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What Innovation Lessons did you learn in 2007?

Chuck Frey of the very good Innovation Tools newsletter and blog is creating a report about the innovation Lessons people learned in 2007.

It's not ready yet, but I'm excited to see what realizations people had about innovation.

For me personally, 2007 has been a great year.  I started this blog in May, and have had a wonderful time meeting new people, learning more about innovation, and challenging myself to keep looking for ideas, new connections to talk about, and fabulously-creative business ideas.

I learned that the more I challenge myself to come up with blog posts, the easier it gets.  Being creative is like that: practice makes it a lot easier.

But that wasn't the biggest lesson I learned about creativity and innovation this year.

The most important thing I really learned came from a short comment on an idea website! 

IdeaList is a fun site where people upload their ideas, and others can evaluate them.  There, I ran across an idea of a toy for children.  It was fun, and was an interesting combination of two things kids like (ice cream and soccer). 

Then I saw that the first commentator had slammed that idea down with two cruel words: "Try again."

It was vicious--especially since the idea wasn't bad!  It needed some development, but the concept was interesting.

At that point, I realized just how easy it is to put down someone else's ideas.

If we don't immediately like something, we pick at the flaws and do everything we can to make the other person realize that they're on the wrong track. 

Then the idea is vanquished, and its creator knows not to make that mistake again.

Since then I've worked really hard to find the good parts of every idea I come across, especially if I don't like the idea right away.

Doing that has changed my outlook on innovation because the impact of that decision was immediately noticeable!

Ever since I've started looking at every idea as a starting point (with potential), I've come up with better ideas myself, and helped a lot more people feel confident about being creative.

People are usually pretty hesitant to put an idea out there because they're used to being shot down or criticized.  They're just thrilled though when they hear a couple good things about their idea--because it tells them that they're doing something right.

Obviously, not all ideas will change the world, and some of them could definitely use "a little work".  But telling someone their idea stinks is no way to get them to improve it.  Then they're just discouraged.

Praising the parts of an idea with potential though... actually gets people excited about making it better.

This was just an amazing realization for me.  It's such a simple way to get people excited about being creative and working to come up with better ideas.

And it works!  Who would have believed that!

So, that's the most important innovation lesson I learned in 2007: Always look first for the good parts of an idea, no matter what!

What have you learned about creativity this year?

 

Three of the best creativity resources I found in 2007!

It's nearing the end of the year, and I'm sure a lot of you are still looking for presents.  Others are probably trying to figure out where they want to go next year, and what resources will help them get there.

So, to help you out, here are the absolute best creativity books I found in 2007!

* * * * *

 

Jack's Notebook stood out to me immediately because it's not written like most normal "How to be creative" books.

It's actually a novel, and the creative problem solving process is demonstrated (not explained) as the characters try to work through the problems they face.

Personally, I think it's a breath of fresh air! 

This book solves two difficulties people face when they're just learning about creativity: (1) Being intimidated by the whole thing and (2) Not seeing how the techniques in a book can be applied to real life. 

The book is easy to get into, makes creative problem-solving approachable, and teaches without "preaching".

Buy it!  If you're just getting into creativity, this is a great book to get started with.  If you're more experienced, it will lift your spirits and be a fun read.

* * * * *

How to Have Creative Ideas is the book I've been waiting for from Edward de Bono. 

Dr de Bono has a lot of great books about creativity--some that talk about how creativity works, others about how to be more creative, and others that challenge our thinking.   

How to Have Creative Ideas stands out because it has 62 creative exercises that can be done to come up with new ideas.  It's actually more of a workbook--with challenges to solve and tons of suggestions for how to make new connections.

If you want to practice creativity, this is a fabulous book.  Use it with his suggested problems, or plug in the problem you need ideas for.  It's all in bite-sized chunks, so each exercises is completely manageable.

It's already published in Europe, so don't be fooled by the 2008 publication date on the US Amazon.  Get it now before the rest of America.

* * * * *

The Ball of Whacks is one of my favorite new creativity tools. 

Created by Roger von Oech, it's a set of magnetic triangles that come in the shape of a ball.  The triangles, however, can be formed into tons of different shapes (e.g a cat, turtle, frog and Batman).

(It comes with a book, so it counts!)

The Ball of Whacks works by challenging your mind to look for new connections and try out new combinations.  It works well when you're stuck and need to open up your mind, and is a great thinking stimulant.

Plus, if you need something to keep visiting children entertained, the Ball of Whacks is a lifesaver.  This has keep a friend's nephew--who normally bounces off every wall--quiet for a good hour and a half.

Beware though, keep it out of sight when you actually want to interact with your visitors.  I've lost parents, relatives and friends to the Ball's potent lure!

You should buy it because being creative is about having a little fun, because creating with your hands turns on your brain, and because it will be great fun at the Christmas and New Year's parties.

Oh, and because (unlike the Rubik's Cube) this is a mental game that you can actually win!

* * * * *

Tomorrow I'll share with you the books I want for Christmas in case you want to get a jump-start for 2008. 

And, no, it's not too late...

There are still 2 days left to buy books on Amazon if you want them in time for Christmas!

Squeeze out more ideas

Years ago, when I was competing in creative problem-solving competitions, our team would spend hours learning how to come up with fresh ideas in a hurry.

This wasn't just for fun.  We were going towards a goal.

Midway through the year, our team would go to a regional competition where 1/3 of our score would come from creative thinking exercise that we had to solve on the fly.

The seven of us would walk into a nondescript room with no idea what we were going to be doing. 

The judges would read us a challenge--which could be everything from creating a non-verbal communication method, to building a weight-supporting tower, to thinking of all the unusual things we could that were green.

We'd have 2-10 minutes to think about it, and then we were on.  We had a limited time to present, and unique, creative solutions were worth more point-wise than common, everyday ones.

Less than 30 minutes later, we'd be back in the real world. 

Unsurprisingly, those 30 minutes were incredibly important.  An entire 6 months of hard work could be thrown away in a minute if someone froze up.

So we practiced and practiced and practiced again.  But that wasn't enough to take us to the next level because it's way too easy to rely on the ideas everyone thinks of when you're under time pressure.

In response, our coach came up with an "evil genius" method of teaching us to search for the best ideas.

(It was evil because we hated her for it.  It was genius because it worked.)

During practice, she'd give us a creative challenge.  We'd do it, but if our team didn't score high enough on creativity, she would make us do the whole thing all over again.

With no repeated answers.

It. Was. Awful. All our ideas were out on the table already.  And we needed more.

You know what happened? 

We would start off like we were slogging through molasses--in flippers. Nothing would come out, no matter how hard we tried to squeeze something (anything) out of our brains.

Then, as the true desperation set in, someone would just throw a completely zany idea out there because they couldn't think of anything better.   Then someone else would.

And suddenly, it was easier to think of new ideas again because we were all headed in a different direction.

Amazingly, we were always able to come up with a bunch of totally new ideas when we were repeating the challenge. 
 

However, those sessions also why I winced badly when reading Litemind's article, Tackle Any Issue With a List of 100.  Luciano Passuello, author of Litemind, advocates creating a list of 100 ideas to solve a problem in a single sitting.

It sounds like torture.  It probably is. And I didn't know if I should recommend it...   I don't want to be like the wicked, evil creativity coach who made us all want to beat out heads on the table.  I actually want people to like me!

But you know what?  I had to do it.  Because this strategy works.

Here's why:

• When you start listing ideas, you first write down everything you've already thought about.
  
  This clears out the backlog of ideas we normally keep in our heads.  Luciano projects that you'll get about 30 ideas this way.

• After we run out of available ideas, we start struggling through the muddy recesses of our brain.
  
  That's when we begin snatching at every possible connection and any pattern we can find.  This is the warm-up, and it's definitely tough: it can take as many as 40 hard-won ideas to get past this stage.

• Then, the magic starts to happen.
  
  The last 30 or so ideas are easier to come up with, and more "out there" than the middle set.  This happens because our brains have gotten rid of all the "easy" ideas, and are used to stretching further for new possibilities.
   

But just as my creative problem solving teams eventually prevailed--even when our evil coach made us do the same challenge 3 or 4 times--making a list of 100 ideas is definitely possible. 

It just takes the dedication (or fear of a coach) to keep pushing forward through the mental mud until the ideas start flowing again.

So, try it.  Read the article, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and a new pen, and start writing. You'll definitely hate me for it... but afterwards you'll be very amazed at how many ideas you can squeeze out of your brain.

And if you practice squeezing out extra ideas regularly, you'll be able to come up with better ideas when you really need them.

Where is your audacity?

A couple of years ago, while trying to read Caesar's De Bello Gallico in college, I learned the origins of a very thrilling word: Audacity.

Audacity comes from the Latin verb audēre, which means "to dare". 

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary describes it as "arrogant disregard of normal restraints".

Is it just me, or does that sounds like a starting point for coming up with wickedly good new ideas and blasting open new possibilities?

Today's New York Times has a great article about some "crazy" individuals who aim to destroy assumptions about what humans can and cannot do.

They want to make it possible for humans to fly.

No, they're not attaching prosthetic wings in secret surgical experiments, they're designing special suits--similar to the wings of a flying squirrel--and working out a way to land safely without a parachute.

It's not just some crazy dream. 

The wing suits actually work for aerial maneuvering, and the main challenge is now to create a way for the flier to glide to a stop when they finally reach the ground.

Of course, they're not there yet.  There's still the whole "hitting the ground at 75 mph" issue to work out.

At the same time though, the future fliers are well on their way.  One aspirant is building a $2 million slanted landing runway, while another is developing a suit that lets fliers land on their feet on a horizontal surface.

And they definitely have the right attitude.

Jeb Corliss, one of the aspiring fliers, told the NY Times that people want to fly “Because everybody thinks that it’s not possible. The point is to show people anything can be done. If you want to do amazing things, then you have to take amazing risks.”

That definitely sounds like "audacity" to me!

And can you imagine though what will happen when they do succeed?  No one thought that the Wright brothers could fly either.

Download flying_humans.pdf   (Best to go to NY Times though... they have a great video!)

*Photo of Jeb Corliss is from NY Times article by Axel Koester

"Can you make me be more creative?"

Yesterday, I was talking with a couple friends when one asked two of my favorite questions.  "What happens when someone can't think of any ideas? You can't force them to be more creative, right?"

I rubbed my hands together, thrilled at the challenge that was coming.  "Actually, I can."

Eyebrow raised now, my friend asked.  "Oh really? How?"

I gave them an example:

Ok, you're trying to think of ways to improve a car.  Are you thinking about making it faster, more powerful, more luxurious, bigger, safer, or with better fuel efficiency?

As expected, they were guilty as charged.

Then, I told them I was going to give them a completely Random Word that they were going to have to connect with their goal of improving a car. 

Their word was "Washing Machine."

One of them started out hesitantly "Well, you could put a washing machine in the car."

Then the other jumped in, "Or, what about a dryer?  Wouldn't that be more useful if clothes got wet?"

"Or what about making the inside of the car able to dry itself?  That would really be a great feature if you live in a wet climate and left the window open."

Three ideas in about 10 seconds.

And the interesting thing is that each of those ideas has potential if developed further:

• A washing machine in the car itself might not be feasible, but could they be combined in some other way? What if someone was able to turn on the washing machine at home from their car so that the clothes would be ready for the dryer when they got home?

• A dryer in the car could be pretty useful.  What about those days when you're in a rush and have to run out the door before your clothes are completely dry? 
  
  Or, what if you find out that the shirt you desperately wanted to wear was full of wrinkles?  Or what if you regularly cart around a bunch of swimmers?

• And check out how the last idea turns into a very valuable concept.  Not only does the idea of an car-interior dryer sound appealing to anyone who has ever had a convertible or got snow in the car, it also brings up the thought: ways of removing water from inside the car. 
  
  As another way of doing this, what about adding a dehumidifier function to the car's air system?  It's extremely dangerous to drive when the whole front is fogged up, and sometimes just breathing can be enough to cloud up the windshield.  Wouldn't it be nice to have an easier way to get rid of that?

So, that's the result of forcing two people to think creatively for about 10 seconds.  Not bad, huh?

Imagine what would come up if a bunch of people did creativity exercises like that for a decent amount of time...

The results can be pretty impressive. 

European idea factory Brainstore can get hundreds of ideas from their program participants in a hour. 

SolutionPeople in the US was able to inspire 500 Fast Company conference participants to come up with 5,000 ideas--in 10 minutes.

All from methods that force creativity.  Sounds like something worthwhile to learn, doesn't it?

Goodbye, Honey

This weekend was a very sad one for me.  I learned on Friday that my cat Honey had passed away.

(This post isn't really about creativity, but it is about how Honey taught my family not to make quick assumptions during her short stay in our lives.  Mostly it's about Honey though, so if you're not interested, don't read it.  This post is more for me.)

Almost exactly four years ago, I was walking across campus at my college when I was approached by a tiny little dark-brown cat who meowed at me so loudly that I had to stop.  After petting her for a while, I started walking to the Union again.  She followed me the whole way, begging me to stop again.

When we reached the Union, she left me alone for a bit--but only because she had disappeared into the garbage can and was vainly trying to scratch open a take-out box.  So, I bought her a turkey sandwich.

Grabbing it out of my hands, she wolfed down the turkey and the cheese and then went after the bread.  When she started on the lettuce, I decided to take her home, even though cats weren't allowed.

After sneaking her into my dorm and giving her some leftovers, a bath was the first order of business.  Surprisingly, she ended up not being brown at all... she was actually a very light orange!  However, my bathtub was quite brown after I was through washing her.

Eventually, Honey came home with me to Minnesota.  We already had a cat, Patches, and decided that Honey would be a perfect pet for my grandma. 

Honey was calm and incredibly friendly, and loved sitting on a lap while being petted.  Plus, my grandma missed her old dog very much, and we thought a kitten would be good for her. 

That's why I'll never forget our first visit with her to the vet.  My father and I took Honey there not long after she came back to Minnesota with me.  We wanted to find out how old she was, if she had any illnesses, and if she was likely to grow more.

When the vet came in though, the first words out of her mouth were "Oh! What a cute little old lady!"

Our jaws dropped.  Honey was so teeny, only about 4lbs, that we had been sure that she was just a baby.

"Oh no," explained the vet.  "Honey is at least 12 years old. Maybe older.  And she has arthritis."

So our plans to give Honey to my grandmother were shattered and Honey came to live with us.  And for the past four years, she was an amazing pet.

But most importantly, she taught us never to assume.  She wasn't young as we thought, nor was she the "Interim" cat that we were giving a home between Patches and our next kitten.

When Patches died not long after Honey came to live with us, we decided that Honey would be our in-between pet while we looked for a kitten. She needed a caring home, and we didn't want an empty house.   My father even called her "little Interim" for a while.

It didn't take Honey long to fix that.  She was simply so in love with our family that we couldn't help loving her back.

Honey always came running to meet us at the door, climbed the stairs to greet us every morning, was so friendly that she was almost a dog, and couldn't get enough of being around us.  She not only came when we called her name, she also unfailingly appeared whenever we opened the refrigerator door.

She wasn't perfect.  She begged, she successfully stole entire pork chops from the sink while they were being defrosted, she had an amazing ability to get dirty, and she liked to sleep on top of the oven when we were baking something.

But she was so sweet it was impossible to be mad at her, and it was impossible not to laugh while she carried a 1lb slab of meat (1/4 her body weight) all the way across the kitchen to her food dish.

So, at this point, I'm incredibly sad.  But I'm also happy because we did have a lot of time with her.  It's incredible she didn't die 4 years ago, and that she was able to become such a part of our family.

There isn't much more I could have wished for.