference in how I will talk about them and their practice to potential patients in the future.

What 30 - 60 second personal touch can you add to make an impression on your customers?

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

No raining on your idea parade

Sometimes people won't like your ideas. Even the good ones! And it will be hard. But don't let it get you down. Just keep coming up with new ideas, and eventually you'll hit on one that will work.

And if you really think that rejected idea is worth something... hold on to it until the right opportunity to use it comes up.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Toyota: a perfect story of ideas, part II

By the time Sakichi Toyoda was in his 60s, his loom company and tireless drive to innovate had established him as one of the most important figures in business.

He had not only made vast improvements in the looms themselves, but had put in place a collaborative, open environment for ideas that would later become one of the hallmarks of success for his automotive company, Toyota. Sakichi believed that the best ideas came from people working directly within his manufacturing environment, and encouraged everyone to have ideas.

More new ideas

Japan had a major earthquake in the early 20s that damaged many of the country's railways, making it difficult for its citizens to travel. Given this tragedy, and exposure to the road systems and affordable cars they had seen in the US, Sakichi and his son Kiichiro got a new idea. A Japanese auto manufacturer.


Time out! Yes, there was a need for cars, but all the Toyodas' expertise was in the textile industry! Yes, but Japan at this time had no expertise in high level machine design and manufacturing. None!

Of course the Toyodas didn't let yes, but murder their ideas. They sold their loom business (for enough money that they could have sat back and been really fat and really happy for the rest of their lives and beyond, by the way) and used the proceeds to start exploring a Japanese automobile.

They worked with a team who had no previous automobile design experience and produced their first prototype in 1935. They established Toyota Motor Company in 1937 (adapted from their last name, Toyoda) and the rest is history. Toyota hasn't lost money since 1950. 1950!


Ideas win.


Thanks for telling me the story, Dave Magee. Read the book (How Toyota Became #1). You'll enjoy it.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Toyota: a perfect story of ideas, part I

Here's a great story of ideas from the book, How Toyota Became #1 by David Magee:

Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota, started life as the son of a carpenter who lived several hours outside of Tokyo. The small village in which he lived depended on the textile trade. Each day, Sakichi would watch his mother and the other women of the village toil over their looms. This was in the late 1800s, and the machinery they used was physically taxing and difficult to operate.

Sakichi, hoping to ease the women's physical strain, searched for ways to make the job easier. He developed a new loom for them - one that made the chore much easier. But he wasn't satisfied with that. He spent his days observing the women and his nights developing new and better looms.

Time out - what if Sakichi had fallen prey to our old enemy "yes, but?"


He could have wanted to improved the loom, but killed all of his ideas with a, "Yes, but these women have done it this way all their lives" or a "Yes, but I'm just a kid" (he was only 23 when he got his first patent).


Instead, he looked past these obstacles and eventually acquired more than 100 patents based on his improvements. He understood the first rule of having ideas.

And he didn't stop there.

Even though his looms were a dramatic improvement for Japan (and his company was the among the most prosperous in his region), looms in Europe and the US were better. He traveled to Europe to study looms in the UK (he understood that the best ideas weren't his). And while he was there, he not only got ideas to continually improve his textile operations, he got new ideas about how to run a business.

But how did he get from looms to the #1 car company in the world?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Letting go of idea ownership

I just finished Seducing the Boys Club by Nina Disena. Great book. One of the things she talks about is how everyone wins with collaboration. She references an excellent quote from Ronald Reagan:

"It is unlimited what we can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit."

Sometimes, when someone takes one of your ideas and runs with it, it can be hard to let it go. It's hard not to find yourself thinking -hey! that's MY idea!

Just take it as the ultimate compliment and remember that more and greater ideas are born when everyone contributes.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Ray and Johnny


Here's another great example of taking someone else's idea and making it your own. Good for Ray (he put this version on his album "Love Country Style") and good for Johnny (Ray Charles is singing the song he made famous - indirectly giving him even more fame).



Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Don't keep yourself from ideas

Here are some of the best ways I've found to have less ideas:

  • Get too busy to execute ideas.
  • Take every project you are given.
  • Say you can do something even when there is no way you can.
  • Don't schedule any downtime for yourself.
  • Stop brainstorming.
  • Listen to people who tell you you can't.
  • Listen to yourself when you say that's a dumb idea.
  • Do exactly what everyone else is doing.
If you find you aren't in your idea zone, examine your life to see if any of the above is true. If so, fix it. It's keeping you from your ideas.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Idea overload

Ever grow tomatoes? You get five or six plants. You weed them and water them. Once the first ones ripen, it's so exciting.

But before long you get overwhelmed. On sandwiches, spaghetti sauce, salsa - so many wonderful ways to use tomatoes. But you have a life, right? You don’t have time to use all those beautiful, ripe tomatoes. And you feel guilty letting them rot on the vine.

The same thing will happen with ideas. Once you get in the groove, you will have so many wonderful items to execute. All hard won through thinking and talking and brainstorming. But you won’t have time to execute them. It’s ok. Pick the best ideas. Do whatever is doable and whatever will reap the highest rewards for you. And celebrate your fruitful harvest.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The History of NASCAR

Here's another great idea created by transforming something else. In this case, the something else was (on the surface anyway) completely different.

You see, back in the days of prohibition, many enterprising Appalachians made good money producing moonshine. To transport the illegal alcohol from the stills to the place of sale required drivers. The best drivers, of course, were those who could take any risk necessary to outrun the police. They used small fast cars, and often modified them for speed, handling, and increased cargo capacity.

Although the repeal of prohibition in 1933 shut down some of the moonshiners, many continued to operate illegally to avoid paying taxes on their product. This kept the drivers in business and forced them to constantly come up with improvements to keep the police off their trails.

By the 1940's someone had gotten the bright idea to use these drivers and their cars in for-profit races. Popularity of these races grew, and in 1948, NASCAR was officially born.

Take drivers who were willing to risk it all to evade the police. Then get them do the same thing in front of a crowd - legally and for better pay. Now that was a great idea.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Ideas inspire

Face it - the best ideas aren’t yours. But you can take them, add to them, and make something better.

Check out this music video by Will.i.am, based on Barak Obama’s speech January 8 in New Hampshire (if you haven’t already):



Look past all the politics for a moment and focus on the ideas. Obama presents ideas in his speech that resonate with a large audience. However, if voter turnout is an indication of audience (turnout among eligible voters in U.S. presidential elections is estimated at only 50-55%), he still has room to broaden his reach.

Enter Will.i.am (hip hop artist and producer for those of you not into the popular music scene). Inspired by Obama’s ideas, a week later he gets an idea for a song. He calls his other famous friends to contribute their ideas. 48 hours later, he releases the above video. Now the audience that gets to hear Obama’s ideas has grown from
people who are interested in politics
to
people who are interested in politics + people who are interested in music.

At the time I saw it, this version of the video had already been viewed 3,472,590 times on Youtube.

How are you using other people’s ideas to make them even better?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Save the ideas

Idea killing is a problem that runs rampant in companies today. The most common weapon is "yes, but," but killers can also wield an "I don't know...," or a "that won't work." In fact, idea killers have a giant arsenal full of sharp implements to suck the life out of our poor infant ideas.

Often, the worst offender is the voice inside our own head. This negative voice can stop us short before we can even get it out.

I'm not saying we should never give a dissenting opinion. All I'm saying is that most of us give way too many of them. Instead of being a mass murderer, just practice euthanasia.

Tomorrow, try going through the entire day without saying "yes, but," even to yourself. You may be surprised at how often you have to stop yourself.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Idea a day

Here's a fun site if you need a little inspiration: http://www.idea-a-day.com/. It's a site that posts, as the name implies, an idea a day. Check out the top ten ideas (navigation in the upper right corner). In light of all the election coverage lately, I especially like the idea from Day 49. This idea suggests that all voters should get still one vote, but you can use your vote to vote against a candidate. I might need more than one vote for that.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The idea of customer service

One secret of people who get a lot of ideas is that they can take an idea that someone else has and apply it to their own situation in unexpected ways. Here's a great example:

Everyone knows that great customer service makes a difference. But have you ever thought about how an author can use customer service to sell more of his books? Neither had I, until last night.

Seth Godin is the author of many books on marketing (including the aforementioned Meatball Sundae). He is also the owner of Squidoo.com, and the most popular marketing blogger on the internet. Clearly, the man is busy. So when I wrote him an e-mail last night to tell him how many great ideas I got from his book and ask a question, I thought I might get an answer sometime next week.

He replied ONE HOUR LATER! And I'm pretty sure it was really him. Not only did he thank me for my compliment, but also took time to answer my question. He even got my name right. I can't imagine how many e-mails he must receive, but I'm sure mine was just one of many.

Seth understands the value of good service. Because now, even though I was considering reading his other books anyway, I most definitely will. And I'll share this story of remarkable service with anyone who will listen.

So the question is - are you thinking of how your service can be better than it is now, in unexpected ways?

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Ideas - who cares?

Reading through my previous posts, you may think I'm a little touchy feely. It's true - I admit it. I know things like "give yourself permission to have bad ideas" and "making other people feel safe to have ideas" sound totally hokey.

But listen. Unless you've been hiding, you know that the world is getting smaller. That means more people with better ideas in direct competition with you. And unless you get better at getting ideas, you'll get left behind.

When my ideas stop coming

Once I got in the habit of not killing ideas, I found that I get a lot more of them. But sometimes they seem to dry up, and I can't get a good one no matter how hard I try.

Here are some strategies I use to combat this.

Read
Books give you access to some of the world's best "idea havers." And with my local library, I get access to all those expert ideas for free. Don't forget about books on tape, too - I always feel especially efficient when I listen to a book while driving or working out.

When I'm reading, I'm constantly asking myself how the author's ideas apply to me. I don't always come up with a good answer or something that will work, but it's a good exercise that's given me a start to some of my favorite ideas.

Another thing I do when reading is to jot down ideas I like, even if I don't have a use for them right then. I put them in my Idea Collection.

Two of my current favorites are Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath and Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin.

Work on something else
Sometimes when I'm out of ideas, the harder I try, the fewer ideas I get. So I focus my attention on a different project. Not concentrating on the problem issue seems to remove the blockage from my idea pipes.

Help someone else wih a problem
When I'm stuck, a lot of times I will go ask someone else if they have an issue I can help them work through. It's the same principle as above, but has the added benefit of helping to build stronger relationships. Not only does that person get help with their problem, but he or she feels good about helping me out, and often I'll get a lot of inspiration from our session.

Play
I have two young children, which means we have a lot of toys in the house. Unintentionally, I've found that playing with toys takes my thoughts in directions they wouldn't have gone before. I feel a little silly admitting it, but sometimes I play with the kids' toys when they're not even around (don't tell them).

Sleep on it
There are times when it just helps me to forget it all, lay down in my favorite PJs, and start fresh in the morning.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

My Idea Collection

Sometimes you get ideas at the craziest times, don't you? I know a lot of people who say they have their best thoughts in the shower or during long runs. I get a lot while I'm driving.

Wherever I am when I get an idea - even if its just a little one - I write it down as soon as I get to a place where that's possible. It might just be an unfinished thought, or something I plan to get to later, but I write it down all the same. I try to carry paper with me wherever I go, but I've also got ideas on napkins and backs of receipts. I put all these scraps in one place. I call it my Idea Collection.

When I need some fresh inspiration, I can pull out my Idea Collection and read through it.

Monday, January 21, 2008

More ideas, step two

Stop killing other people's ideas

Because some of the best ideas come from other people, the next thing I had to do was make them feel safe to have ideas. I hate when other people kill my ideas, so I make a concerted effort not to do it to them.

It sounds simple enough, but it can be hard to break the "yes, but" habit. This is what many of us say when we hear a new idea. We acknowledge the person with a "yes," but then we throw in that "but" followed by all the reasons it won't work.

When you start, getting more ideas is like unclogging a pipe. The more gunk you can get out of there, the easier ideas will flow. Idea killing is the gunk clogging your pipe. Get rid of it, and watch more and more ideas come through.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

More ideas, step one (yes again)

Stop killing your own ideas

I know its the same step over again, but it bears repeating because it really takes work. A lot of work. I didn't want to be the guy that had bad ideas, and it felt like a big risk to put them out there. Even when I was the only one looking at them.

Here's an exercise I started doing to get rid of my own negativity. Try it the next time you need an idea. It's really just a simple one person brain storming session.

Make a list of at least twenty five and don't edit yourself. Write down whatever crazy thoughts come to your mind. Take all negative thoughts about anything you write down out of your mind. This list is just for you and you can shred it, burn eat, or even eat it when you're done.

What I found is that the more I did this, the easier the ideas came. And the further down I got on the list, the better they were.