At least once a week, one of my friends or one of my clients complains about email -- hjavascript:editPlacements()ow they get too much of it and how too much of what they get is spam. I feel their pain. I really do. Which is what inspired me to write this little blues song, first performed by Face the Music, back in 2000.

THE EMAIL BLUES

I logged on this morning
And found out I'd been spammed,
Got 500 emails, Lord, my inbox was way too jammed,
Most of it was useless, the rest of it was jokes
Sent by friends with downtime to the rest of us working folks.

Oh baby, I'm so digitally cool,
Oh baby, I'm gonna start my own gene pool,
Oh baby, I'm a nanosecond fool,
Gonna download half the universe,
Challenge Bill Gates to a duel.

I logged on this morning, heard that familiar digital buzz,
Had to double check my password to find out who I was,
Read the stock quotes in a minute, the box scores and the news,
But all I really learned was... I had those email blues.

Oh baby, I'm so digitally hip,
Oh baby, I'm a dot com chocolate chip,
Oh baby, my life is just a blip,
Gonna download half the universe,
Don't you give me no more lip.

I logged on this morning and found out I was dead,
At least that's what I think my new webmaster said,
I guess it kind of shocked me since I haven't seen the light,
But when I get to heaven I'll just launch my new website.

Oh baby, I'm so digitally fine,
Oh baby, I got fiber optic up my spine,
Oh baby, my life is so divine,
Gonna download half the universe,
Don't know where to draw the line.

Want to listen to the Email Blues? Now's the time.

What kind of blues do you get? Let us know and we'll choose the most compelling topic, write a blues song about it, and post the lyrics here within the next 30 days.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:40 AM | Comments (0)

See that Neanderthal to your left? That's Og, the mythical inventor of the wheel and the hero of Mitch Ditkoff's new book which hits the book stores on May 1.

In honor of Og, I am inviting you to the book signing at the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, NY, Saturday, April 26th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm.

Here's what Og has to say about the book signing:

Morkel noophpa umphh! Kiaww noofti agu. Brrpp. Obama! Rok. Remu! Ditkoff sumphfta jabu.

Translation?

"Hey bipeds with Blackberries and cash flow problems! You don't even need to know how to read to enjoy a book signing! Free wine! Free cheese! The tribe reconvenes! And Mitch Ditkoff, who has recently developed full use of both opposable thumbs, will be signing books. Or eating crackers. Or talking too much.

Bring a friend. Bring two. Really, you don't have to buy a single book if you don't want to. Just come and be part of the fun.

And support the fabulous Golden Notebook!

If you want to listen to Mitch's two minute rap about the book, click here.

PS: If you can't make it to the book signing, so be it. You can still buy a copy here.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

True innovators rarely follow the straight and narrow path. Not only do they march to a different drummer, they're often not even on the same playing field as most people.

Take Seymour Cray, for example, the legendary designer of high-speed computers.

According to John Rollwagen, ex-chairman of Cray research, Seymour Cray used to divide his time between building the next generation super computer and digging an underground tunnel below his Chippewa Falls house.

Cray's explanation of his tunnel digging behavior is consistent with the stories of many other creatives -- inner-directed, boundary-pushing people who understand the need to go off-line whenever they get stuck.

Bottom line, whenever they find themselves struggling with a thorny problem, they walk away from it for a while.

They know, from years of practical experience, that more (i.e. obsession, analysis, effort) is often less (i.e ideas, solutions, results).

Explained Cray, "I work for three hours and then get stumped. So I quit and go to work in the tunnel. It takes me an hour or so to dig four inches and put in the boards. You see, I'm up in the Wisconsin woods, and there are elves in the woods. So when they see me leave, they come back into my office and solve all the problems I'm having. Then I go up (to my lab) and work some more."

Explained Rollwagen, "The real work happens when Seymour is in the tunnel."

Many thanks to Chuck Frey for linking to our 100 Simple Ways to Be More Creative on the Job list on his excellent InnovationTools blog.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

For those of you trying to bring something new and original into the world, know this:

The creative process is very much like a relationship.

And like most relationships, it usually begins with fascination -- that curious state of mind (and heart) that keeps us spellbound, charmed and aroused.

Bottom line, whenever a person gets a new idea, a kind of romance begins. We become absorbed. Intoxicated. Smitten. Indeed, for many of us, just thinking about a new idea is an aphrodisiac. It turns us on, psyches us up, and otherwise makes it very hard to eat, sleep, or obsess about cash flow.

While some people involved in a new relationship are able to sustain the accompanying excitement for months, most of us are less fortunate. Indeed, it's the rare person who knows how to savor and expand upon this feeling for years.

Ditto with the creative process.

After the intoxication of the initial encounter wears off, a less-than-incredible reality sets in. Where once we saw only beauty and possibility, now we see only blemishes on our high ideal. To make matters worse, some people, at this stage of the process, begin to experience a crippling kind of performance anxiety.

"Will I be good enough to achieve my goal?" they ask. "Do I have what it takes?" "Can I really pull it off?" Call it doubt if you like, but any way you slice it, the honeymoon is over.

What routinely follows (as it does in most romances) is a painful period of re-evaluation.

"Is this really what I want to be doing with my time?" we ask ourselves on the way to the refrigerator. "Is this really worth all the effort?"

Long-buried fears of being consumed by the "other" surface, driving us into withdrawal and self-analysis. Instead of enjoying the outpouring of creative energy that accompanies a new idea, we study it. We talk about it. We control it. Anything but let go to it.

Before you know it, the ever popular approach/avoidance stage is upon us. On Monday we're totally absorbed in our new venture. On Friday, we're sure it's a humongous waste of time.

But that's not all. The plot, like an unattended bowl of oatmeal, soon thickens. Instead of maintaining our commitment to our new idea, we begin having flings. We flirt with other ideas, other possibilities, and other new loves. We get into everything and anything -- whatever it takes not to sustain our ongoing relationship with our original inspiration.

Is there hope? Is there any possibility for all the creative thinkers on planet Earth to actually manifest their inspired ideas?

You bet there's hope. And something a lot more powerful -- awareness. Simply by paying attention to the games you play to protect yourself (from failure or success) will go a long way towards making magic happen.

To begin with, understand that all romances, no matter how inspiring, are temporary. The trivial ones simply end. The good ones mature, often growing into committed relationships -- even marriages.

If you are really serious about your current hot idea or venture, be willing to get closer to it. Be willing to go from the romance stage to an intimate relationship. Understand what the creative process is -- an impossible-to-deny encounter with yourself -- your fears, your power, your vision, and what drives you to play the game of life.

Be willing to see your new venture as it is -- with all its blemishes, quirks, and vagary. Know that you will have your falling out periods and your disagreements. Know that you will sometimes feel like a fraud. Know also that the fuel for many creative breakthroughs has not only been passion, purpose, and power, but also confusion, conflict, and collapse.

It's normal. It's human. It's part of the process.

So please, be gentle with yourself. Be patient. Breathe deep. And above all, do whatever you can -- day or night, rich or poor, male or female, manager or managee -- to put the elation back into your relationship to creativity.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:09 AM | Comments (0)