August 06, 2010
Unleash Your Inner Genie, Virtually

In olden times (pre-Starbucks, pre-Twitter, pre-Lady Gaga), the quickest way to get your wishes fulfilled was to get a magic lamp, rub it, and wait for the genie to appear.

Times have changed.

Now, it seems, you need a life coach, an iphone, and a social media strategy.

Me? I long for simplicity.

Breakthrough is not about complexity. It's about getting out of your way long enough to arrive at extraordinary, new possibilities.

Which is why I'm thrilled to announce the launch of our new, virtual Free the Genie tool -- a powerfully engaging desktop catalyst that makes it easy for anyone with a challenge or opportunity to generate, develop, and share their inspired ideas with others.

And all for 10 cents a day -- or less...

You've heard of the One Minute Manager? Well, this is the One Minute Innovator. Or five. Or ten -- depending on how much time you have to noodle at any given moment.

Here's what Choice Magazine has to say about it:

"Free the Genie is a perfect tool to facilitate brainstorming and problem solving for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and corporate teams."

Intrigued? Please accept our gift of a free 10-day trial subscription.

If you decide to subscribe after your free 10-day trial, we invite you to NAME YOUR OWN PRICE for the first 90 days. Or, you can simply choose to subscribe for a year.

So, go ahead. Rub our lamp. Kick our virtual tires. Do whatever it takes to free your genie and get the results you want.

www.freethegenie.com
Free the Genie cards
Idea Champions
What organizations say about the creators of Free the Genie

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2010
The Heart of Innovation Is Now Available on Kindle

The Heart of Innovation blog is now available to read on Kindle.

Please check it out and spread the word.

If you enjoy the blog, please consider writing a review of it.

You don't need to be a Kindle owner to write a review.

Thank you.

"What is now proved was once only imagined." - William Blake

Photo

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

May 08, 2009
Smoke Signals in Cyberspace

Hey innovation-seeking humanoids!

Back in my day, whenever we wanted to get the word out, it was dirt simple. Smoke signals was the name of the game. Or maybe a primal scream or two.

We didn't have no email, no YouTube, no Twitter, no FaceBook, no MySpace... or the ten thousand other things you modern day Technoids use in your endless effort to make sense of things.

And we certainly didn't have no PR Web Press Releases either, like the one Digital Diva Nettie Hartsock just forwarded to Mr. Finally-Got-Use-of-His-Opposable-Thumbs-Axiom-Award-Winner What's-His-Name today.

Photo by Dave Kugler

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

June 10, 2008
Getting All Googley

Interesting summary of Google CEO's speech to the Economic Club of Washington this Monday.

Among other things, Schmidt talked about his company's attempts to innovate, including allowing engineers to use 20 percent of their time to work on projects of their own choosing. Schmidt acknowledged that trusting the workforce to follow their fascination has resulted in many successes for the enterprise. "Part of Google's success is creating more luck," he said.

Success also needs a positive environment and encouragement for employees to be more creative and innovative, Schmidt said.

"It is possible to build a culture around innovation, it is possible to build a culture around leadership, and it is possible to build a culture around optimism," added the googley Mr. Schmidt

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2008
Blog Talk Radio Interview

OK. It's official. My new book, Awake at the Wheel, hit the bookstores yesterday.

In celebration of its coming out, Wayne Hurlbert of BlogTalkRadio, did a 60 minute interview with me last night. Click here, if you want to listen. Click here if you don't want to listen. In either case, I hope things are clicking for you, no matter what you choose to do.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008
24,000 Year Old Cave Man Invites You to a Book Signing in Woodstock

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)

August 25, 2007
Fair Winds: linkage report

At the ripe young age of one month, The Heart of Innovation has been attracting some attention on the Web. Several blogs have picked up on our conversation recently:

Fast Company --
FC Now, Fast Company magazine's regular staff blog, ran an Innovation Wednesday feature, "Corel's Virtual Garage" (8/22) based on Mitch's post, "It's Innovation Time at the OK Corel."
They really got into it in depth:

"Intrigued by the Corel concept -- I first heard about it here - I got in touch with Adam McKinty, Director of User Experience Design at Corel, and Jennifer Fraser, the Lead User Experience Designer, who walked me through the development of the system."

And they got off one pretty sly remark in particular:

"At the end of the day, innovation must create value. (Otherwise it's just bloviation, which can also only be measured using trailing indicators.)"

InnovationTools --
Chuck Frey posted a summary on InnovationTools.com of Tim Moore's deconstruction of the failed Apple Newton.
Big Problem or Right Problem? The Egg Freckles Saga (8/17)

"Tim tells this innovation case history in a very engaging style. I highly recommend that you read it," Frey says.

Innovationpartners --
"En weblog om IP og Innovation,' Denmark. This Danish blog also just published an item on Tim's Newton story, "Succesfuld innovation løser det rigtige problem." But we really can't tell you anything about their take, because it is in Danish, which AltaVista's Babelfish translation ne parlez pas.

For anyone who does read the language, though, you'll be amused by their conclusion:

"Apple tabte markedet og en halv milliard dollars i forsknings udgifter. Hvad er moralen? Den er:

* fokuser på din kunde
* hvad vil han have for en løsning,
* vil din løsning give ham mere værdi i forhold til andre

"Det er jo ren LEAN ;-) "

Added us to their Blogrolls

- InnovationTools, "Innovation & Creativity Weblogs"

- Think For A Change (Paul Williams), "Innovation Blogroll"

(We watch these developments mostly from our lofty treetop perch on Technorati, where we can spot who in their network, at least, has found us.)

Thanks for reading!

Posted by at 03:56 PM | Comments (2)