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.