See the picture to your left? Of course you do. That's Nancy Seroka, Idea Champions' Director of Operations, World Class Administrator, and Queen of Client Relations.

Without Nancy, there would be no Idea Champions. Nancy is the glue, the DNA of Details, the one who minds the store while the rest of us are on the road, in the clouds, or otherwise engaged.

For the past 13 years, Nancy has been juggling hundreds of Idea Champions projects with style, class, and heroic effort. The fact that she is still somewhat sane astounds me.

Sometimes, I regret to say, I am blind to how much value Nancy adds to our business. You see, she does what she does with so much precision and consistency that I often don't even notice it.

You have come to expect this kind of extraordinary contribution from others. You think it's "their job" -- and barely notice. Not a good idea.

Hey, you don't notice the air, either, but just imagine if it wasn't there.

And so, it is with great respect for Nancy -- and all that she is and all that she does -- that I implore you to pause for a moment and honor all of the Nancies in your life -- all of the people "behind the scenes" who are, day-by-day, minute-by-minute, helping you grow your business.

I'm not talking about the token giving of roses on "Secretary's Day". No.

I'm talking about being far more present and acknowledging of all the people who support you, without whom you would be howling at the moon, walking in circles, or looking for a job.

So, thank you Nancy. You are an inspiration and a life saver.

And should I forget, tomorrow... next week ... next month ... or next year to acknowledge you for all you are and all you do, I humbly ask your forgiveness.

Idea Champions

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3. The Kindness at Work Manifesto

4. 27 Best Practices of High Performing Volunteer Organizations

5. Why You Need to Ask Why

6. Humanizing the Workplace

7. How to Go Beyond Self Improvement

8. The Afghani Cab Driver and the $250M Salty Snack Food

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10. 100 Awesome Quotes on What It Really Takes to Innovate

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Dear Potential Clients:

With all due respect, please do not call us if your organization is addicted to the scenario being played out in the cartoon to your left. If this was 10 years ago, we may have said YES. But no longer.

We've been paid handsomely, in the past, for hitting our heads against the wall, but those days are over. We're not saying you have to be perfect for us to work with you -- just free enough of corporate crapola for us to make a difference.

We like the Bob Newhart approach.
Idea Champions

If you work for an organization that issues RFPs to consulting companies, I have one humble request for you:

Please cease and desist from using the phrase "we're moving in another direction" when it comes time to letting consultants know you've decided NOT to engage their services.

It may seem like a small thing, but it's not.

"We're moving in another direction" is a totally bogus phrase. It's meaningless -- a euphemism with no soul that delivers no useful information or feedback to the person to whom you are supposedly communicating.

If you've asked a consultant to take the time to engage with you, learn about your company, and submit a proposal, the least you can do is find a more honorable way of delivering your feedback.

So... instead of informing consultants that you are "moving in another direction", consider offering them more useful feedback. Everybody wins. You get to speak the truth and they get the kind of honest feedback they need to help grow their business.

Alternative phrases to "We're moving in another direction"?

1. "Your fees were too rich for our blood -- about 50% more than we are willing to pay."

2. "It was obvious, from your proposal, that you didn't fully understand our needs and our culture, so we selected another service provider. Thanks, anyway."

3. "We've decided to do it (the conference/meeting/workshop) ourselves, since we are under very tight budgetary constraints."

4. "We chose someone who lives in our city. Makes sense for us, since we don't have to pay for travel and accommodations."

5. "We've decided to go with a long term consultant of ours who already knows our business and our culture."

6. "Our CEO is only comfortable with professors from Ivy League universities. And besides, he's never heard of you before."

7. "You missed the deadline by 48 hours. We needed the proposal by Friday, but we didn't receive it until the following Monday."

Of course, I realize you "don't want to hurt anyone's feelings" by delivering "bad news" -- but bad news, delivered in an honorable way, is much more preferable than gobbleygook, euphemisms, and other assorted forms of jive corporate speak. Yes?

Idea Champions
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So... instead of launching an initiative, help people take initiative by becoming more committed to fostering innovation in every conversation they have on the job -- something you can learn more about, in then next three minutes, by watching this newly produced 3-minute video of me addressing this topic.

Innovation from the inside out
Idea Champions

What follows is an elaboration of the third -- 12 common phenomena that contribute to funky decision making. As you read, think of the teams you work most closely with, which of these behaviors describes them, and what you can do to change the game.

1. Selective Search for Evidence: Gathering facts that support pre-determined conclusions, but disregard other facts that support different conclusions.

2. Premature Termination of Search for Evidence: Accepting the first alternative that looks like it might work.

4. Selective Perception: Prematurely screening out information not assumed to be useful.

5. Wishful Thinking: Wanting to see things in a positive light.

6. Recency Effect: Putting undue attention on recent information and experience while minimizing the value of information collected in the past.

7. Repetition Bias: Believing what's been stated the most often and by the greatest number of sources.

8. Anchoring and Adjustment: Being unduly influenced by initial information that shapes your view of subsequent information.

9. Group Think: Conforming to peer pressure or the opinions of the majority.

10. Source Credibility: Rejecting input from sources prematurely judged to not be credible (or not "cool" or "in sync with the way you do business.")

11. Attribution Asymmetry: Attributing success to your team's abilities and talents, but attributing failures to bad luck and external factors.

12. Role Fulfillment: Conforming to the decision making expectations others have of someone in your position.

Idea Champions
Decide YES on this

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Thanks to my son, Jesse, for the timely heads up -- the first online resource he shared with me upon his return from his first year of college (Hampshire). Let's hear it for higher education!

Idea Champions

The most common complaint I hear from my clients about WHY they can't be more creative on-the-job is the "lack of time". Check out what happens if you give kids 10 minutes instead of 10 seconds to be creative.

In what ways can you give yourself, your team, or your entire company more time to create?

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Idea Champions

Thank to Chris Tardieu for the heads up!

Idea Champions

Read more about this phenomenon here.

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