July 30, 2009
At the Threshold

A few years ago I found myself standing in my closet, madly searching for clean clothes in a last minute attempt to pack before yet another business trip, when I noticed my 4-year old son standing at the entrance.

In one hand, he held a small blue wand, in the other -- a plastic bottle of soapy water.

"Dada," he said, looking up at me, his eyes wide open, "do you have time to catch my bubbles?"

Time? It stopped. And so did I. At that moment, it suddenly made no difference whether or not I caught my plane -- I could barely catch my breath. The only thing that existed was him and that soulful look of longing in his eyes.

For the next ten minutes, all we did was play -- him blowing bubbles and laughing. Me catching and laughing, too.

His need was completely satisfied. His need for connection. His need for love. His need for knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that absolutely everything was perfect just the way it was.

He is almost 15 now. His bubbles are digital. But his need is still the same. And so is mine -- and yours, I would venture to say.

Scratch the surface of our differences, remove the cultural masks, and all of us -- regardless of age, religion, politics, gender, or astrological sign -- are seeking the same thing.

And this "thing" is a feeling -- a feeling of contentment, a feeling of peace, a feeling of deep freedom, fearlessness, and joy.

Spiritual practitioners have been attempting to name this feeling for centuries, but ultimately it doesn't matter what it's called.

This sweetness is the place all journeys end. My son's took him across the living room to the threshold of a closet. Yours will take you other places.

But no matter where it takes you, one thing is for sure -- what's moving you has moved millions of others since the beginning of time. Yours is an ancient quest. Primal. Tidal. Pure. As basic as breath itself.

For the moment, let's call this driving force "thirst" -- the innate quest each of us has for meaning, love, and fulfillment. Why poets wait beneath a moon for words. What dancers feel before they leap. Why birds fly halfway around the world to the place where they were born.

This thirst is not the same thing as "desire." Desire is wanting what you don't have. Thirst is wanting want you do.

Desire assumes the emptiness you feel can be filled by getting -- as if the world was a giant puzzle and all you needed were the pieces. Thirst assumes nothing. It's all about being -- not getting or having.

The good news? You don't have to go to the Himalayas to find what you're looking for. You can start today, wherever you are. The pilgrimage you need to take is actually quite short -- merely the distance between your head and your heart. That's the so-called path.

Your guide on this journey? Thirst. All you need to do is feel it. And if you don't, then at least want to feel it. And if you still don't, then at least want to want to feel it.

Pretty simple, huh?

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009
REAL ROI: Return on Imagination

If you are looking for a simple way to build a business case for innovation in your organization, take a look at the slide show below. While YOU may be a committed champion of change, there may be others who still wonder about the value of making the effort. This show is for them. (And you...)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:26 AM | Comments (1)

July 22, 2009
The Top 18 High Tech Excuses

A few months ago we asked our readers to tell us what they thought the most common high tech excuses were -- the modern day, techno-centric equivalents to "The dog ate my homework." We primed the pump with seven of our own. Here are the results:

1. "The server's down."
2. "You're breaking up."
3. "Your email ended up in my spam folder."
4. "I'm out of range."
5. "My laptop crashed."
6. "I can't find my Blackberry."
7. "I forgot to recharge my battery."
8. "I couldn't open the attachment."
9. "I didn't get a calendar reminder from Outlook."
10. "I don't remember which password opens that application."

11. "I had a power surge and I'm using a dial up connection."
12. "The magnetic strip on the ID card is damaged. I couldn't get in."
13. "I couldn't find your fax number."
14. "The main fuse in the building burned out."
15. "My dog ate my mouse."
16. "I don't have an Orkut account anymore."
17. "I had trouble getting online."
18. "My cat urinated on my laptop."

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2009
Capturing the Wisdom of the Elders

What do Clint Eastwood, Madeline Albright, Willie Nelson, Alan Alda, Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, Ravi Shankar, Edward Kennedy, Andrew Wyeth, Frank Gehry and a host of other creative movers and shakers have in common beside fame?

Wisdom!

Click here to see what they've learned in their long and very diverse lives... and get a glimpse of the fabulous Wisdom Project produced by Andrew Zuckerman.

If you work in a large organization and are looking for a simple way to capture the wisdom of your senior people before they move on, here's a clue how to do it.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:26 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009
BREAKTHROUGH COLLABORATION: The Rise of Looser Networks

Ummm... it only took me four years to discover Clay Shirkey's TED lecture about how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have a much bigger role to play. Fascinating. Well worth the 20 minutes of viewing time...

www.TED.com

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:55 AM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2009
Jump Start Innovation in 7 Minutes

I begin this blog posting with a big, fat assumption -- that you, dear reader, are involved in some kind of project, venture, or team that's committed to innovation, growing your business, or breakthrough results.

I'm also assuming that your project, venture, or team, gets in a rut from time to time.

Bold new ideas are needed... a clearer vision of what's possible... and increased forward momentum.

If so, click here. It will take you to an online brainstorming game designed to spark breakthroughs. Reading about it, however, isn't enough. You actually have to DO it.

"If not YOU, who? If not NOW, when?"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2009
Yoo Hoo! Customer Service! Wake Up!

Mahatma Gandhi knew how to get the word out. Mother Teresa, too. Now, along comes Dave, a guitar player who wouldn't take NO for an answer after United Airlines blew him off after breaking his guitar. Dave didn't just write a complaint letter, he posted a YouTube video that has now been viewed more than 2 million times. Customer service take note! Every customer is a possible Dave.

Thanks to Val Vadeboncouer for the heads up!

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2009
Creativity or Creactivity?

Time? Do you have it or does it have you?

Recent studies have shown that workers get an average 156 e-mails a day. And when they're not reading or deleting emails, they're switching tasks every three minutes.

We're spending more than a quarter of our workday dealing with interruptions and their needed recovery time. Ouch!

The effect of all this firefighting? A pronounced drop in creativity and innovation. Read more about Terese Amabile's research on this topic here.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:02 AM | Comments (1)

July 07, 2009
No Strings Attached

Tired of going to long, boring conferences that promise to give you the "competitive edge," tool you up with the latest best practices, and supercharge your ability to see the future clearly? Of course you are. And so, in the spirit of true customer service, Idea Champions is happy to provide you NOW with two minutes of priceless wisdom rarely shared at corporate gatherings. (No handouts! No 3-ring-binders! No tapes to buy at the back of the room!)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2009
The Fine Art of Change

"The act of creation begins first as an act of destruction." - Picasso

Face it. No one likes change. No one likes chaos. No one likes starting all over again -- especially the older we get.

Get over it, folks! The only way the species survives (and your organization) is by adapting to change -- and change is what's upon us now. Big time.

The economy is crumbling. The old institutions are dying. Nothing, on the outside ever stays the same. Picasso knew this. YOU know this, too. And your customers are only going to wait so long for you to turn your knowing into action. Otherwise, they are gone gone gone.

So, let the old forms die. Let what no longer works fall away. Then, usher in the birth of WHAT'S NEXT -- before that, too, falls away -- only to be replaced by what's next after what's next.

What can you do this week to shake things up? Respond to change? Turn theory into action? What is your next step?

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2009
The Single Sock Theory

Dear Movers and Shakers:

We now interrupt this blog with an official announcement of the first annual WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SINGLE SOCKS? contest.

While we all have our differences, there is one thing we all have in common and that is the SINGLE SOCKS experience -- as in "Where the hell is my other sock?"

Let the theories begin!

Simply submit your favorite theories here and, who knows, you might end up the GRAND PRIZE WINNER: An Idea Champions Silver Innovation Kit (retails for $199) + five of my unmatched socks (which some sock conspiracists tell me are likely to match yours.) Sock it to me!

Photo

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:58 PM | Comments (12)