Archives For Innovation

Want to Get More Done? Take a Walk

April 24, 2013

Good morning! The flowers are blooming here, but it is still raining up here in the Midwest. Everything is pretty soaked, but as you can tell from this picture my daughter took that the ducks are having fun!ducks in water

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the communication and information that is coming your way? First there is your computer with your multiple email accounts, your myriad of websites that you “need” to check, of course Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and so on. Then there is your smartphone that keeps you connected though texts, email, Facetime, and the occasional call. It sometimes seems we start our day by turning on our computer or checking our smartphone and then we spend the rest of the day just trying to manage the flood of information coming into our lives and end the day more tired than if we had been digging ditches all day.

The one thing we are missing in our day is one of the most important things we need to be doing – thinking. Most of us are called knowledge workers these days, but sometimes it feels more like we are simply information processors. We need to be spending more time actually thinking. One of the ways you can do this is to disconnect from all your tech gear and simply take a walk. Leave your smartphone at your desk and take a walk and think. Try to do this in the morning when your mind is fresh and creative.

You will be amazed at how your creativity increases and the insights you will have when you simply disconnect from the firehose of information and take the time to simply think. Try it today and see what happens.

Go take a walk.

Peace and grace to you today,
BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Personal Management , , ,
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A Different Way of Looking At Things

April 22, 2013

Good morning – looks like it is going to be a beautiful day here in northeast Indiana. Finally looking like spring.

I have been enjoying a good book called Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum. One thing that has struck me so far is his creative intelligencediscussion on framing and reframing. Essentially framing is how we look at things – our lives for instance. We all have a set of lenses through which we interpret the world and many times those lenses are “out of focus”.

His key point is that we have the power to change those lenses. We have the ability to “reframe” ourselves and to see ourselves behaving in alternative ways. reframing is about breaking your routine. He goes on to talk about how our frames of engagement are shifting from passive to active, transactional to relational, and impersonal to very personal. You can change the way you see the world, how you connect with people and how you think about the future.So often we are so used to looking at the world in a certain way that we become blind to the possibility of something we can’t even imagine yet.

He has some questions he recommends you ask to help you in reframing so that you can see new opportunities:

What’s really going on?

How did we get here?

Why are things the way they are?

What if things were different?

Some good questions to help you to start thinking differently about your situation and your life and to start seeing new possibilities.

Hope your week gets off to a great start today!

BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Good Books, Personal Management , , , , ,
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Hit the Pause Button

March 25, 2013

Good morning. I know the calendar says it is spring, but with all this snow outside right now, it sure doesn’t feel like it! But warner days are just around the corner and I am looking forward to seeing some flowers.pprinciple-book

Kevin Cashman has written a book on what it means to pause as a leader and why that’s important. The book is entitled The Pause Principle.

Mr. Cashman begins by drawing a parallel in that pausing is to leadership and innovation what sleep  si to the mind and body – essential. Read this quote: “Bob Johansen, 10-year forecaster and author of Get There Early, has characterized the speed- and action-oriented, fast-changing, demanding world we lead in today as a ’VUCA world: Volatile; Unpredictable; Complex; Ambiguous.’ Our addiction to action, our busy-ness, our preoccupation with incessant distractions and pursuit of the ubiquitous ‘more’ in our 24/7, constantly connected, globally caffeinated culture conspire to diminish rather than strengthen our leadership capacities. We challenge ourselves to keep up and even hasten the grueling pace, and, frankly, we rationalize that it comes with the territory. Paradoxically, the job of leaders is to bring clarity to all of this chaos.”

Leaders are to bring clarity and hop in the midst of this “VUCA” world. How are we to do so if we are caught up in the swirl? We have to pause and step back and gain a fresh perspective that transcends the immediate swirl of activity. We have to pause.

Mr. Cashman lists seven “Pause” practices that are important:

1. Be On-Purpose

2. Question and Listen

3. Risk Experimentation

4. Reflect and Synthesize

5. Consider Inside-Out and Outside-In Dynamics

6. Foster Generativity

7. Be Authentic

On his blog, Mr. Cashman makes the statement, “. . . fast thinking is the domain of management transaction, while slow thinking is the leadership domain of strategic, innovative transformation.” If you are a leader caught up in the frenetic pace of life and it seems you don’t even have the time to think, it’s time to hit the pause button, step back and spend some time reflecting. If not, you might not like where you end up.

Hope you have a great week!
BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Leadership , , , ,
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Which Hat To Wear?

November 5, 2012

Good Monday morning to you! Hope you had a great weekend.

Do you ever had that nagging feeling that there is some aspect of an issue that you have not addressed? Or maybe in one of your meetings everyone seems to be saying the same thing? Or maybe the strongest personality in the room is overly pessimistic or optimistic so everyone else adopts the same approach? Regardless, you know that you are missing something.

Well there is a way of parallel thinking that will help you and your team fully think about and discuss issues. It is called The Six Thinking Hats. In this approach you learn how to separate thinking into six distinct functions and roles that help you to have a more robust analysis of the issue.

First is the White Hat – this aspect just deals with the information that you have or need. Just the facts.

The Green Hat deals with all the possibilities, alternatives, new concepts, and so on.

The Yellow Hat is when you explore the positives and look for value and benefit.

The Black Hat is where you look for the difficulties and dangers and explore why something might not work.

The Red Hat deals with emotions, hunches, and intuition. Here is where yo express your fears as well as hopes.

The Blue Hat is the managing of the thinking process ensuring that all of the “hats” are used in the process.

So, if you want a more robust examination of an issue, try wearing the Thinking Hats.

Have a blessed week serving our Lord!
BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Learning, Productivity, Teams, Tools , , , ,
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Do You Have Any Polymaths?

May 18, 2012

Do you have enough Polymaths in your organization?  Do you think you need some?  According to Kyle Wiens, not only do you need them, they are critical to your organization.

By the way – do you know what a Polymath is?  I did not until reading this article on the Harvard Business Review blog, however, I tend to agree with Mr. Wiens.

A Polymath is a person with a wide range of knowledge or learning.  They are the “jack-of-all trades”, people who spread around their learning and dabble in may areas.  Often, they are not that appreciated in this era of hyper-specialization. Specialization and having a deep knowledge and understanding of an area is important, however, according to Mr. Wiens overly-strict specialization can actually be a limiter to innovative thinking.

Over specialization can prevent you from seeing other points of view.  Because of a broad range of knowledge in many areas, a Polymath may “see the unseen interconnectedness” which opens up so many more possibilities.

So celebrate your Polymaths and tap into them as a resource to help creatively address challenges.

Another thought – why don’t you become a Polymath?  We need more of them!!

Writing from the beautiful state of Mississippi today!
BG 

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You Need More than Creativity

March 14, 2012

Innovation!  Creativity!  Think outside of the box!!!

Innovation particularly is the buzzword of the day.  It seems to be the silver bullet that organizations seek to solve their challenges.  It’s the cool word to have on your resume and all the “cool kids” are innovators.  But is that all you need?

According to Jim Collins in his research in his book Great by Choice – No!  In fact in his research some of the great companies were less innovative than the comparison companies.  Why? What is missing?  Discipline.

Collins says, “Of course, it is not discipline alone that makes greatness, but the combination of discipline and creativity. . . The great task, rarely achieved, is to blend creative intensity with relentless discipline so as to amplify the creativity rather than destroy it. When you marry operating excellence with innovation, you multiply the value of your creativity.”

Being creative is great and needed, but virtually useless without the discipline to execute or deliver.  In fact, according to Collins, Intel’s number one core value is discipline.

So, develop a culture of disciplined thought and action and then add the creativity for a powerful combination.

BG

 

 

In Creativity / Innovation, Culture, Good Books , , , ,
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TRIZ – Creative Problem Solving

September 2, 2011

Problem solving is a key function of leaders and we need all the tools to help us that we can find.  A leader always should be looking for “tools” to add to his leadership toolbox.  TRIZ is a good one to add.

MindTools has a good article on TRIZ. By the way, “TRIZ” is the (Russian) acronym for the “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.” Following is a brief segment from the article on TRIZ:

“. . .  a huge range of possible solutions can be missed, simply because they’re outside the experience of the project team.

TRIZ is a problem solving methodology based on logic, data and research, not intuition. It draws on the past knowledge and ingenuity of many thousands of engineers to accelerate the project team’s ability to solve problems creatively. As such, TRIZ brings repeatability, predictability, and reliability to the problem-solving process with its structured and algorithmic approach.

About TRIZ

“TRIZ” is the (Russian) acronym for the “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.” G.S. Altshuller and his colleagues in the former USSR developed the method between 1946 and 1985. TRIZ is an international science of creativity that relies on the study of the patterns of problems and solutions, not on the spontaneous and intuitive creativity of individuals or groups. More than three million patents have been analyzed to discover the patterns that predict breakthrough solutions to problems, and these have been codified within TRIZ.”

Check out the article by clicking here and add another powerful tool to your toolbox.

Have a great weekend.
BG

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Seth Godin and Michael Hyatt

July 8, 2011

Good interview of Seth Godin by Michael Hyatt.

 

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The Phoenix Checklist – A Thinking Tool

June 8, 2011

Problems or challenges often motivate leaders, but there are times when we come up dry or empty as we try to resolve an issue.  It just seems that our approach is not adequate to help us think through a situation thoroughly.  That is where Thinkertoys comes in.

Thinkertoys is one of my new favorite books.  It is chock full of thinking tools that will give you multiple creative options for problem solving.  One of these tools is the Phoenix Checklist which was originally developed by the CIA according to the author.

Thinkertoys has a “blueprint” section for each of the tools where the essentials are explained.  The blueprint for the Phoenix Checklist is:

Write your challenge – Isolate the challenge you want to think about and commit yourself to an answer, if not the answer, by a certain date.

Ask questions. Use the Phoenix Checklist to dissect the challenge into as many different ways as you can.

Record your answers. Information requests, requests, solutions, and ideas for evaluation and analysis.

That is the “blueprint” of this tool.  Following are a few examples of the questions on the checklist:

Why is it necessary to solve the problem?

What is the unknown?

What is it you don’t yet understand?

What isn’t the problem?

What are the boundaries of the problem?

What are the constants (things that can’t be changed) of the problem?

Have you seen this problem before in a slightly different form?

What are the best, worst, and most probable cases you can imagine?

There are many more questions on the checklists that are excellent.  Check it out – this is a great tool to add to your leadership toolbox.

Hope it is a great Wednesday for you!

BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Good Books, Tools , ,
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Have a Cherry Split to Help You Solve a Problem

April 25, 2011

Creative people fascinate me. I enjoy great art, music, and watching artists of all types create something beautiful.  I wish I could paint, but I don’t think coloring by numbers counts.  I also took piano lessons for ten years, but I sound more like I just took two!  When I listen to my youngest daughter play, I realize that she got her mother’s genes in that area.

Realizing that creativity is something I need to “learn”, I have been reading on how to grow in that area.  A fascinating book on how to approach challenges creatively is Thinkertoys.  A great book listing both Linear and Intuitive tools to use to approach problem solving creatively.  It has already been helpful to me and I am not even finished with the book.

One tool is the Cherry Split.  The approach is to simply state the essence of your problem in two words.  Then you split the challenge into two units using those two words.  In other words, your challenge could be “Cherry Picking”.  Then one unit would be Cherry and the other Picking.  Don’t worry about the correctness of the split, this is simply a way to focus your thinking.

Then you continue “splitting” the attributes until you feel you have enough to work with.  Then you begin examining each attribute for ideas.  You will often find big ideas hiding in insignificant attributes.

Also, try reassembling the attributes into new combinations which can result in new and powerful concepts.

This process will result in provoking you to search out new ways of doing things and can provide powerful solutions to your challenge.

Check out this book – it contains 17 linear and 12 intuitive problem-solving tools.

Great book to add to your toolbox.

Grace & peace to you,

BG

In Creativity / Innovation, Good Books ,
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