If your organization is interested in raising the bar for innovation and maximizing the creativity of its workforce, you might be interested in the following comment we just received from AtlantiCare's President of Health Care Services, Don Parker...

"AtlantiCare was searching for guides who could help us infuse our organization with creative genius. What we found in Idea Champions was the 'Lewis and Clark' of innovation. Over the past two years of our work with them, we have blazed trails in a number of new areas, including:

1. The seating of a system-wide Innovation Council charged with the responsibility of stimulating and guiding the application of innovation principles throughout our organization.

2. The selection and training of Creativity Champions deployed throughout our organization to assist in new process design, redesign, and remediation of performance problems.

4. Management training and deployment strategies on innovation for more than 350 middle managers.

5. Innovation processes, practices, and knowledge embedded throughout our 5,200 employee workforce.

No organization, especially those in Health Care, can expect to thrive -- let along survive -- without drawing on all of the collective talent and ideas of their workforce. Idea Champions helps us discover and apply those talents and ideas in a highly productive and practical system. With their guidance, we expect to continue to blaze new trails as we meet the challenges of Health Care Reform."

NOTE: AtlantiCare is one of America's five recipients of the 2009 Baldrige Award. They were recently acknowledged for this accomplishment by President Obama.

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Recently, I polled 140 people to find out what they need "more of" in order to succeed with their various creative projects. The sixth highest rated item was IMMERSION.

And then, this morning, noted in Drive, the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, I discovered a great example of how true this is:

Once a quarter, software developers at the Australian company, Atlassian -- for 24 hours -- are allowed to work on whatever they want, in any way they want, with whomever they want. All the company asks is that people show what they've created to the rest of the company at the end of those 24 hours. They call these experiences "FedEx Days," because people have to deliver something overnight. It turns out that those one-day bursts of intense, undiluted autonomy have produced more innovation and creativity than just about anything else the company has done.

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Since 1986, every brainstorm session we've facilitated has included a large poster of Albert Einstein. I don't remember exactly how this tradition got started, but I'm glad it did.

Somehow, Einstein's smiling countenance inspires everyone in the room -- no matter what their social style, gender, title, or astrological sign.

The only thing I find more fascinating than this is the incredible amount of powerful quotes he left behind for us to contemplate. Take a look...

"Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts."

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours. That's relativity."

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."

"What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world."

"A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be."

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?"

"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them."

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

"I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right."

"The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive."

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."

"We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us."

"You ask me if I keep a notebook to record my great ideas. I've only ever had one."

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

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If you've made it this far, tell me, which is your favorite Einstein quote -- and why?

PS: That's my daughter, Mimi, hugging Einstein's right arm -- and her two amazing friends, Gracie and Maralina.

Nowhere in the human psyche is the conflict between the need for independence and the need for support more pronounced than in the creative act, especially the very specific act of generating new ideas in a group -- an activity that has come to be known as brainstorming.

Historically, most people have believed that ideas come to them like bolts from the blue, flashes of inspiration that descend from the
beyond -- a dimension free of the laws of Earth.

Even the modern dictionary speaks of ideas as "transcendent entities." The implication of this way of thinking is that people need to be highly attuned in order to attract new ideas -- becoming a kind of channel through which ideas flow.

The importance of other people, in this approach, is almost non-existent.

But there is another way to get ideas -- a way that does not require solitude, long walks, opium, or surprise visitations from the muse. Quite the contrary.

This approach requires people -- committed people who come together with a focused intention to collectively tap into the unknown, unseen, and untried.

For want of a better word, let's call this activity "brainstorming" -- the creative act by which exciting new ideas are generated through the catalytic action of one mind upon another.

Or, to put it more simply, two heads are better than one.

Unfortunately, the word "brainstorming" has become totally abused in our culture. Like the phrase "Web 2.0," it is applied to anything and everything until it means absolutely nothing.

Meeting with friends to talk about a business deal? "We're brainstorming."

Tossing a few ideas around over cappuccino? "Um... brainstorming."

Kicking around a concept for a screenplay? "Brainstorming, dude."

Not really.

What most people call brainstorming these days is usually just a veiled attempt to impress others with their particular brand of "genius," a caffeinated opportunity to trot out pet ideas, foist opinions, or play out a lifelong ambition to dominate a group.

Brainmisting? Maybe. Braindrizzling? Sure. But not brainstorming. Uh-uh. No way.

Real brainstorming is different. Very different.

High Velocity Brainstorming
Conducting Genius
More on the topic

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Bill Gates recently advertised for a new chairman of Microsoft Europe.

Five thousand candidates respond and assemble in a large room. One of them is Isaac Ginsberg, a little Jewish man from Israel.

Bill Gates thanks the candidates for coming, but asks all those not familiar with the JAVA program language to leave.

Two thousand people stand up and leave the room.

Isaac Ginsberg says to himself: "I do not know this language, but what have I got to lose if I stay? I might as well give it a try!"

Bill Gates then asks all those who have no experience managing teams of more than a hundred people to leave.

Isaac Ginsberg says to himself: "I have never managed anybody but myself, but what have I got to lose if I stay? What can possibly happen to me?"

Then Bill Gates asks all candidates who do not have outstanding academic qualifications to please exit the room.

Five hundred more people stand up and go.

Isaac Ginsberg smiles and says to himself, "Oy... I left school at 15, but what's the big deal if I stay?"

So he stays in the room.

Finally, Bill Gates asks everyone remaining who does not speak the Serbo-Croatian language to rise and leave. Four hundred and ninety-eight people get up and leave the room.

Issac Ginsberg chuckles and says himself, "So.. I don't speak Serbo-Croatian, but what the hell! I got nothing to lose!"

He finds himself alone in the room with only one other candidate. Everyone else has gone.

Curious, Bill Gates gets down from the stage, joins them, and says: "Apparently you are the only two candidates who speak Serbo-Croatian. I'd like to hear you converse with each other in Serbo-Croatian right now."

Calmly, Issac turns to the other candidate, clears his throat, and says: "Baruch atah Adonai."

The other candidate smiles, bows his head, and replies: "Eloheinu melech ha'olam."

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Thanks to my sister, Phyllis Rosen, for this fine story.

For the past 25 years I've been fascinated by the phenomenon of why SOME people succeed with their creative ventures and OTHERS don't. There is no simple answer, of course, but there are definitely indicators.

If you are interested in increasing the odds of succeeding with YOUR latest venture, respond to this online poll. It will only take five minutes and MAY surface some big insights.

I will post the results in the next two weeks. Feel free to forward it to friends and co-workers, as inspired. Thanks!

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One of the biggest obstacles to innovation in most organizations is the addiction to short-term results.

Hustling, speed, and fire fighting rule the day -- resulting in the kind of over-caffeinated efforts that make everyone cranky.

Focusing on your next quarter, of course, is a necessary part of business. But not to the exclusion of the long-term.

Someone's got to focus on projects that won't see the light of day for tree years... or five .... or ten.

If you are serious about innovation, you will need to develop an Innovation Portfolio, one that includes short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals.

If you plant an apple seed today, you're not going to get an apple harvest tomorrow... or next week... or next year. Pulling on the seedling or yelling at the tree to deliver apples faster isn't going to work.

Here's an exercise to create your Innovation Portfolio:

1. Define what you mean by "short-term," "mid-term," and "long-term."
2. Make three columns, headed by each of the phrases above
3. Jot down projects that fit into these three "time horizons."
4. Present this list to your team and get their feedback.
5. Tweak the list as needed.

And now for a related joke...

So there are these three yogis meditating in a cave. They've been there ten years -- in silence the entire time.

One day, in the tenth year of their retreat, an albino mountain lion makes his way to the mouth of the cave and lets out an earth-shattering roar.

Five years pass.

The first yogi says "WOW!"

Another five years pass.

The second yogi, says, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Five more years pass.

"HEY! If you guys don't shut up," says the third yogi, "I'm moving to another cave."

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Every once in a while I come across a quote or excerpt from an article that I want to immediately post on the windshield of every client of mine. It cuts to the chase and lucidly states what I've been trying to say, in various Neanderthalic ways, all these many years.

Take Einstein for example: "Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts." Bingo! Bullseye! What a perfect way of explaining to a left-brained addicted world that metrics and analysis is not the only game in town.

And then there's Gary Hamel. He takes a bit more time than Albert to make his point, but hey, it's all relative isn't it? Check this out from the man behind one of my favorite business books of all time:

"Today, innovation is the buzzword du jour in virtually every company, but how many CEOs have put every employee through an intensive training program aimed at boosting the innovation skills of the rank and file? Sure companies have electronic suggestion boxes, slush funds for new ideas, elaborate pipeline management tools, and innovation awards -- but in the absence of a cadre of extensively trained and highly skilled innovators, much of the investment in these innovation enablers will simply be wasted."

But what you don't do is this: You don't give him any instruction -- no books, no tips from Golf Digest, no Dave Pelz and Butch Harmon, no video feedback, and no time off to perfect his swing on the practice range. Given this scenario, how many 200-yard drives is our beginner likely to land in the fairway?

How long is he likely to stay avidly devoted to the task at hand? And what kind of return are you likely to get on the $2,000 you spent on a bag full of high tech clubs and the 450 bucks you shelled out for a tee time? The answers are: Not many, not long, and not much. And no one who knows anything about golf would ever set up such a half-assed contest.

"That's why I'm dumbfounded by the fact that so few executives have invested in the innovation skills of their frontline employees. The least charitable explanation for this mind-boggling oversight: senior managers subscribe to a sort of innovation apartheid.

They believe that a few blessed souls are genetically equipped to be creative, while everyone else is a dullard, unable to come up with anything more exciting than spiritless suggestions for Six Sigma improvements.

A more charitable reading: CEOs and corporate HR leaders simply don't know how to turn on the innovation genes that are found in every human being.

"Obviously, you can't teach someone to be an innovator unless you know where game-changing ideas come from. In other words, you need a theory of innovation -- like Ben Hogan's theory of the golf swing.

This is why, a few years back, I and several colleagues analyzed more than a hundred cases of business innovation. Our goal: to understand why some individuals, at certain points in time, are able to see opportunities that are invisible to everyone else. Here, in a pistachio-sized shell, is what we learned:

Successful innovators have ways of seeing the world that throw new opportunities into sharp relief. They have developed, usually by accident, a set of perceptual "lenses" that allow them to pierce the fog of "what is" in order to see the promise of "what could be." How? By paying close attention to four things that usually go unnoticed:"

1. Unchallenged orthodoxies -- the widely held industry beliefs that blind incumbents to new opportunities.

2. Under-leveraged competencies -- the "invisible" assets and competencies, locked up in moribund businesses, that can be repurposed as new growth platforms.

3. Under-appreciated trends -- the nascent discontinunities that can be harnessed to reinvigorate old business models and create new ones."

4. Unarticulated needs -- the frustrations and inconveniences that customers take for granted, and industry stalwarts have thus far failed to address."

Thanks Gary!

Clearly, what's needed these days are organizations full of Innovation Ninjas. Skillful, agile, perceptive, courageous, and highly trained individuals who know how to find their way through the seeming obstacles in the way in order to get a result.

These obstacles might be "internal" -- as in the outdated assumptions, paradigms, and habits of people with three letter acronyms after their name. OR the obstacles might be "external" -- as in an organization's funkadelic infrastructure, protocols, and processes.

But whatever the obstacles encountered (not counted!), our nimble ninjas of necessity manage to find their way to the goal. Imagine if you had hundreds of these people working in your company. Imagine you had thousands.

"Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility. Effective leaders are able to shake up their thinking as though their brains are kaleidoscopes, permitting an array of different patterns out of the same bits of reality." - Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Thanks to Chuck Frey for the quote.

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10. Analysis paralysis.
9. Reason is highly over-rated.
8. If you need more data to prove your point, you'll never have enough data to prove your point.
7. You already know what to do.
6. You're going to follow your gut, anyway.
5. "Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts." (Einstein)
4. By the time you put your business case together, the market has passed you by.
3. "Conclusions arrived at through reasoning have very little or no influence in altering the course of our lives." (Carlos Casteneda)
2. The scientific method came to Rene Descartes in a dream!
1. "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." (Groucho)

If you are reading this, please help me. I need your help!

For the past eight days, I've been in Mexico, being deprogrammed. My captors are quite clever -- latino ninjas, I believe. They never show their faces. But they are definitely having an effect on me.

Two days ago, I completely lost my desire to log on to Facebook. I can't remember any of my passwords. Or the name of my insurance agent.

What in the world is happening to me?

And it's getting worse. Last night, after being fed some "fresh" guacomole, I found myself looking at the moon instead of my email.

For a couple of days, I thought my shaky state of mind might be due to "something in the water," but then I remembered I've been drinking mostly margaritas and cervesa.

These deprogrammers are extremely accomplished. They stop at nothing. I don't know how they do it.

My ability to comprehend the basics of my life? Rapidly deteriorating. I have no idea how many hits my website got last week. I have no clue how the Knicks are doing. The sun is up. That I know. But the Dow? Beats me.

Please, help me!

Do you know anyone at the U.S. Consulate who can intercede? A website I might check out when no one is looking? Something! Anything! Please!

Wait... shhhh... can you hear it? There... off in the distance... church bells... many church bells ringing... Listen.

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These days, almost all of my clients are talking about the need to establish a culture of innovation.

Some, I'm happy to report, are actually doing something about it. Hallelujah! They are taking bold steps forward to turn theory into action.

The challenge for them is the same as it's always been -- and that is, to find a simple, authentic way to address the challenge from the inside out -- to water the root of the tree, not just the branches.

Guess what? Systems are not sufficient to guarantee change. In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Systems die. Instinct remains."

But systems and structures all too often become the Holy Grail -- much in the same way that Six Sigma has become the Holy Grail.

Unfortunately, when the addiction to systems and structures rules the day, an organization's quest for a culture of innovation degenerates into nothing much more than a cult of innovation.

Organizations do not innovate. People innovate. Inspired people. Fascinated people. Creative people. Committed people. That's where innovation begins. On the inside.

The organization's role -- just like the individual manager's role -- is to get out of the way. And while this "getting out of the way" will undoubtedly include the effort to formulate supportive systems, processes, and protocols, it is important to remember that systems, processes, and protocols are never the answer.

They are the context, not the content.

They are the husk, not kernel.

They are the menu, not the meal.

Ultimately, organizations are faced with the same challenge that religions are faced with. Religious leaders may speak passionately about the virtues their congregation needs to be living by, but sermons only name the challenge and remind people to experience something -- they don't necessarily change behavior.

Change comes from within the heart and mind of each individual. It cannot be legislated or evangelized into reality.

What's needed in organizations who aspire to a culture of innovation, is an inner change. People need to experience something within themselves that will spark and sustain their effort to innovate -- and when they experience this "something," they will be self-sustaining.

They will think about their projects in the shower, in their car, and in their dreams. They will need very little "management" from the outside. Inside out will rule the day -- not outside in. Intrinsic motivation will flourish.

People will innovate not because they are told to, but because they want to. Open Space Technology is a good metaphor for this. When people are inspired, share a common, compelling goal and have the time and space to collaborate, the results become self-organizing.

You can create all the reward systems you want. You can reinvent your workspace until you're blue in the face. You can license the latest and greatest idea management tool, but unless each person in your organization OWNS the need to innovate and finds a way to tap into their own INNATE BRILLIANCE, all you'll end up with is a mixed bag of systems, processes, and protocols -- the husk, not the kernel -- the innovation flotsam and jetsam that the next administration or next CEO or next key stakeholder will mock, reject or change at the drop of a hat if the ROI doesn't show up in the next 20 minutes.

You want culture change? You want a culture of innovation?

Great. Then find a way to help each and every person in your organization come from the inside out. Deeply consider how you can awaken, nurture, and develop the primal need all people have to create something extraordinary.

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There's a simple reason why so many brainstorm sessions are a waste of time. The problem statement being pitched to participants is the wrong one.

This is not surprising -- especially when you consider how little time most facilitators put into preparing for a session.

Here's what happens: The person who calls the session is usually scrambling -- overwhelmed, over-caffeinated, and running from one meeting to the next. Out of breath, they pitch the topic to the group, but the topic is either vague or secondary to a more essential challenge that remains unspoken.

G.K. Chesterton, one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century, distilled the phenomenon down to 13 words. "It's not that they can't see the solution," he said. "They can't see the problem."

Pitch a challenge to an IT person, and it will be seen as a technology problem. Pitch it to a CFO, and it will be seen as a financial problem. Pitch it to a marketing person and it will be seen as a branding problem.

Or as a wise man once said, "When a pickpocket meets a saint all he sees are pockets."

If you plan on running an ideation session any time soon, don't just stumble into the room and pitch a vague topic to the group. Do your homework. Make the effort to identify the REAL issue before asking for ideas. If it's the WRONG QUESTION you present, no amount of idea generation is going to make a difference.

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