Our Top 10 Huffington Post Articles
You may not know this, but our semi-fearless leader and Co-Founder of Idea Champions, Mitch Ditkoff, is now blogging for the Huffington Post on a variety of topics. Below is a sampling. If you like what you read, FAN him so you can receive email alerts whenever a new article of his is published.
1. 20 Reasons Why Creative People Like to Work in Cafes
2. The Syndrome Syndrome and the Rise of the New World Disorder
3. The Kindness at Work Manifesto
4. 27 Best Practices of High Performing Volunteer Organizations
7. How to Go Beyond Self Improvement
8. The Afghani Cab Driver and the $250M Salty Snack Food
9. How 13-Year Old Girls Can Wipe Out Terrorism
10. 100 Awesome Quotes on What It Really Takes to Innovate
The complete archive
Idea Champions
Mitch Ditkoff keynotes
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2013The Corporate Crapola Filter
Dear Potential Clients:
With all due respect, please do not call us if your organization is addicted to the scenario being played out in the cartoon to your left. If this was 10 years ago, we may have said YES. But no longer.
We've been paid handsomely, in the past, for hitting our heads against the wall, but those days are over. We're not saying you have to be perfect for us to work with you -- just free enough of corporate crapola for us to make a difference.
We like the Bob Newhart approach.
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2013Making the World's Smallest Movie
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
"We're Moving in Another Direction"
If you work for an organization that issues RFPs to consulting companies, I have one humble request for you:
Please cease and desist from using the phrase "we're moving in another direction" when it comes time to letting consultants know you've decided NOT to engage their services.
It may seem like a small thing, but it's not.
"We're moving in another direction" is a totally bogus phrase. It's meaningless -- a euphemism with no soul that delivers no useful information or feedback to the person to whom you are supposedly communicating.
If you've asked a consultant to take the time to engage with you, learn about your company, and submit a proposal, the least you can do is find a more honorable way of delivering your feedback.
Continue reading ""We're Moving in Another Direction""
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:24 PM | Comments (4)
May 19, 2013An Alternative to Launching Yet Another Innovation Initiative
Many organizations who want to raise the bar for innovation, end up launching some kind of internally branded "innovation initiative". Logically speaking, this makes sense, but logic is not the most effective driver of innovation. Most employees cringe at the thought of yet another "initiative" being foisted on them.
So... instead of launching an initiative, help people take initiative by becoming more committed to fostering innovation in every conversation they have on the job -- something you can learn more about, in then next three minutes, by watching this newly produced 3-minute video of me addressing this topic.
Innovation from the inside out
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 201312 Ways to Make Bad Decisions
There are three things that astound me about most organizations: The cro-magnon way performance reviews are done; the pitiful way brainstorm sessions are run and; the voo doo way decisions are made.
What follows is an elaboration of the third -- 12 common phenomena that contribute to funky decision making. As you read, think of the teams you work most closely with, which of these behaviors describes them, and what you can do to change the game.
1. Selective Search for Evidence: Gathering facts that support pre-determined conclusions, but disregard other facts that support different conclusions.
2. Premature Termination of Search for Evidence: Accepting the first alternative that looks like it might work.
Continue reading "12 Ways to Make Bad Decisions"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:28 PM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2013Everything You Wanted to Know About Innovation But Forgot to Ask
Thanks to my son, Jesse, for the timely heads up -- the first online resource he shared with me upon his return from his first year of college (Hampshire). Let's hear it for higher education!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2013Heat Your House With Soda Cans
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2013An Airtight Case for Giving People More Time to Be Creative
The most common complaint I hear from my clients about WHY they can't be more creative on-the-job is the "lack of time". Check out what happens if you give kids 10 minutes instead of 10 seconds to be creative.
In what ways can you give yourself, your team, or your entire company more time to create?
Quotes on time
What Atlassian does
Our creative thinking training
Idea Champions
Thank to Chris Tardieu for the heads up!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2013The Selective Attention Test
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
May 06, 2013The Inventive Inventory of Inventions Not Invented By Inventing Inventors
What do LSD, corn flakes, dynamite, saccharine, the microwave oven, viagra, the Pacemaker, velcro, penicillin, anaesthesia, the Slinky, Play Doh, Silly Putty, Post-its, and vulcanized rubber all have in common?
They were all discovered by accident.
Read more about this phenomenon here.
Idea Champions
The Innovation Kit
Photo
The Innovation Accelerator
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2013Want a Brainstorming Breakthrough? Get the Right Question!
There's a simple reason why so many brainstorm sessions are a waste of time. The problem statement being pitched to participants is the wrong one.
This is not surprising -- especially when you consider how little time most facilitators put into preparing for a session.
Here's what happens: The person who calls the session is usually scrambling -- overwhelmed, over-caffeinated, and running from one meeting to the next. Out of breath, they pitch the topic to the group, but the topic is either vague or secondary to a more essential challenge that remains unspoken.
G.K. Chesterton, one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century, distilled the phenomenon down to 13 words. "It's not that they can't see the solution," he said. "They can't see the problem."
Continue reading "Want a Brainstorming Breakthrough? Get the Right Question!"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:06 PM | Comments (3)
April 25, 2013The Martial Arts of the Mind
Ten years ago I was invited to teach a course on "Innovation and Business Growth" at GE's Crotonville Management Development Center for 75 high potential, business superstars of the future.
The GE executive who hired me was a very savvy guy with the unenviable task of orienting new adjunct faculty members to GE's high standards and often harsher reality.
My client's intelligence was exceeded only by his candor as he proceeded to tell me, in no uncertain terms, that GE gave "new instructors" two shots at making the grade -- explaining, with a wry smile, that most outside consultants were intimidated the first time they taught at GE and weren't necessarily at the top of their game.
I'm not sure how you say it in Esperanto, but in English what he said translates as "The heat is on, big time."
Continue reading "The Martial Arts of the Mind"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:58 PM | Comments (2)
April 22, 2013Yo Yo Mastery and You You
This guy is completely off the charts. Wow! Think about what YOU are committed to and WHAT you need to do to develop the kind of mastery this young man demonstrates.
Idea Champions
What we do
Ingenious Leadership
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2013Leave Your Title at the Door and Remove the Door From It's Hinges
When I co-founded my company in 1986, I had two business cards made. One said "President." The other said "Archduke." Whenever I gave clients a choice, they always wanted the Archduke card.
In time, I gave all the Archduke cards away and never re-ordered them -- in a pitiful attempt, I think, to seem more professional.
Fortunately, everything comes full circle. Last night, while enjoying a wonderful concert in my hometown of Woodstock, my next title was suddenly revealed.
Director of Public Elations (and, no, I did not forget the "R".)
In a flash, not only did I get an insight into what my focus will be for the next few years, I also discovered an entirely new field.
Continue reading "Leave Your Title at the Door and Remove the Door From It's Hinges"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:30 AM | Comments (10)
April 20, 2013Honor Your Unusual Suspects
One thing I've noticed during the past 25 year of leading brainstorming sessions for a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies is the weird tendency many organizations have to under-value their "unusual suspects" -- people who don't show up on the "creative thinking radar screen" but have a ton of value to add.
Here's my story about one such moment at AT&T just published in the Huffington Post.
Idea Champions
High Velocity Brainstorming
What our clients say
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2013The Kindness-At-Work Manifesto
It has recently come to my attention that some of the most loving, passionate, well-intentioned people in the world have a tendency to treat their co-workers unkindly -- especially during times of stress or on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.
Consumed by their need to do something extraordinary for humanity, they forget the people they work with are human.
And so, in an effort to restore a Culture of Caring to organizations everywhere. it is my honor to present to you the Kindness-At-Work Manifesto -- 40 daily opportunities to go beyond the imperfections of your co-workers and rise to a place of uncommon goodness.
Where does it begin? With your intention to maintain your commitment to kindness any time one of your co-workers does not.
Continue reading "The Kindness-At-Work Manifesto"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:38 PM | Comments (1)
The Phoenicia Festival of the VoiceOur good friends, Maria Todaro and Louis Otey, two inspired visionaries, opera singers, and the Founders of the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, have launched a kickstarter campaign to bring a world class orchestra to perform at this year's Festival in August. Please consider making a donation today. The campaign ends on April 28th. Music! Celebration! Creativity! Love!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2013WORK: The Chance to Find Yourself
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2013Creativity and the Play Instinct
Quotes on humor and playfulness
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
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