getFreshMinds.com | Ideas so fresh--they should be slapped!

Be first, or be forgotten.

In the world of innovation, precision always loses out to speed.

People always remember who was first: Neil Armstrong, Secretariat (above), John Hancock.

But just try asking people who was the second person to step onto the moon, or which racehorse placed second in the 1973 Kentucky Derby, or who was the second person to sign America’s Declaration of Independence.*

It’s the same with new products and services. Being the first to market allows a company to define their niche in the minds of customers. Waiting to launch until perfection is achieved can cause a company to miss that all-important chance to be the one everyone else is evaluated against.

In some cases, the first product to go successfully to market can even create the vocabulary people use to refer to all products in that niche. People “Xerox” their documents, they blow their noses on “Kleenex” and when they need to write a short note that can be easily removed, they use a “Post-it”.

There are now many producers of copy machines, face tissues and sticky notes, but the first brands still stick in the minds of consumers.  Even though they may not be perfect, the winners are almost always the ones that distinguish themselves first.

* Buzz Aldrin, Sham and someone so unacknowledged that I can't even find their name!

81 Insights About Creative Careers

An enigmatic figure named Dr Zoltan sent me an interesting list of thoughts about creative careers.  With 81 points on the list, it was pretty impressive!  (I'm not even sure I have that many thoughts about creativity... and I think about it all the time!)

So, out of sheer admiration for his tenacity and dedication, I read through it.  And, I'm delighted to say, the points were pretty impressive for their insight too  (and not just their number!)

My Personal favorite is #40:

Trust your own ability to consistently create new ideas in the future. Commit to yourself over your entire lifespan. Life expectancy is 80 years. Yet many people grow old and worn out at 30. Why? 1/3 of the way into life is a terrible time to stop being creative.

This really struck me because I think a lot of us do give up our ability to be creative as we grow older.  Whether it's "just time to grow up", or we learn that crazy ideas are often met with skepticism, or because we just get too busy to think... we can easily get to a point where being creative is a struggle.

And, at least for me, when I feel like I can't create anymore, I feel older and worn out.  (Not fun.)  When I'm bubbling with ideas, I feel like I can do anything - whether that's creating the hottest new idea ever, or skipping through puddles in the rain.  (Not that I, a grown-up, would ever skip...!)

So I definitely appreciate Dr Zoltan's list because it reminded me that growing old (and uncreative) is a choice.

Check out his list yourself!  With 80 other insights, I bet you'll find one that inspires you!

Want to learn more about innovation and creativity? Here's the best resource around!

Finding the best blogs out there is not easy!  Sure, there are some big names that everyone subscribes to: Boing Boing, Lifehacker, TechCrunch, Seth's Blog, and so on.

But how do you find the best blogs in the areas you're really interested in?

After all, not everyone wants to read the exact same thing as everyone else!  (Boring...!)

From my experience, it hasn't been easy!  For the last couple years, I've done blog searches, combed through social bookmarking sites, and checked out bloggers that other bloggers recommend.  It's been a lot of work finding the best bloggers in innovation, creativity, and marketing!

That's why I am completely thrilled with a new website by Guy Kawasaki. 

Called Alltop, it lists the best blogs in almost 150 categories - with subjects ranging from ADHD to Careers to Sales to Yoga. It's a fantastic and easy way to make it easy for people to find blogs in the areas they want to read.  And I love Alltop.com from an innovation standpoint because it solves a very real need.

But most importantly for all of you, they have a brand new innovation category! 

Just put up this week, innovation.alltop.com features the best of the best creativity and innovation bloggers:
Roger von Oech, Gregg Fraley, Paul Sloane, Mitch Ditkoff, Chuck Frey, Jeff De Cagna... and ME!

(That's right, getFreshMinds.com is ranked as a top innovation blog.  And I'm so excited about it!)

Alltop.com is a resource I'd recommend highly even if I weren't in it.  But since I am, you all should definitely go there and check out the other amazing innovation blogs!  There are so many that are worth reading.

Do you doubt that anything is possible?

Anything and everything is possible. Do you doubt that?

Then consider that 20,000 years ago, animals were either sources of food or competitors to humans. Today many animals are daily companions that share their lives with their people.

15,000 years ago, all humans had brown eyes. Today, eyes can range in color from bright blue to green to hazel to violet.

5,000 years ago, there was no easy way to move heavy loads around. Today, almost everything that moves has a wheel.

1000 years ago, poor eyesight was an irreversible, crippling handicap. Today, most vision problems can be corrected either temporarily or permanently with glasses, contacts or laser surgery.

600 years ago, books were written by hand and literacy was only for the elite. Today, an original fiction book is published every hour.

200 years ago, the only way to capture an image was through drawings or paintings. Today, a picture can be taken with the push of a button on a camera.

150 years ago, transportation was by human or animal effort only. Today, many Americans drive more than they walk.

100 years ago, humans were bound to the ground. Today thousands of people fly around the world.

50 years ago, a computer filled an entire room. Today, many people keep one in their bedroom.

10 years ago, people wanting to listen to a large variety of music needed to carry around bulky cases of CDs. Today, a player holding thousands of songs can fit easily in a pocket.

Still doubt that anything is possible?  Just wait!

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Do you seize opportunities like Sam does?

From Scotland, here's a video of a seagull named Sam who has something to teach those of us who want to be creative.

You're probably thinking... "Seagulls have nothing to do with innovation!  This is crazy."

Hopefully, you're not thinking, "Great. Katie's finally lost it."

But it's true.  Sam's video is definitely worth noticing.  Why?

Because Sam the Seagull does three things that creative people should also be doing.

1. Sam looks for fresh ways to achieve his objective. (Eating Chips*)
2. Sam knows what could threaten his success and is always looking for an opening. (The shopkeeper isn't looking.)
3. Once Sam sees that the way forward is clear, he doesn't hesitate.  He waddles right in there and seizes the moment. (A bag of cheese Doritos.)

Yes, Sam is only a bag-of-chips-stealing-seagull, but he stands out because he doesn't just stand on the sidewalk hoping to be fed, he goes out there and makes it happen.

Enjoy the video below!  It's pretty funny.

* Crisps for English readers.

When you hear hoofbeats...

"...don't look for zebras!"

Doctors say this to remind themselves not to look for rare diseases just because a patient has strange symptoms.  It's usually only a unusual manifestation of a familiar problem.

But, it's never wise to completely shut your mind to less-common possibilities!

A couple days ago, the Muskogee Phoenix of Oklahoma wrote about a women who was obviously trying too hard to see something different in her everyday life...

When Sharon McConough heard her dog barking like crazy, she thought she was dreaming when she looked outside.

Deer and raccoon regularly visit her Ranger Creek home east of Fort Gibson Dam, but she was shocked to see a zebra last Tuesday night....

“It was about midnight, and I’d just shut off my computer and I got up and went to look outside. It’s so weird, you can’t imagine what it’s like to look out a glass door and see a zebra trotting down the driveway.”

...Although she’s stayed up every night since, she hasn’t seen her striped visitor since his Tuesday visit. But she’s still on the watch and wonders how a zebra came to be running loose in her neighborhood.

Amazingly, she was right! 

Norman the Zebra had escaped from a nearby ranch and was happily gallivanting around Sharon's yard, wrecking havoc with her sanity!

Norman's back home now, and Sharon has some great photos.

Just a quick reminder that the obvious answer is not always the right one. 

After all, if Sharon had just assumed that the hoofbeats came from a horse, she wouldn't have such an interesting story to tell!

First Zebra: Philip Fourie
2nd Zebra: Norman by AP

Why you should take nothing for granted!

This video is one of the most amazing things I've seen on YouTube. 

It's called the Battle of Kruger and was shot by tourists.  They're filming while a baby water buffalo is hunted by lions.  But, this video is amazing... because no one could have expected what happens.

Watch it!  Absolutely fascinating and a great reminder to expect the unexpected!

And thanks to Rohit of the Influential Marketing Blog for reminding me of this video, and sharing a little more of the history behind it!

Do you have trouble being creative?

It's one thing to think of new ideas when your brain is on a creative roll, but what about those days when you're completely stuck?

In my experience, I've found that it's not enough to just go outside my normal physical setting when I'm stalled--I have to actually jolt my brain out of its normal paths of thinking.

Sounds great, Katie... but how do you do that?

Simple.  All it involves is a single Christmas light, some wires and a power outlet.  (JUST KIDDING! Please don't don't try this at home.)

Many times, people recommend going to a different place, doing something daring that you've never done before, or letting your hair down and playing games like a child.  But while I love a good ball crawl and long to go on a creative get-away, sometimes it's necessary to be creative without leaving your everyday routine.

So, here's my suggestion for getting fresh ideas everyday: Learn some creativity techniques!

Try Lateral Thinking, get a Whack on the Side of the Head, or bring out the ThinkerToys.  And it's not cheating.  There will always be ideas that jump out of nowhere, but it's a lot easier and more productive to use creativity tools to jump-start your thinking!

Here's an example of how one creativity technique can bring up new ideas and start your thinking in another direction.

Your Challenge: To Improve the Car

What you'll probably think about first:
Unsurprisingly, your brain is probably jumping automatically to the ways car companies already improve cars.  Something like improving the handling of the car, or giving it a bigger engine, or making the interior more luxurious, or similar things.

The problem is, everyone has those same ideas and unless you can think of something completely new, you won't gain any advantage over your competitors.

Now, I'll show you how the Random Word Technique, one Lateral Thinking tool, can open up new possibilities. 

Rationale: By thinking about a completely random word that is not related to the task, our brains make new connections.

 The Challenge: Improve the Car.
Random Word: Frog

Sounds completely ludicrous, right? How can thinking of a frog help you to think of ways to improve a car?

• Except then you might start thinking about how some African frogs can change sex. What if you had a car inside that could be customized even more exactly to genders of your customers?
  
  Or maybe the car could be customized for their lifestyles? Suddenly you have many more add-ons that you could sell for a premium, and the potential of a marketing slogan like "your car, your style".

• Or maybe your mind went to how frogs jump. What if the car had the ability to jump over traffic? That's not physically possible, or legal, but what's another way that it could be done?
  
  Perhaps the car could instead be fitted with a traffic monitor and city map that can direct you to non-busy roads. That's now possible with Google Maps.

• Also, frogs change from tadpoles to adult frogs. That could lead to two ideas right off the bat...

1. What if you had a car that was able to change size? Many people buy larger vehicles because they need to haul things occasionally. Yet they mostly drive around as the only passenger in their car.
   
   What if the car had a stylish attachment for when the driver needs more space--that could be taken off when it's not needed and the driver wants to conserve gas?
   
   
2. OR, what if the car could change from childlike to grown-up? Many parents let their 16 year olds drive their cars.
   
   What if there was some sort of parental control (that could be enabled by parents) that didn't allow the car to go above a certain speed and allowed the parent to monitor where their kid had been?  Or how else could a car change ages?

• Another thought: frogs are amphibians and some amphibians change colors. What if you had designed a car that was able to change color?
  
  This could perhaps be done with heat-sensitive paint so the driver would be able to judge the temp of the car just by looking at it. 
  
  Or perhaps the car could use some sort of image technology that the driver could use to change the color according to their moods ("I think I want a blue car today."), or car dealers could even create at service at the car dealership to help customers customize the outside of their car without going to a separate painter.

• Frogs also catch flies, swim, climb windows, croak/sing and ( sometimes) turn into princes.  What ideas come from those?

That's just one creativity technique, and I was able to come up with all those ideas in just 10 minutes. Of course, not all of them are actually viable--but they do expand thinking in a new direction.  It's no longer about handling, speed, or luxurious interiors!

Plus, this whole process can be repeated with a completely different random word to head off in another direction.  It's very amazing how many different ideas our brains can come up with when they get a nudge in a new direction!

Please share your own ideas based off this word, and come back tomorrow.  I'm holding a creativity contest and there's a prize!

For anyone who is interested, Edward de Bono just published a new book with tons of exercises using the Random Word technique.  It's called How to Have  Creative Ideas. (or UK link)

(Frogs from Sean, Robert, Alexis, Gary and Andrea. Car from Emma.)

Have you forgotten to look for alternatives?

Sometimes, when a product or service performs well, people are satisfied to accept it as the only option.

But does accepting one option as the best blind people to other, just-as-good or better, options?

Consider the Seeing Eye dogs that do a marvelous job helping blind individuals get around. The dogs enable their owners to be much more mobility than otherwise possible.

Of course, guide dogs are not perfect.  The dogs only work until they are seven, training costs are high and some people are allergic to dogs.

Still, Seeing Eye dogs are highly regarded and definitely a service that will be in demand for years to come.  There is nothing wrong with the guide dog concept.

That doesn't mean though that fresh thinking about the subject is useless.

In North Carolina, however, Janet and Don Burleson are trying something a little different.  Instead of dogs, they train miniature horses to be guides for the blind.

The tiny horses are trained to the same level as dogs, and undergo the same riot training as police horses to make sure that they stay calm in all situations. 

They're also well-suited to the work--with the horses' natural protective instincts for taking care of injured "herd members", a lifespan of up to 50 years and a long memory.

In fact, many blind equestrians who ride regular-sized horses rave about how well their horses look after them.

Of course, guide horses are not perfect either, but many guide horse owners are thrilled with their miniatures.  It's a great alternative for people who have allergies, need a guide animal with a long lifespan, or simply love horses.

Creativity isn't always about fixing something that is broken. Creativity sometimes involves looking at a situation in another way and coming up with a new alternative that fills the existing need differently.

Unlike technical innovations, neither guide-animal option is likely to make the other obsolete because both have many strong benefits.  The fact is, however, that when two horse-enthusiasts took an open-minded approach to the concept of "guide animal", they created another viable option for people who have limited mobility.  And that's definitely a good thing!

(In case you're wondering: miniature horses can be housebroken!)

Can risk-taking pay off big?

On Saturday, horse trainer Todd Pletcher took a big risk.  He decided to enter Rags to Riches, a top-ranked filly in one of the hardest and most important races for 3 year old horses--the 1.5 mile Belmont Stakes. 

The last and longest of the Triple Crown series, the Belmont attracts the top racehorses in America.  It's considered a particularly grueling race and most 3 year olds have a very hard time holding a winning pace for the entire distance.  In its 140 year history, only 22 fillies have ever been entered, and the last filly to win was Tanya in 1905.

But guess what happened... Rags to Riches won!  Going head to head against the fastest horses in the country, she became the first filly to win the Belmont in 102 years.

As tremendously exciting as this is, you're probably wondering how it relates to creativity and innovation. In fact, there are several important things that trainer Todd Pletcher did that are important things for innovators and entrepreneurs to remember.

Don't be Afraid of Failure

Todd Pletcher faced the very real possibility that Rags to Riches wouldn't perform well when racing against top-class male horses.  Fillies are usually smaller and less muscular than colts, and they're likely to defer to strong-willed male horses because of their herd instincts.  Rags to Riches, when faced with a strong-willed male competitor, could easily have backed off.

Take Calculated Risks

Even though Todd Pletcher was taking a chance by entering her in the Belmont Stakes, he was also very confident in Rags to Riches.  She was the top filly in the US who had won her last 5 races and her family tree is full of Belmont Stakes winners.

Rags to Riches is the daughter of Belmont winner A.P. Indy, granddaughter of Triple Crown Champion Seattle Slew and the great granddaughter of Triple Crown Champion and Belmont Stakes record holder Secretariat.  Her brother also won the Belmont in 2006.

Prepare for Success

Rags to Riches was in fantastic shape and was physically able to go the distance.  Her trainer was confident in her ability and had prepared her with multiple Grade 1 races.  He wasn't entering her in a race where she had no chance, he entered her because he knew that she was mentally and physically capable to compete at that level and knew that she had a real chance.

Go After Something Extraordinary

Even if she never raced against colts, Rags to Riches would still have been known as the best three year old filly in the country.  She could have won millions of dollars and many prestigious races during her racing years, and retired to be a valuable broodmare.

But Todd Pletcher decided to pursue history.  He knew that she was capable of running well in the Belmont and wanted to give her the chance to prove that she wasn't just the best filly, but also one of the best racehorses overall.

Most trainers of brilliant fillies never race them against colts and it took a lot confidence in Rags to Riches and plenty of courage for Todd Pletcher to decide to run her.  Beyond a doubt, however, it was the right decision!

Rags to Riches is now assured a place in the history books, her trainer won his first Triple Crown race, and everyone is delighted that the filly ran so well.  It's a perfect example of how calculated risk-taking can cause extraordinary results.

Don't forget to watch the Belmont Stakes video!

Special thanks to Yvonne DiVita for writing about Rags to Riches first on her fabulous Lip-Sticking blog and inspiring me to write this post!