The Top 10 Reasons Why The 10 Top Reasons Don't Matter
1. If you need more data to prove your point, you'll never have enough data to prove your point.
2. Being unreasonable is often an innovator's biggest advantage.
3. Analysis paralysis.
4. You already know what to do.
5. You're going to follow your gut, anyway.
6. "Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts." (Einstein)
Continue reading "The Top 10 Reasons Why The 10 Top Reasons Don't Matter"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
February 02, 2012Creative Thinking Technique #4
IDEA BRAHMACHARYA
In India, spiritual adepts who give up sex to pursue God are known as "brahmacharyas."
They believe that their vital power (i.e. kundalini) needs to be completely intact in order for them to have the ultimate experience. They celebrate by being celibate.
What does this have to do with you, oh sexually active seeker of the Big Idea? Plenty -- especially when you consider that one of the main reasons why many new ideas never see the light of day is because their originators have a tendency to "prematurely articulate."
Indeed, the act of talking about one's idea often takes the place of doing anything about it -- and the idea, regrettably, ends up merely a fantasy.
Continue reading "Creative Thinking Technique #4"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:54 PM | Comments (1)
February 01, 2012ANNOUNCING: "National Get Your Ducks Out of the Damn Row Month!"
Time to celebrate!
February is
"National
Get Your Ducks
Out of the Damn
Row Month."
C'mon!
I know you
can do this!
Get those ducks
out of order.
Spin them!
Turn them around.
Put sunglasses on them.
See what happens
when you let yourself
do something
just a little
bit different
for a change.
Quack!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2012Go Beyond Your Pet Ideas!
If your company runs brainstorming sessions, know this: too many of them have become veiled opportunities for people to trot out their pet ideas.
Because everyone is so ridiculously busy these days and real listening is at a premium, people use brainstorming sessions as a way to foist their pre-existing ideas on others.
And while this sometimes leads to results, it doesn't make best use of the opportunity a brainstorm session provides. The way around this phenomenon?
Give people a chance to express their pre-existing ideas at the beginning of a session. Clear the decks. Then use the rest of the time to explore the unknown. Woof! Woof!
High Velocity Brainstorming
Conducting Genius
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:48 AM | Comments (2)
26 Reasons Why Most Brainstorming Sessions Are a Big Disappointment
Whenever I ask my clients to tell me about the quality of the brainstorming sessions in their company, they usually roll their eyes and grumble.
Simply put, most brainstorming sessions don't work.
Not because brainstorming, as a process, doesn't work -- but because they're usually done poorly.
What follows are 26 of the most common reasons WHY -- and after that, a list of what you can do differently to turn things around. Ready?
1. Lame facilitation
2. Wrong (or poorly articulated) topic
3. Unmotivated participants
4. No transition from "business as usual"
Continue reading "26 Reasons Why Most Brainstorming Sessions Are a Big Disappointment"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:45 AM | Comments (5)
January 30, 2012The Art and Science of Losing Count
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
-- Albert Einstein
If you have even the slightest respect for the wild-haired father of modern physics, consider this: Your organization's fascination with metrics is often nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to quantify the unquantifiable -- a compulsive effort to validate that which you and everyone else already know to be true.
I'm not suggesting you abandon metrics (I track, daily, how may unique visitors make it to my website) -- all I'm saying is not everything needs to be measured, at least not all of the time.
The core of your company's "innovation process" is actually less about mind, and more about heart. (And if you're about to ask me how I know that, please read the Einstein quote one more time).
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2012Creative Thinking Technique #3
THE EMBEDDED REPORTER
There is a state of mind psychologists have dubbed the hypnopompic state that is a rich source of inspiration and fresh ideas.
In this state, most often associated with the first few minutes upon waking, the analytical mind is at bay and a fuzzier logic prevails.
It is as if a portal opens between worlds and we gain greater access to the subconscious part of mind where brilliance, insight, and expanded perception often reside.
Continue reading "Creative Thinking Technique #3"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:02 AM | Comments (1)
January 27, 2012Ten Simple Mindset Shifts for 2012
This is a marvelous, lucid, well-written blog post by Tom Asacker on ten of the fundamental mindset changes that you and your company will need to honor if you expect to thrive during these radically changing times.
HINT: Your marketing efforts need to be less about branding and more about bonding.
Who, on your team, do you need to meet with to explore Tom's key points? And when will you do it?
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)
Creative Thinking Technique #2
DREAM CATCHING
Many great breakthroughs have come in dreams.
Rene Descartes got the concept for the Scientific Method in a dream. Elias Howe came up with the final design for the lock stitch sewing machine in a dream. August Kekule arrived at the formulation of the Benzene molecule in a dream.
In the dream state, our subconscious mind arrives at solutions that our conscious mind is unlikely to discover no matter much it obsesses.
That's why Thomas Edison and Salvadore Dali used to take naps during the day.
Click the link below for a simple technique you can use to help remember your dreams...
Continue reading "Creative Thinking Technique #2"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2012Creative Thinking Technique #1
This is the first in a series of 35 postings that describe simple techniques you can use to liberate your innate creativity.
1. WRITE ON!
Buddha, as the story goes, once said that human beings have 2,000 thoughts per second -- and that he had slowed his mind enough to be able to identify the last two.
Few of us are in Buddha's league. Our thoughts are often a blur, flying in under the radar -- great ideas mixed with odd bits about shoe sales, sex, and salad dressing.
Like unremembered dreams, our ideas come and go, having little or no effect on our lives. That's why you need a way to track and capture them. At the very least, the effort will give you the option of remembering them.
Cavemen recorded their ideas on the walls of their cave. You also need a way.
Continue reading "Creative Thinking Technique #1"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2012The Rock and a Hard Place Exercise
Here's a fun 5-minute exercise -- a good icebreaker or brainstorm session starter.
Make a list of every bad thing that will happen to you and your business if you don't figure out how to free yourself from being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Then take another five minutes and make a second list of everything you can do to prevent the stuff you just wrote down on your first list from happening. Go!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2012The Seed of Innovation Moment
Let's cut to the chase: Innovation doesn't begin with processes, structures, and protocols. It begins with inspiration.
And where does inspiration come from?
It comes from inside the impassioned mind and heart of each person who works in your organization.
When people's mind/mindset is in the right place (i.e. open, curious, imaginative, communicative), your organization is home to thousands of daily, spontaneous opportunities for innovation to take root.
But all too often it doesn't.
Continue reading "The Seed of Innovation Moment"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:08 PM | Comments (3)
January 23, 2012The Real Organizational Chart?
One reason why there isn't more innovation in your organization is because too many people are working on their own. The result? Overwhelm. Stress. Bottlenecks. And too many missed opportunities. Here are 20 ways to change the game:
Continue reading "The Real Organizational Chart?"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:54 PM | Comments (1)
January 22, 2012You Are Never Too Old to Create
Got a big idea? Think you're too old to create! Think again. Here are some incredible examples to inspire you to go for it! Click "full screen" (bottom right icon) for easiest reading.
The Creative Age
Catalyzing the Creative Mind
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2012Everything Begins as an Idea
Everything begins as an idea.
Whether you're in business, school, jail, or debt, that's how it all gets rolling. First there's the idea, then there's the manifestation of the idea -- assuming, of course, that the person with the idea has their act together.
If you have any doubt, take a look around you.
Everything you see began as an idea: The microchip, the chocolate chip, the fishing net, the internet, the company you work for, and the company you keep. All of it. Everything. Even the Universe, some say, began as an idea in the mind of the Creator.
Well then, if it all begins with an idea, where in the world do ideas come from?
Continue reading "Everything Begins as an Idea"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
The Wisdom of Bruce Lee
"All
fixed
set patterns
are
incapable
of adaptability
or pliability.
The
truth
is
outside
of
all
fixed
patterns."
-- Bruce Lee
What market change does your business need to adapt to?
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)
PREMier PREMotion Beach Boy StyleTurn up the volume! Go full screen! Here is a fun way that three inspired students of Prem Rawat are getting the word out about his upcoming presentation in Long Beach, CA on 1/29.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2012The Top 5 Innovation Speakers
I am happy to announce that I have just been voted a Top 5 Innovation Speaker by Speaker's Platform -- a leading edge speakers bureau.
I am honored and really looking forward to taking my message on the road.
The message? That every organization in the world can be significantly more innovative if commits to fostering the kind of environment that brings out the natural brilliance of it's workforce.
Everyone is creative. The only problem is this natural ability has been obscured by a truckload of organizational constraints, assumptions, habits, old mindsets, inelegant processes, and an odd unwillingness to make the kinds of changes necessary to meet the demands of a radically changing marketplace.
Click here for descriptions of my keynotes.
How to foster a culture of innovation
Photo
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2012The Beauty of a Wandering Mind
Do you have a tendency to zone out? Daydream? Follow the yellow brick road? Well, your day has come.
Instead of having to defend yourself from the army of people demanding you become more focused every second of the day, now you have some vital research, noted by the New York Times, to build a case for your wandering mind.
Explains, Dr. Jonathan Schooler, of UCLA:
"For creativity, you need your mind to wander, but you also need to be able to notice that your mind is wandering and catch the idea when you have it. If Archimedes had come up with a solution in the bathtub, but didn't notice he'd had the idea, what good would it have done him?"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:47 AM | Comments (1)
January 17, 201224 Awesome Quotes on Good Communication
1. "The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said." - Peter Drucker
2. "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw
3."Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people." - William Butler Yeats
4. "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." - Epictetus
Continue reading "24 Awesome Quotes on Good Communication"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
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