Online Brainstorm Facilitation Training for the Time-Crunched
Idea Champions is thrilled to announce the launch of an exciting new offering -- an elegant way for its time-crunched, innovation-leaning clients to upgrade the impact of their (on-site) brainstorming sessions -- just in time, as some of our clients, post-pandemic, begin gathering together, in the flesh, again. Oh boy!
We call it Conducting Genius -- the simplest, most time-efficient way we can think of to help our clients become masterful brainstorm facilitators.
Bottom line, we've distilled down the best of what we've learned during the past 30 years of facilitating creative thinking sessions for these organizations, and translated it into a series of live, online 60-minute modules. No off-sites required. No two-day training sessions. No bad hotel muffins.
And because we know our clients have different needs, we offer four different options:
BRONZE: 5 modules ($2,500)
SILVER: 10 modules ($4,500)
GOLD: 15 modules ($6,000)
PLATINUM: 20 modules ($7,000)
THE PROCESS FROM HERE:
1. A 30-minute phone conversation with you to explore the possibilities
2. You decide on how many modules you want (5, 10, 15, or 20)
3. We agree on a schedule of trainings (1-2 times per week)
4. We email you a Letter of Engagement for your signature
5. We conduct a needs assessment to further tune into your needs
6. We custom design the training (from this curriculum)
Client testimonials
More client testimonials
CONTACT US:
info@ideachampions.com
Illustration: Sidney Perry, Unsplash
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2021101 CreativiTeas for Innovators
No matter how many times I tell people there's no such thing as a "magic innovation pill," every one keeps asking.
This just in: I don't have the magic pill. But I DO have something even better -- a virtual potion that has the potential to liberate you from the bothersome obstacles that keep sabotaging your ability to innovate. Simply read the list below, pick the CreativiTea you most need to imbibe, and think about what it would take you to manifest more of this quality in your life these days. Bottoms up!
1. Opening Up to PossibiliTea
2. Easy Going FlexibiliTea
3. Gandhi-like HumiliTea
4. Well-timed AdaptabiliTea
5. Taking Care of Details Amidst InfiniTea
6. Loosey Goosey ManeuverabiliTea
7. Acceptance of MortaliTea
8. Flashes of NonsensicaliTea
9. Beyond MoraliTea
10. An Occasional Dose of RealiTea
11. Following Your Passion With ImpuniTea
12. Balancing PolariTea
13. InterdimensionaliTea
14. Total QualiTea
15. Unfettered CreativiTea
16. Appreciation of DiversiTea
17. Tuning in to SynchroniciTea
18. OriginaliTea
19. UnconventionaliTea
20. Old Fashioned PracticaliTea
21. CuriosiTea
22. Celebration of IndividualiTea
23. A Deeper Sense of InevitabiliTea
24. Letting Go of FutiliTea
25. A Transformed MentaliTea
26. Go With the Flow FluidiTea
27. Baby Oh Baby SensualiTea
28. WhimsicaliTea
29. Child-like SimpliciTea
30. Tiger-like FerociTea
31. Nose to the Grindstone DurabiliTea
32. Let it Rip TheatricaliTea
33. Grrr!! TenaciTea
34. Authentic AuthenticiTea
35. Mucho GenerosiTea
36. Acceptance of AsymmetricaliTea
37. Quick Moving MobiliTea
38. Enlightened SpiritualiTea
39. Day By Day ClariTea
40. Sylvester Stallone MusculariTea
41. In the Moment SpontaneiTea
42. Twelve Step SobrieTea
43. Beethovian VirtuosiTea
44. Wild Maniacal HilariTea
45. Increased CapaciTea
46. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTea
47. Lucid PerspicaciTea
48. Ha Ha Ha LeviTea
49. Focused SingulariTea
50. A Daily Shot of InsaniTea
51. Expressing Your PersonaliTea
52. Frontal NudiTea
53. International CommuniTea
54. Much More VarieTea
55. Information Highway ActiviTea
56. Higher ProductiviTea
57. Que Sera SororiTea
58. Off the Wall BanaliTea
59. Alimentary CanaliTea
60. Relaxed InformaliTea
61. Sprint? Verizon? AT&Tea?
62. Understanding Primal CausaliTea
63. SpecificiTea
64. Huge Amounts of PubliciTea
65. Give Up Feeling ShitTea
66. IntentionaliTea
67. Beyond Beyond MetaphysicaliTea
68. A Bowl of Soup and a BLTea
69. Hip Hop, Reggae MusicaliTea
70. Calling on Your Own DiviniTea
71. A Touch of SubtleTea
72. Profound ProfundiTea
73. Bottom Line ProfitabiliTea
74. Surprise and SerendipiTea
75. Do It Now InstantaneiTea
76. Proven CertifiabiliTea
77. Solid MarketabiliTea
78. Truth, Love and BeauTea
79. ExponentialiTea
80. Let Go and Be EmpTea
81. We Are the World SolidariTea
82. A Twist, A Change, Some NovelTea
83. Getting Down to the Nitty GritTea
84. San Andreas FaulTea
85. Midwestern SinceriTea
86. Transcending Financial ScarciTea
87. Death of CertainTea
88. Buddha and KrishnamurTea
89. You Don't Have to Feel So GuilTea
90. Total ResponsibiliTea
91. Challenge AuthoriTea
92. Anyone here From Joisey CiTea?
93. More and More CredibiliTea
94. Get it Done MasculiniTea
95. Be More Receptive to FemininiTea
96. A Three Month Vacation in TahiTea
97. Get Rich and Become a CelebriTea
98. Much Deserved SereniTea
99. Hot Diggity DoggiTea
100. Tons of PositiviTea
101. If All There Is Is Now, What Is EterniTea?
MitchDitkoff.com
Idea Champions
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:52 AM | Comments (2)
June 17, 202120 Qualities of an Innovator
The word "innovate" can be traced all the way back to 1440. It comes from the Middle French word "innovacyon," meaning "renewal" or "new way of doing things".
Exactly what innovations actually happened in 1440 (rounder oxcart wheels?) is anybody's guess, but whatever they were, it's likely they improved the quality of life for more than a few people.
These days, the "innovation thing" is something of a no-brainer. Every company worth its low-salt lunch has identified innovation as a core competency needing to be developed.
Who in their right mind (or is it right brain?) can deny the value of improving things? Isn't this what human beings, those grand inventors of the microchip and the chocolate chip, are supposed to do?
True. But who has time?
And so begins the search for the magic pill -- the system, formula, or blueprint that will make innovation a done deal.
Innovation, unfortunately -- unlike audits, re-engineering, or your high school penmanship teacher -- is not given to systems, formulas, and blueprints. It is given to people -- restless, inspired, fascinated people with an almost cellular need to change things for the better.
And while it can certainly be supported by systems, it can never be reduced to systems.
If you want to ignite innovation in your organization, forget about slick formulas for a minute and pay attention to what's happening on the inside. Because that's where innovation starts. With the innovator -- the inspired individual, compelled to make a difference.
And the key to the innovator? The special blend of qualities that allows him or her to succeed while their co-workers are bitching and moaning on their way to their next unnecessary meeting.
Is it tools? Techniques? Metrics?
Sure, they're useful. But without the user of them having the right stuff, they're merely decoration -- like having a shiny set of new jumper cables, but no car.
And so... if you are one of the self-chosen few who are willing to stop blaming your organization, the economy, your boss, your industry, the government, HR, your mother, your astrological sign, the Board, and the bored, now's the time to start taking personal responsibility for innovating.
Now's your chance to kick things in high gear.
Now's the time to get the lead out -- to lead the revolution wherever you happen to be working at the time and make some magic.
Yes, it begins with you. But where does it begin with you?
With awareness.
In the words of the great psychologist, Fritz Perls, "awareness cures." Yes, it does. Still with me?
If so, take a few minutes now to try the following exercise to get the party started.
All you need to do is rate yourself, on a scale of 1-10, for how much you manifest the following qualities in the workplace. Note which ones are your strengths -- and how can you build on them. Then note which ones are your weaknesses -- and how can you strengthen them.
You might even give them to your team and ask them to rate themselves. Then get together and talk about what you've all come up with.
And don't forget to floss.
20 Qualities of an Innovator
1. Challenges the status quo
2. Curious
3. Self-motivated
4. Visionary
5. Entertains the fantastic
6. Takes risks
7. Peripatetic (moves about)
8. Playful/humorous
9. Self-accepting
10. Flexible/adaptive
11. Makes new connections
12. Reflective
13. Recognizes patterns
14. Tolerates ambiguity
15. Committed to learning
16. Balances intuition and analysis
17. Situationally collaborative
18. Formally articulate
19. Resilient
20. Persevering
This posting is excerpted from It's AHAppening, a series of five, 16-page creative thinking guidebooks.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:38 PM | Comments (1)
June 10, 202120 Reasons Why People Get Their Best Ideas in the Shower
During the past 25 years, I've asked more than 10,000 people where and when they get their best ideas. I get all kinds of answers, but the one that has always fascinated me is "the shower" -- maybe because I also get so many of my good ideas there. And so, at the risk of overstating my case, I hereby offer you 20 reasons WHY the shower is so conducive to idea generation.
1. Showering signals "a new day" or "new beginning."
2. You're usually alone, with time to reflect.
3. Interruptions are rare.
4. The rush of water creates a kind of "white noise" that makes concentration easier.
5. Shower stalls look like little incubation chambers.
6. Water is associated with "contemplation" (i.e. sitting near a river, lake, or ocean.)
7. Showering is a metaphor for "getting rid of the dirt" -- the stuff that covers up what's beneath.
8. Showering is a ritual. Lots of creative people like to have little rituals to get their head in the right place.
9. You can write your ideas on the walls with a water soluble pen.
10. There's not a lot of judgment or analysis going on in a shower.
11. A hot shower opens the pores -- and by extension, maybe the mind.
12. Showering wakes up you. It makes you more alert.
13. Showering is a relaxing and stress free experience. With nothing to stress about, your mind is free to roam new territories.
14. If you shampoo, you're massaging your head. That's gotta be good.
15. It's hard to check your email or Facebook page in a shower.
16. Albert Einstein did his best thinking near a shower. ("Why is it I always get my best ideas while shaving?")
17. Water is associated with "flow." Being in the "flow state" is often a precursor to creative thinking.
18. There is no deliverable expected of you.
19. If you shower with a friend, and he/she happens to be in a brainstorming mode, lots of great ideas get sparked.
20. Showering is easy. Not a lot of thinking is required to make it happen, which frees your mind to think about other things.
Many stories from my book were remembered in the shower
Another place to get ideas
And another
An online shower of ideas
The mothership
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:48 AM | Comments (4)
How to Jump Start Organizational Innovation During Covid-19
Covid-19 hasn't just disrupted businesses around the world, it has also disrupted their ability to innovate. And one of the biggest reasons WHY can be traced to one simple factor: isolation.
With most people working from home and scrambling to survive, the opportunities for "thought partners" to connect with each other in meaningful ways have radically declined -- and along with it opportunities to ideate, problem solve, and think out of the box.
Pre-Covid, this was the main thrust of Idea Champions' work. We designed and facilitated a wide range of creative thinking sessions for our clients -- opportunities for them to unleash their collective brilliance and make significant progress on a specific goal, initiative, or opportunity.
Those days, at least for now, are over. Everything is virtual. Zoomified. And that is precisely why we have reinvented HOW we deliver services to our clients.
Enter Free the Genie -- the distillation of 34 years of sparking innovation for organizations in 11 different countries.
Free the Genie, quite simply, is a facilitated online brainstorming session -- a way for our clients to get a fresh look at what they do and how they do it -- a way to generate the kind of game changing ideas, mindset, and commitment required to make a quantum leap.
TAKEAWAYS FROM A FREE THE GENIE SESSION:
- Increased clarity re: the problem you're trying to solve
- A much clearer vision of the outcomes you're looking for
- A wide variety of actionable ideas
- At least one breakthrough insight or AHA
- Deeper access to your own untapped brilliance
- A dependable way to enter into a creative mindset
- Tons of positive momentum
- New tactics to use in brainstorming sessions
- Techniques to "free the genie" on your team
- Increased collaboration
Sessions are 60-90 minutes long, preceded by a 30-minute needs assessment call and 15 minutes of pre-work. Includes a free deck of Free the Genie cards.
To schedule a Free the Genie session: office@ideachampions.com
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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
