Are you looking for blogs that make you think?

GetFreshMinds.com is a labor of love for me, so I'm always incredibly thrilled when I find out that someone enjoys my blog.

Last week, I was very pleasantly surprised with a Thinking Blogger award by Doug Meacham, author of the fantastic NextUp blog. 

Doug's blog, which I just discovered recently, is about consumer technology, customer experience and social media trends.  It's also fantastic and I recommend that everyone goes to read his series of posts on how Walt Disney World does an amazing job of creating positive experiences.

A quick background:

The Thinking Blogs Award was started in February 2007 by Ilker Yoldas of the Thinking Blog when he started highlighting blogs that he felt were truly “meaty” with great content.  The award is viral in that each Thinking Blogger is asked to give the award to five of their favorite blogs with their own readers.

So, here are five of the blogs that always make me think:

Selling to Big Companies :: Jill Konrath

I highly recommend the Selling to Big Companies blog -- and not just because it's written by my mom! There's nothing more frustrating than coming up with an amazing idea, and then not being able to do anything with it because you don't know how to sell it to people. 

Jill does an amazing job of teaching people how to communicate the value of their offering to key decision-makers  If you have an idea that you want to get attention for, the Selling to Big Companies blog and website are great resources.

Creative Think :: Roger von Oech

I was recently introduced to Roger von Oech's creativity techniques when I won a Ball of Whacks on Mark McGuinness's Wishful Thinking blog, and have had a great time reading his books and playing with my ball ever since.  I really like Roger's blog because he frequently poses creative challenges to his readers to get them thinking. 

Roger's posts are pleasantly short, colorful and easily digestible for busy people.  Additionally, his books are great sources for creative thinking, with fun exercises to get you going and a very approachable writing style that is easy to get into.

Asgeir Hoem | Design and Creativity :: Asgeir Hoem

Asgeir is a young Norwegian who is studying design in Australia.  I enjoy reading his blog because he has a great eye for finding quality advertisements and then writes short, engaging posts about them.  While I personally have no talent for graphic design, I appreciate those who do, and Asgeir really gets it. 

What particularly impresses me about him (and why he definitely deserves a Thinking Blogger award) is that he is also fantastic at thinking of ideas.  I love commenting on one of his posts and offering up a new idea because he does a great job of building on it in his response.  Asgeir would definitely be someone I'd like to collaborate with on a creative team.

The Creativity Coach :: Emily Hotchkiss

Emily Hotchkiss is a creativity coach whose blog I enjoy reading because it jolts me out of the serious thinking that reading so many blogs causes. In addition to some really good posts about creativity, she throws in a lot of fun elements like quotes from Dr Seuss or videos of parkour.

Why do I love that? Because, as she wrote recently, "regular exposure to fresh stimulus...forces the brain to ask itself 'where on earth can I file this stuff?' and, because the stimulus doesn't fit into a pre-existing category, the brain has to form new connections (technically called neural pathways) to assimilate the fresh stimulus." So, her fun fresh stimulus is actually helping my brain to think more laterally!

 

HELLO my name is BLOG :: Scott Ginsberg

Scott Ginsberg is the "guy with the nametag."  That's right, he's built a successful speaking, writing and coaching career by building off the fact that he worn a nametag 24-7 for the past 2,431 days.  What's so interesting about Scott's blog is that he always poses questions to his readers and challenges us to reach beyond our comfort zone in becoming approachable. 

I like how each and every one of Scott's posts gives us a chance to define ourselves better and clarify our thinking. And as a natural introvert, I love how his success has challenged me to think beyond my comfort zone to figure out how I can connect better with the people I meet.

Go check out those blogs and enjoy the different types of thinking they provoke!

Comments

[Asgeir Hoem]

Thanks alot for the mention, Katie! I have been rather lazy lately, but I am still here. I am glad you find my posts interesting.

(Off topic: have you got any experience with Tom Kelley's books? I found 'The Ten Faces of Innovation' at a local bookstore, which seemed interesting.)

Read it! Tom Kelley is amazing and Ideo is my dream employer! And you deserve it. :-)

[Roger von Oech]

Hi Katie,

Thanks for the kinds words. I also look forward to checking out the blogs you mentioned. Best wishes to you and your readers.

Roger von Oech

Roger, thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[Mike McGinley]

Hi Katie - great blog! I'm studying for MBA and I think reading your blog will give me more insight into the business world. Keep it up!

Hi Mike, thanks for the compliment and let me know if you have any questions about creativity that you'd like to learn more about. I'm definitely open to suggestions! Also, if you get a chance, I recommend checking out some of the blogs under the left-hand column "Fresh Blogs" list.

Good luck with your MBA!

[vicki]

i'm really excited about these blogs. thanks! :)

i esp. like the creativity coach and your example of something she recently wrote. it reminded me that a colleague told me the same thing awhile ago.

Glad you liked her writing too! Her blog is very interesting to read and I love the bold choice of color.

Also, if you're looking for some other blogs that I highly recommend, check out "Fresh Blogs" list on the left-hand column on my blog.