Creativity@Work Idea Master Seth Godin

What would our world look like if more people started projects, made a ruckus, and took risks? The job isn't to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo–Seth Godin, from his book Poke the Box

Seth Godin embodies embracing new technologies to market ideas and products and has always managed to be on the cutting edge as a provocateur/marketer. American Way Magazine dubbed him, "America's Greatest Marketer," and Godin’s blog is one of the most popular in the world written by a single individual. His latest book, Poke the Box
is a call to action to take the initiative both in career and in life. Seth broke from the traditional publishing model by the book releasing it through a partnership with Amazon.com called The Domino Project. Some of his previous books include Unleashing the Idea Virus and the Big Moo.

As an entrepreneur, he has founded dozens of companies, most of which failed. Yoyodyne, his first internet company, was funded by Flatiron and Softbank and acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. It pioneered the use of ethical direct mail online, something Seth called Permission Marketing. Not one to let failure derail his career, his latest company, Squidoo.com, is ranked among the top 125 websites.

Consider how your organization could think more like Godin, push aside fear and tradition to embrace new strategies and projects. Think: What would Seth do?

It’s almost here! The complete, expanded second edition e-book is coming! Download a free, 25 page preview of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, at the E-book website.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page. I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.

Creativity@Work: Idea Master Richard Branson

My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them...from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it. –Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur and risk-taker extraordinaire, best known for his Virgin Group of over 400 companies. Branson’s first successful business venture was a magazine called Student at age 16. He is the 212th richest person in the world according to Forbes' 2010 list of billionaires.

What makes him an Idea Master is his philosophy to embrace life, take risks, learn from failure, think creatively, and continually adapt.

Consider how your organization could “think” more like Richard Branson to become more creative and innovative by borrowing some of his traits:

• Step out of the comfort zone- Branson is constantly stepping outside his comfort zone into new industries and challenges.

• Face toward problems-When problems arise, Branson tackles them immediately and aggressively, making sure that small problems don’t become big issues.

• Be open to change- Branson is constantly open to changing his perspectives, viewpoints and approach to any situation if he feels that it will help him attain his goals and objectives in a much more effective and efficient manner.

• Seek new opportunities- Branson is always on the lookout for new opportunities and ideas that will enable him to gain an advantage over his competitors.

• Ask questions- Branson is constantly asking questions to clarify his thinking and help him overcome the challenges that confront him on a daily basis.

• Be playful- Branson turns everything into a game where having fun is on top of his agenda.

• Take notes- Branson carries a notepad in his pocket to capture ideas for new projects, gather feedback from customers and employees, and to write his goals, thoughts and experiences on paper.

• Learn from failures- Branson fully understands that lessons are usually learned through mistakes and experience.

To learn more about Richard Branson, visit Virgin’s website.

It’s almost here! The complete, expanded second edition e-book comes out on March 1st! Download a free, 25 page preview of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, at the E-book website.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page. I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.

Creativity@Work Exercise: What Went Wrong?

What can we learn from the failures, foibles, and follies of other organizations? How can we use a study of mistakes to work toward success?

Fear of failure is one of the barriers to having a more creative and innovative workplace environment. Nobody likes failure—it feels bad, often it’s embarrassing, in its worst form, it can be destructive. People, as well as organizations often have a hard time admitting it when they have failed or made a mistake. So how do we take failures and turn them into successes? Rather than trying to forget them, why don’t we analyze them, debrief, and try to learn to do better next time?

Even the most successful companies including Apple, the Gap, and Coca-Cola, have made larger than life gaffes and managed to thrive and survive. Try this exercise using some examples from competitors or well-known companies. Then try it with your organization’s own mistakes and missteps.

For a look at some very public failures and mistakes, here’s some inspiration:
• The Gap’s new logo comes and goes in a week
• Apple’s IPhone 4 “Antenna gate”
• Nestle insults its customers on Facebook
• Who is Microsoft Bob?
• These potato chips come with unpleasant side effects

Come together in small groups, discuss what happened, and then consider:

• What went wrong?
• What could have been done better? Why?
• What worked? What didn’t?
• How could this be avoided in the future?
• How could this be fixed? What channels could be used?
• Is there a moral to the story? What is it?

Need more inspiration? Try these websites:
Forbes.com Marketing Blog
PR Mistakes and Blunders
Time Magazine's Top 50 Worst Inventions

Coming Wednesday: Creative Books and Authors

Want more ideas to unleash Creativity@Work? For more information on how to get your copy of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, visit the E-book website. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page. I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.

Creativity@Work: Identifying Creative Barriers

I recently wrote an article about organizational culture vs. creativity and innovation. One of the key points is many organizations and their members have barriers to ideas. Some of them are obvious and some, not so much—they remain unspoken, hidden within organizational culture. One source of these barriers comes from the attitude of leadership of the organization. Do they support creativity and ideas or shun anything that shakes up the status quo? Are creative efforts communicated? Are idea mavericks ostracized or celebrated? Are failures and mistakes viewed as learning experiences or horror stories?

Some of these organizational roadblocks include:
• Management “non” acceptance of ideas
• Maintenance of status quo
• One focus-long term v. short term or vice versa
• Limited view of value of creativity and innovation
• Preconceived notions about creativity and innovation
• Distrust of the new or unfamiliar
• Lack of experience in innovation
• Inflexible/rigid organization
• Traditions
• Lack of channels or processes for input

Other creative barriers come in the form of personal issues and aversions to anything new or different.

Some of these individual barriers include:
• Close mindedness
• Fear of ridicule or criticism
• Fear of failure
• Past experiences coloring current situations
• View self as a non-creative person
• No experience with creativity

Take some time to consider these barriers. Are there any you could add to this list that are affecting your organization? What are your own attitudes toward innovation and creativity?

Now consider, what can you do to help remove some of these roadblocks?

Want more ideas to unleash Creativity@Work? For more information on how to get your copy of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, visit the E-book website. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page.

I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.

Creativity@Work: Idea Master Sir James Dyson

Dyson has never been one that’s satisfied with leaving things as they are. When he wondered if it was possible to design a vacuum that didn’t need to have a bag changed and could keep suction even when it was full, he took his questions into the lab. Dyson’s company now makes one of the best-selling vacuum cleaners in the United States and his invention has made him one of the richest guys in Britain. It wasn’t easy-- it took 15 years and nearly his entire savings to develop the bagless, transparent vacuum. He made over 5,000 prototypes of the vacuum before he got it working right.

Dyson still takes his questions into the lab to see what he and his engineering team can come up with. Among the lab’s innovations are a hand dryer that doesn’t use heat or evaporation and an air fan without external blades. Through it all, Dyson still subscribes to a learn-from-failure, error-filled approach for everything he envisions.

Consider this: What could your organization gain from adopting some of Dyson’s learn-from- failure approach when tackling projects? What opportunities could be gained? What could be learned from past mistakes and failures?

Read more of Dyson’s story here.

Coming Monday, Creative Exercise: Unleashing Ideas with a Brick

Want more ideas to unleash Creativity@Work? For more information on how to get your copy of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, visit the E-book website. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativty@ Work page.

Failure IS an option

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all. --Edward de Bono

As entrepreneurs, we have all failed at one time or another. An idea doesn’t pan out, a deal falls through, we get rejected by an important client, things don’t turn out as expected. We feel disappointed and sometimes we even feel hurt. Often, we want to throw in the towel. When this happens, we need to remember failure is an important part of the process of building success.

Read the full article on featured on Get Enterpreneurial.com