April 30, 2018
The Eight Characteristics of a High Performing Team

DiversityFace2.jpg

Lots of organizations acknowledge the need to raise the bar for teamwork and collaboration. That's a good thing. The not-so-good thing is that their process for doing so is often vague, insufficient, or confused. Of all the models on teamwork, Idea Champions prefers the one one outlined by Larson and LaFasto in their wonderful book, TEAMWORK: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong.

THE 8 CHARACTERISTICS
1. Clear compelling goal
2. Standards of excellence
3. Competent members
4. Unified commitment
5. Climate of collaboration
6. Results driven structure
7. Principled leadership
8. External support and recognition


MORE ABOUT THE 8 CHARACTERISTICS

1. CLEAR COMPELLING GOAL

-- Understandable to all team members
-- Personally challenging
-- Evokes an inspired purpose for the team
-- Creates a sense of urgency
-- Is specific

2. COMPETENT MEMBERS

-- Have essential skills and abilities
-- Express a strong desire to contribute
-- Are capable of collaborating effectively

3. STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Clearly articulated agreements required to meet performance goals, fostered by:

-- High individual expectations
-- Commitment to rigor
-- Consequences for non-performance

4. UNIFIED COMMITMENT

-- Genuine dedication to the team goal
-- Collective, intrinsic motivation
-- Focus on going beyond the call of duty
-- Willingness to pick up the slack for others

5. RESULTS DRIVEN STRUCTURE

-- Clear roles and responsibilities
-- Effective lines of communication
-- Point person identified and functioning
-- Processes and protocols in place
-- Structures appropriate for the team

6. COLLABORATIVE CLIMATE
-- Trust
-- Risk taking
-- Respect for different points of view
-- Proactive sharing of information
-- Fluid and frequent communication
-- Learning from feedback (and mistakes)
-- Going beyond ego & personal agendas

7. PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP

-- Facilitates the process to clarify vision
-- Helps others realize that change is possible
-- Sparks a plan of action to create change
-- Unleashes talents of team members
-- Upholds standards of excellence
-- Able to influence people outside of the team

8. EXTERNAL SUPPORT AND RECOGNITION
-- Team is given resources to get the job done
-- Team efforts are supported by top management
-- Accomplishments are acknowledged
-- Reward and incentive structure is clear

WORKSHOP: Launching Project Teams
WORKSHOP: Team Innovation
WORKSHOP: Big Breakthroughs for Small Business

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2018
Be Frightened of Old Ideas

Slider image 1.jpg

About John Cage
Idea Champions
Want to upgrade your brainstorming?
50 quotes on the power of ideas
If you google "brainstorm training"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2018
Micro-Learning for Innovators in Just 15 Minutes Per Week

PR idea 9guy.jpg If you are looking for a simple, inexpensive way to spark innovation in your organization in just 15 minutes per week, here it is. No workshops. No trainings. No keynotes. No complicated idea management software. No headbanging. And the first three companies that respond to this post get to name their own price. Here's what one of our happy clients says about this innovative service of ours.

PS: If you want to know how much it costs, text me at 845.389.9096 and I'll let you know ASAP.


The creator of this service
The company he co-founded
This might be included
10 ways to enable innovation in the workplace
Another way of thinking about time

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:24 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2018
International Good Idea Day!

LightIdeas.jpg

Let me be the first to inform you that today is the first annual International Good Idea Day -- a day I am officially declaring without the approval from my dysfunctional government or any slick lobbying group attempting to hustle other people's products or services for a hefty commission.

As the official creator of this fabulous new holiday, it is my honor to explain that the purpose of this way-better-than-groundhog-day extravaganza is for YOU to pitch your hottest new idea to someone in the next 60 minutes. Got it? Good! Go! (And if anything comes of it, please let me know).

Idea Champions
High Velocity Brainstorming
Brainstorm Facilitation Training

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2018
Two Simple Steps to Sell Anybody on Your Vision

WalkingTo light3.jpg

You are a visionary. Or, if that word feels too inflated for you, then at least someone with an inspired vision of the future for your organization. To you, it's obvious. To others? Not so much. Your challenge? Communicating your vision in such a way that that people not only SEE it, but embrace it. Here's one thing to keep in mind as you proceeed -- some words of wisdom from Fast Company Magazine.

Idea Champions
How we can help

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2018
SEIZE THE FUTURE (coming soon!)

stevie ray.jpg
Since 1987, when I Co-Founded Idea Champions, I have met truckloads of keynote speakers, change agents, organizational consultants, facilitators, and trainers. Good people. Committed people. Skilled people. Of all of them, the one I've learned the most from is Steven McHugh. Steven and I Co-Founded Idea Champions back in the day and worked side by side, breath by breath for ten extraordinary years until we decided to go our separate ways.

Now the wheel turns once again and Steven and I are entering into the next phase of our partnership: COLLABORATION 2.0. Hooray!

One of the gifts that Steven has in spades is his ability to help teams, departments, and entire organizations co-create a clear, compelling, unified vision of their future. Many is the time I watched him work his magic, astounded at his energy, discernment, know how, and soulfulness. If his middle name wasn't "Raymond", it would be "Seymour".

I am happy to announce that next week, Idea Champions will be launching SEIZE THE FUTURE (get the double entendre?), Steven's highly engaging, hands-on, 2-day offsite for forward thinking organizations committed to co-creating a bold new future for themselves. If you can't wait that long, we're just an email away: info@ideachampions.com.

SeizeTheFuture.jpg

As Alan Kay once said, "the best way to predict the future, is to invent it."

50 quotes on vision
The Idiot Savant's Guide to Accelerating Culture Change
Steven was the guy who taught AT&T how to juggle

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2018
STORYTELLING FOR THE REVOLUTION: The Introduction

SFTR COVER.jpg
"Those who tell the story, rule the world." -- Hopi Indian saying

If you are wondering why I chose to call my book: Storytelling for the Revolution -- a title some people might think is incendiary, inflated, or overly dramatic, here's the reason: We need a revolution. We do. But the revolution I'm inviting you to join is not a political one. It has nothing to do with a change of government, laws, sanctions, or social structures. It has to do with a change of mind and a change of heart and a change in the way we communicate to each other.

It doesn't take a genius to recognize that the collective narrative occupying the airways these days is a dark one -- not all that surprising when you consider the sorry state of the world and the "if it bleeds, it leads" mindset of the media: Mitch Ditkoff5.jpgBad news sells. It's true. But bad news is not the only thing worth reporting on. Indeed, here is another kind of story that also needs to be heard -- one that rarely makes it to the evening news. And that story is revolutionary -- or could be -- the story of how each and every one of us is a broadcast station of insight, wisdom, and love, three phenomena that have the power to transform what is happening on planet Earth.

I am not suggesting you airbrush out the bad news to contemplate your navel. I'm not asking you to become apolitical. All I'm asking you to do is pay more attention to another kind of news -- one that can never be dominated by troll farms or spin doctors. And do you know what the reliable source of that story is? You. Yes, you!

Inside of you, there is another kind of story going on, another narrative, one that exists far beyond late breaking and this just in, one that too rarely gets told. I'm talking about the story of your life -- or, more specifically, the absolute Ground Zero of what you have learned and what you are learning, what you have felt and what you feeling, what you have seen and what you are seeing, even while the world burns down: Essence. Lessons learned. Insights. Moments of truth. Breakthroughs. Obstacles overcome. Personal tales of inspiration, kindness, resilience, love, meaning, vulnerability navigated, and the undeniable wisdom you have gleaned from your own life experiences. In other words, what makes you truly human, a homo sapien -- "the one who knows."

Sages, Masters, and Elders may be the most historically recognized "keepers of wisdom." but they are not the only ones. The rest of us are, too. The thing is -- we don't always know it. Our wisdom is often invisible to us. It is hiding. Unseen. Unacknowledged. And unexpressed. And where our wisdom is hiding, more often than not, is in our stories -- much like water is hiding in underground springs.

Everyone has wisdom inside them. Everyone. Everyone has learned something profound, soulful, and timeless in this life. Everyone has something meaningful to share and when they share it in the form of story, they have the potential to spark wisdom in others. Like, for example, the following story -- a brief retelling of an old Zen tale.

zen meditator2.jpg

Once upon a time, in feudal Japan, there was an old monk living in a monastery deep in the mountains. Ever since he was a small boy he had lived in this monastery and was considered by his fellow monks to be a most extraordinary soul. Every morning he would awake at 4:00 am and meditate for two hours. Then he practiced calligraphy and prepared breakfast for the other monks. Every afternoon, he read the sutras and, when he wasn't chanting mantras or writing haiku, he worked in the garden. Silently, of course.

Years passed. Seasons came and went. And so did his youth. But no matter how much effort he made, the enlightenment experience he was so diligently seeking never came. And so one day, in his 70th year, he decided to leave the monastery and return to the world. "Why should I continue with all these spiritual practices," he asked himself, "if they are not helping me reach my ultimate goal?

Needing to earn a living, he soon got a job as a sweeper in a local cemetery. Every day he went to work. And every day he swept.

And then, one sunny day, three years into his new, non-monastic life, a stone he had just swept off the path smashed into a tree and split in two. And when it did, something in him split in two, cracked wide open -- the kind of open that never closes again. Everything, suddenly, became totally clear to him. The enlightenment he had been seeking for 50 years had finally happened. Just like that.

The 40 stories in Storytelling for the Revolution are 40 stones splitting in two -- 40 examples of spontaneously occurring moments of truth -- awakenings, both large and small, none of which have ever made it to the evening news. Some of them are from my own life. Some are from the lives of others. They are, metaphorically speaking, a kind of DaVinci code that offers clues to the encrypted wisdom lurking just beneath the surface of our life -- the hard-to-communicate essence that ultimately defines what it means to be fully alive.

My book is not an autobiography. Nor is it a memoir. I share my stories not to call attention to me, but to call attention to you. All I'm doing is getting the party started -- your party -- a chance to take a look into the mirror of story and see, reflected back to you, parts of yourself that may have been hidden from view.

This is why I have written this book. Rather than give in to the despair, despondency, and disillusionment that has become the world's default position these days, I've decided to do everything within my power to reclaim the collective narrative for the greater good -- to revolve around a different sun -- the one that lights up our lives from the inside. And it all begins with story

You don't need to be an anthropologist to figure this out. Deconstruct any scripture, sermon, or TED talk and you will find story. That's how most meaningful messages are conveyed. Even the neuroscientists agree. When storytellers share their experiences, the same parts of the brain that light up in the storyteller upon telling their story, light up in the listener upon hearing it. "Mood contagion" it is called. "Somatic states". "Neural coupling"-- the phenomenon of one person transmitting not only information about X, Y, or Z, but also the experience.

The question isn't whether or not storytelling works. It does. The question is: "Are we going to step up and tell our stories?"

Every day, when a friend passes you on the street and asks "Whassup?" you have a choice to make. You can talk about your aching back, the weather, or the latest political catastrophe, or you can elevate the conversation by telling a story that matters. All you need to do is be yourself, choose wisely and seize the moment.

To help you make your way towards the front lines of storytelling, I've included, in PART ONE, 40 stories for your inspiration and delight -- 30 memorable "rock splitting moments" from my own life and ten classic teaching tales, many of which have been told for centuries. Each story is followed by a question to consider so you can apply its message to your own life. PART TWO is a Field Guide, complete with tips, tools, and techniques for how you can become a better, more confident storyteller. Or, if you really want to go for it, how you can become a storytelling revolutionary on the front lines of your own life -- a sacred activist of insight, wisdom and love.

Ready? I hope so. It's time to gather around the fire and begin...

PS: The book will be published in early June and will be available on Amazon then, both as a softcover and a downloadable, digital version.

MitchDitkoff.com

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2018
HOW TO RAISE YOUR COMPANY'S CORE COMPETENCY OF INNOVATION (in 15 min. per week)

doran-erickson-508459.jpg

Want to boost innovation in your organization, but have precious little time to do so? Our Micro-Learning for Innovators program may be just the ticket. And the fee? Name your own price. We be walking the talk. Here's what one of our clients says about it.

Photo: Doran Erickson, Unsplash
Idea Champions

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2018
EXCELLENT (Free) WEBINAR ON TEAMWORK: April 2 or 3

Hands in middle3.jpg

Click here to register for the Ignite Your Unstoppable Team webinar presented by Shane Hipps. His online Masterclass will include the following:

-- The #1 ingredient to attract the best people to your team

-- The best way to double your team's productivity

-- How to maximize your profit/impact with a few tweaks to your strategy

-- Simple tools to mobilize others to take action

I first heard about Shane from Tim Gallwey, of the Inner Game. Shane's coached some of the best and brightest leaders in the world, like Ije Nwokorie, a senior director at Apple, and Greg Henry, winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Go for it!

Register here

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2018
The 10 Personas of an Effective Brainstorm Facilitator

Idea Faciitator Wall.jpg

Allow me to make a wild guess. You have participated in more than a few brainstorm sessions in your life. Yes?

And allow me to make another wild guess. Many of those sessions left you feeling underwhelmed, over-caffeinated, disappointed, disengaged, and doubtful that much of ANYTHING was ever going to happen as a result of your participation. Yes, again? I thought so.

There's a ton of reasons why most brainstorming sessions under-deliver, but the main reason -- the Mount Olympus of reasons (drum roll, please....) is the brainstorm facilitator. Armed with a short list of ground rules, a flipchart marker, and a muffin, most brainstorm facilitators miss the mark completely.

The reason has less to do with their process, tools, and techniques than it does with their inability to adapt to what's happening, real-time, in the room. In an all-too-professional attempt to be one-pointed, they end up being one-dimensional, missing out on a host of in-the-moment opportunities to spark the ever-mutating, collective genius of the group.

If only our well-intentioned brainstorm facilitators could abide by the words of Walt Whitman, when he confessed that he "contained multitudes."

Translation? If you or anyone you know is going to lead a diverse group of time-crunched, opinionated, multi-tracking, people through a process of originating breakthrough ideas, DON'T BE A ONE TRICK PONY! Be a multitude -- or, at the very least, be multi-faceted. Let it rip. Hang ten. Pull out the stops.

Use your right brain and your left. Let all the cats out of the proverbial bag -- and by so doing, exponentially increase your chances of sparking brainpower, brilliance, and beyond-the-obvious ideas.

OK. Enough bloggy pep talk. Let's get down to business. Take a few minutes now to rate yourself, on a scale of 1-10, for how skillful you are at embodying the following personas of a high flying brainstorm facilitator. Then tune into your biggest strength and ask yourself how you can amplify that quality. Then identify your biggest weakness and figure out how you can improve in that arena.

LightHands.jpg

1.CONDUCTOR
A skilled brainstorm facilitator knows how to orchestrate powerfully creative output from a seemingly dissonant group of people. In the conductor mode, the facilitator includes everyone, evokes even the subtlest contributions from the least experienced participant, and demonstrates their commitment to the whole by offering timely feedback to anyone who "gets lost in their own song."

2.ALCHEMIST
A good brainstorm facilitator is able to transmute lead into gold -- or in modern terms -- knows how to help people "get the lead out." This talent requires an element of wizardry -- the ability to see without looking, feel without touching, and intuitively know that within each brainstormer lives a hidden genius just waiting to get out.

3.DANCER
Light on their feet, brainstorm facilitators move gracefully through the process of sparking new ideas. Able to go from the cha-cha to the polka to the whirling dervish spinning of a brainstorm group on fire, savvy facilitators take bold steps when necessary, even when there is no visible ground underfoot. "The path is made by walking on it," is their motto.

4. MAD SCIENTIST
Skillful brainstorm facilitators are bold experimenters, often taking on the crazed (but grandfatherly) look of an Einstein in heat. While respecting the realm of logic and the rational (the ground upon which most scientists build their homes), the enlightened facilitator is willing to throw it all out the window in the hope of triggering a "happy accident" or a quantum leap of thought. Indeed, it is often these discontinuous non-linear moments that produce the kind of breakthroughs that logic can only describe, never elicit itself.

blueskylady5.jpg

5.DIAMOND CUTTER
Fully recognizing the precious gem of the human imagination (as well as the delicacy required to set it free), the high octave brainstorm facilitator is a craftsman (or craftswoman) par excellence -- focused, precise, and dedicated. Able to get to the heart of the matter in a single stroke without leaving anything or anyone damaged in the process.

6. ACTOR
Brainstorm facilitators are "on stage" whether they like it or not. All eyes are upon them, as well as all the potential critical reviews humanly possible. More often than not, the facilitator's "audience" will only be moved to act (perchance to dream) if they believe the facilitator is completely into his or her role. If the audience does not suspend this kind of disbelief, the play will close early and everyone will be praying for a fire drill or wishing they were back home eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

7.ENVIRONMENTALIST
Brainstorm facilitators are the original recyclers. In their relentless pursuit of possibility, they look for value in places other people see as useless. To the facilitator in full mojo mode, "bad ideas" aren't always bad, only curious indicators that something of untapped value is lurking nearby.

8. OFFICER OF THE LAW
One of the brainstorm facilitator's most important jobs is to enforce "law and order" once the group gets roaring down the open highway of the imagination. This is a fine art -- for in this territory speeding is encouraged, as is running red lights, jaywalking, and occasionally breaking and entering. Just as thieves have their code of honor, however, so too should brainstormers. Indeed, it is the facilitator's task to keep this code intact -- a task made infinitely easier by the ritual declaration of ground rules at the start of a session.''

9.SERVANT
Some brainstorm facilitators, intoxicated by the group energy and their own newly stimulated imagination, use their position as a way to foist their ideas on others -- or worse, manipulate the group into their way of thinking. Oops! Ouch! Aargh! Brainstorm facilitating is a service, not a personal platform. It is supposed to be a selfless act that enables others to arrive at their own solutions, no matter how different they may be from the facilitator's.

10. STAND-UP COMIC
Humor is one of the brainstorm facilitator's most important tools. It dissolves boundaries, activates the right brain, helps participants get unstuck, and shifts perspective just enough to help everyone open their eyes to new ways of seeing. Trained facilitators are always on the lookout for humorous responses. They know that humor often signals some of the most promising ideas, and that giggles, guffaws, and laughable side-talk frequently indicate a rich vein of possibility to explore. Humor also makes the facilitator much more "likable" which makes the group they are facilitating more amenable to their direction. Ever wonder why the words "Aha!" and "Ha-Ha" are so similar?

The book from which the article was excerpted
Idea Champions
Our clients
What they say
Our brainstorm training

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:11 AM | 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.

MitchDitkoff.com
Click here for the simplest, most direct way, to learn more about Idea Champions' semi-fearless leader, Mitch Ditkoff. Info on his keynotes, workshops, conferences, and more.
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.
Top 5 Speaker
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.
Authorized Reseller Logo – GoLeanSixSigma.com
Workshops & Trainings
Highly engaging learning experiences that increase each participant's ability to become a creative force for positive change
Brainstorm Facilitation
High impact certification training that teaches committed change agents how to lead groundbreaking ideation sessions
Cultivating Innovation
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.
Our Blog Cabin
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.
Face the Music Blues Band The world's first interactive business blues band. A great way to help your workforce go beyond complaint.

"In tune with corporate America." — CNN
© IDEA CHAMPIONS