July 28, 2019
What IS Innovation, Anyway?

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If you google "definitions of innovation," guess how many references you will get? 177,000,000! That's a whole lot of attempts at defining something most of us want, but can't quite agree on what it actually is. Obviously, there IS no single definition. Like reality, it all depends on the person and their point of view. Still, it's useful coming to terms with what you think it is -- especially if you are about to enter into some kind of "innovation sparking process" with others. So, here are 13 definitions of innovation to get the party started. Choose the one that best works for you and then contemplate it. If NONE of the choices below work for you, create your own. Then, enter into a dialogue with your colleagues or team about what innovation means to them.

"The act of introducing something new." -- The American Heritage Dictionary

"Change that creates a new dimension of performance." -- Peter Drucker

"The ability to deliver new value to a customer." -- Jose Campos

"The commercialization of creativity." -- Anonymous

"The conversion of knowledge and ideas into a benefit, which may be for commercial use or for the public good."-- Queensland (Australian) government

"The successful exploitation of new ideas." -- UK Department of Innovation and Skills

"Imaginative activity to produce outcomes that are both original and of commercial value." -- The Institute for Innovation and Information Productivity

"The transformation of idea to reality." -- Saul Shapiro

"The managed effort of an organization to develop new products, new services, or new uses for existing products or services." -- Ricky W. Griffin

"The ability to adapt, adjust, or alter that which already exists for the sake of meeting a need or adding value." -- Anonymous

"The creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness, or competitive advantage." -- Government of New Zealand

"The successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization.-- Teresa Amabile

"Creating something new before people know they need it." -- Guy Kawasaki

Idea Champions
One way to spark innovation
Do you know what problem you are solving for?
Creating the Innovation Mindset

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2019
The Six Sides of the So-Called Box

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There's a lot of talk these days about the need for business people to "get out of the box", but very little talk about what the box actually is. Here's Mitch Ditkoff, President of Idea Champions, deconstructing the box in a 5-minute video.

One way to get out of the box

Another way
And a third way

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2019
THE 2019 LISTENING POLL

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Most people say that listening is an important skill to have and that it is in woeful short supply today. Idea Champions is in the process of creating a new workshop on listening, but before doing so, we want to make sure we understand WHY people value listening. Towards that end, we are inviting you respond to our listening poll. Three minutes is all it will take. In a few weeks, we will post the results here.

Idea Champions
Why do people want to listen?
Idea Champions

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:44 AM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2019
HAPPY JULY 4th! Inspiring Quotes on Independence

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"Freedom is the will to be responsible to our selves." -- Friedrich Nietzche

"It's easy to be independent when you've got money. But to be independent when you haven't got a thing -- that's the Lord's test." -- Mahalia Jackson

"We need to help people to discover the true meaning of love. Love is generally confused with dependence. Those of us who have grown in true love know that we can love only in proportion to our capacity for independence." -- Fred Rogers

"No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance." -- Henry Miller

"In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence." -- Henry Van Dyke

"The most courageous act is to think for yourself. Aloud." -- Coco Chanel

"To find yourself, think for yourself." -- Socrates

"The first of earthly blessings: independence." -- Edward Gibbon

"Independence is essential to permanent, but fatal to immediate success." -- Samuel Butler

"Independence... is loyalty to one's best self and principles, and this is often disloyalty to the general idols and fetishes." -- Mark Twain

"The price for independence is often isolation and solitude." -- Steve Schmidt

"I am lord of myself, accountable to none." -- Benjamin Franklin

"You don't need a significant other to lead a significant life." -- Mandy Hale

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self." -- Ernest Hemingway

"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone for others. Unfold your own myth." -- Rumi

"The essence of independence is to do something for one's self." -- Maria Montessori

"Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth." -- George Bernard Shaw

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." -- Mahatma Gandhi

"Diversity: the art of thinking independently together." -- Malcolm Forbes

"I will not be 'famous' or 'great.' I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped. The thing is to free one's self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded." -- Virginia Woolf

"How wrong is it for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself?" -- Anais Nin

"Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient become independent of it." -- John D. Rockefeller

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity." -- Thomas J. Watson

Other great quotes

Idea Champions
The curator of these quotes

Photo: the very independent Emilia Pouget Ditkoff

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2019
Culture Change in An Australian School in the Islamic Tradition

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Last year, I had the great good fortune to spend three wonderful months at Al Siraat College in Melbourne, Australia, working closely with the founders, leadership team, teachers, staff, and students. It was one of the most inspiring experiences in my 30-year career as an organizational change agent. What follows is a testimonial from Fazeel Arain, the Co-Founder and Principal of Al Siraat:

"I had a strong desire to introduce a culture of creativity and innovation to our humble school in Australia. Being cash strapped as a new school (and knowing consultants were not cheap), I started following Mitch Ditkoff's blog, The Heart Of Innovation.

After many years of reading his blog, I finally found an opportunity to invite Mitch to Al Siraat for a short visit to explore the possibilities of what our collaboration might look like. During that visit, Mitch opened my eyes to the fact that anything is possible. We then embarked on a wonderful, year-long journey of culture change, learning, innovation, transformation, and friendship.

The more we worked together, the more I realized that changing the culture of a school is not an easy task. There is no quick path. Culture change requires a long term commitment and a large amount of visioning, planning, team development, role clarity, creative thinking, clear communication, community building, intrinsic motivation, risk taking, skillful facilitation, empowerment, perseverance, and just the right touch.

Mitch has greatly assisted Al Siraat in our culture change ambitions which continue to be ongoing. I am thankful for Mitch's coaching, guidance, inspiration, and support -- helping me and the entire staff of Al Siraat take this much-needed journey, which has only just begun."

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Storytelling with second graders
Idea Champions other clients

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

Who Are We?

Idea Champions is a consulting and training company dedicated to awakening and nurturing the spirit of innovation. We help individuals, teams and entire organizations tap into their innate ability to create, develop and implement ideas that make a difference.

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Storytelling for the Revolution
Storytelling for the Revolution is Mitch Ditkoff's newly published book about the power of personal storytelling to elevate the conversation on planet Earth. Provocative. Evocative. And fun. YOU have stories to tell. This book will help you tell them.
Storytelling at Work
"The world is not made of atoms," wrote the poet, Muriel Rukeyser. "It's made of stories." Learn how to discover, honor, and unpack the stories of yours that show up "on the job" in Mitch Ditkoff's award-winning 2015 book, Storytelling at Work.
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Mitch Ditkoff, the Co-Founder and President of Idea Champions, has recently been voted a top 5 speaker in the field of innovation and creativity by Speakers Platform, a leading speaker's bureau.
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Workshops & Trainings
Highly engaging learning experiences that increase each participant's ability to become a creative force for positive change
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High impact certification training that teaches committed change agents how to lead groundbreaking ideation sessions
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Your "best and brightest" are the future leaders of your company, but unless they know how to foster a culture of innovation, their impact will be limited. A one-day workshop with us is all they need to begin this journey.
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Our Heart of Innovation blog is a daily destination for movers and shakers everywhere — gleefully produced by our President, Mitch Ditkoff, voted "best innovation blogger in the world" two years running.
Team Innovation
Innovation is a team sport. Brilliant ideas go nowhere unless your people are aligned, collaborative, and team-oriented. That doesn't happen automatically, however. It takes intention, clarity, selflessness, and a new way of operating.
Awake at the Wheel, Book about big ideas If you're looking for a powerful way to jump start innovation and get your creative juices flowing, Awake at the Wheel is for you. Written by Mitch Ditkoff, Co-Founder and President of Idea Champions.
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