The Innovise Guys

Screwing Things Up!

2009-01-05T15:33:00.006-06:00

Artist Robert Rauschenberg: "There are a lot of things more interesting than being right ... Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point ... I usually work in a direction until I know how to do it, then I stop."

Treading Light

2008-10-10T15:27:00.004-06:00

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. We have caused a lot of damage to the Earth. Now it is time for us to take good care of her."

Thich Nhat Hanh

Innovation by Numbers

2008-10-07T14:48:00.010-06:00

A review of The Innovator's Guide to Growth by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson, Joseph V. Sinfield, Elizabeth J. Altman of Innosight Consulting

Having toiled in the world of new product development, creating breakthroughs for highly successful Fortune 500 companies, I know all-to-well the tension between the need for measurability, scalability, predictability and repeatability on the one hand, and the voodoo, fairy-dust, alchemy, lightening-strike elements of creativity on the other -- both needed for successful innovation. And those who are charged with leading innovation on the client side tend to be adaptive (as in Kirton's KAI) by definition. After all, they function in a corporate environment, which likely requires such adaptive behavior and is one in which they are also held accountable for success as defined by return on investment, working within existing structures. As such, the fairy-dust piece of the process tends to scare the crap out of them. It's too unpredictable.

What to do?

To the rescue is the recently released book by Harvard Business press, The Innovator's Guide to Growth. The authors state, "This book attempts to provide practical tips and techniques to help channel your inner Edison. Innovation doesn't have to be shrouded in fog; nor does it require a lightning bolt of creativity. That is not to say innovation is risk-free and that creativity isn't important. Risks remain, and creativity is critical. But following a consistent approach can lead to more consistent results ... The fundamental message of this book is that using the right processes and principles can meaningfully increase your chances of creating growth through innovation." Their mission -- "to change the world of innovation from one of frustrating inconsistency to one of orderly patterns."

They describe their target audience for the book as "senior executives and middle managers within existing corporations that are seeking to create new growth business." Also anyone with "a vested interest in innovation."

The authors know what they are talking about. Their insights come from years of working with successfully innovative companies, including P&G, J&J and Motorola, to name but a few. Their focus is on how to create a business culture that tends to cultivate and advance "disruptive innovation".

And, you might ask, "Why is 'disruptive innovation' so important?"

The authors answer, "Of the companies [that showed the] best return to shareholders between 1970-2001, seven of the top ten were disruptors." So disruptive innovation is key to success, but what is also key is that disruptive competitions tend to be won by new entrants to the market. So, what is vital to established companies is to find a methodological and consistent way of being disruptive, as this is not their natural tendency.

What this book offers is a prescription for how to make it just that -- a natural tendency.The Innovator's Guide to Growth further asserts that there is a way to integrate the disruptive innovative dynamic into any organization. They define the present as an "era of pattern recognition" wherein wizened innovators are moving from a process of "random trial & error" to one of "predictable paint-by-numbers rules" that can provide consistent growth, with reduced risk, through innovation processes. The authors add, "While we are not yet at the point where innovation is [entirely] paint-by-numbers predictable, patterns of success and failure are coming into sharper focus by the day." They assist their reader by providing a book chock full of resources, including checklists, question guides, templates, tools, worksheets, activities "sprinkled throughout". They can also be found at www.innosight.com/resources.

Altman, Anthony, Johnson and Sinfield again emphasize that, "The fundamental premise of this book is that following the right steps and putting in place the right structures can allow managers and entrepreneurs to improve significantly their odds of creating profitable growth businesses. This view contrasts with the prevailing stream of thinking that innovation is random and requires creative genius. Our belief, backed by market evidence, is that following the right steps can enable any manager to create a growth business successfully." Equally key, "Senior managers who implement the right systems and structures can free internal innovators from the shackles of processes and policies that are not conducive to innovation."

They describe key elements that need to be in place for such an initiative to work are:

- The core business is in control

- A game plan for growth

- A mastery of the resource allocation process

Among they key insights the authors share that lend credence to what they preach:

- Innovation is less random than we think -- there is an innovator in all of us

- Creativity is important - but nobody needs to be a certain "creative type"; by following this process, you can be creative

- Innovation always occurs at the intersection of disciplines, as a result of different perspectives, not individually creative but collectively creative & collaborative

And they also suggest a three-step process for disruptive innovation essential to success:

1. Identify market opportunities

2. Formulate & shape innovative ideas

3. Take ideas forward

A key point of the book is that disruptive innovations are a different animal. Sustainable innovations tend to be incremental -- because they address the needs of the company's "best customers". As such, they tend to ascend a linear vector that takes innovation into more complex advancements, based upon the underlying prevailing model. Layered on that is a higher level of sophistication and complexity that is often more advanced than the consumer. While these innovations veer more toward complexity, paradigm-shifting "disruptive innovations" may move more toward aspects such as simplicity, acceptability, affordability, convenience -- they get into a broader, deeper, redefined space that finds a new type of consumer among their most "demanding customers".

As examples, the authors cite Wii, eBay, iPod and QuickBooks TurboTax, Skype and YouTube. TurboTax is a particularly enlightening example, as small business owners -- their customers didn't want more accounting, but really no accounting -- in short, a simple user-friendly way to insure that their businesses had sufficient working capital. That simple realization and designing the product to those needs, has resulted in an astoundingly successful business.

Other companies, like consumer products giant P&G, created whole new categories around the needs of demanding consumers, seeking new, simpler, cost-effective solutions - with products like Febreze, Swiffer and Crest Whitening Strips. Disruptive innovators, characterized by these P&G products are "Masters of the Art of Trade-offs. Their offerings typically aren't better along traditional performance dimensions. In fact, they are typically just good enough along dimensions that historically matter in the mainstream market. Disruptors redefine the notion of performance by pulling overlooked innovation levers. Simplicity. Convenience. Accessibility. Affordability. All these are hallmarks of disruptive innovation."

P&G runs its innovation out of a smaller group within Procter & Gamble called the Future Works Division. The authors assert that having a small group 100% dedicated to innovation is best. "100% of 10% is better than 10% of 100%" they say, referring to a smaller unit completely devoted to making disruptive innovation happen. Those wanting to create such an entity within their organization, must realize that it will take no less than a three year commitment.

Among the benefits that I see that their philosophy and mode of implementation offer are:

- Reducing anxiety among those charged with making innovation happen

- Moving those with adaptive behavior preferences to the right on the KAI scale to more routine innovative behavior (on roller blades with jet packs)

- Creating a common framework for dialogue, planning, process and collaboration for innovation teams, no matter what their expertise or style preference

- Establishing consistency and progress benchmarks so that innovation becomes part "of the routine" - establishing a method to the madness

- As in classic Osborn-Parnes creative Problem solving (CPS) it recognizes that everyone is creative

- Focusing on reliable, scalable techniques to create business growth

I believe this book -- and this is implicit in its target audience -- is more for the "non-creative" or the non "distinctively creative" person. It asserts that innovation is possible through well defined processes and the collaboration and convergence of diverse people working with a common cause in mind. I would also argue, that the "distinctively creative" type of person would also benefit by learning new modes of structure and behavior - and thus ways of communicating with their more adaptive-prone, left brain counterparts.

I would add as well, and I think the authors would agree, that innovation cannot happen without their creative spark and energy. But their point is well taken --not unlike The Wizard of Menlo Park -- Thomas Edison's observation that innovation is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, and that much can be accomplished through well-designed systems -- by not so exceptionally creative people -- in the way that we typically think of them. So while creative catalysts and ideational fluency may still be vital to success, a sound process will take you much of the way there.

Finally, in the authors' words, "If you want to redefine a market, create a new one, or defend against attack from below, disruptive strategies are essential to success ... [yet] this book is not really [just] about disruptive innovation, but rather practical tools and techniques that allow innovators to see and do things differently." I believe that the authors have succeeded in providing the modern innovator with a particularly powerful guide or recipe book to allow this to happen. In The Innovator's Guide to Growth, they have created a great resource.

DJS 10/08

Dialogue over Diatribes

2008-10-06T13:47:00.004-06:00

I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. (1900 - 1965), Speech during 1952 Presidential Campaign

The "Grand Experiment" Gone Awry?

2008-09-23T10:47:00.004-06:00

"Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties ... I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella, too."

In these times it seems that we need to treasure what a great, crazy, creative and innovative undertaking the American Experiment is in its essence. And even the greatest ideas can go astray if we are not vigilant in the daily application of the principles we profess to hold dear. We need to remember that with freedom comes responsibility -- and it isn't just some other guy's responsibility. We must be mindful too, that "free market" isn't a "free-for-all", where the greedy grab and the regular guy perishes. Our "noble experiment" for the ages is not meant to be institutionalized Social Darwinism where only the fittest and privileged thrive. "E Plurbus Unum" -- meaning, "Out of many, One", is our national motto. It appears on the the seal of the United States and on the Seal of the President.

Jefferson Smith, of Frank Capra's classic, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", puts it rather eloquently, don't you think? Out of many One -- "we're all in this together". Like every creative endeavor, the American Dream is collaborative --ours together to work for and share ... and it takes "a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella, too." Competing makes us better. Cooperation makes us whole.

DJS

Never, Never, Never Give Up

2007-10-14T06:43:00.000-06:00

“The maxim ‘Nothing but perfection’ may be spelled ‘Paralysis.’”
-- Winston Churchill

Wait 'til Next Centennial

2007-10-07T04:27:00.000-06:00

"A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request"
words & lyrics by Steve Goodman -- Dedicated to Steve Bartman ...

By the shore's of old Lake Michigan
Where the "Hawk Wind" blows so cold
An old Cub fan lay dying
In his midnight hour that tolled
'Round his bed, his friends had all gathered
They knew his time was short

And on his head the put this bright blue cap
From his all-time favorite sport
He told them "its late and its getting dark in here"
And I know its time to go
But before I leave the line-up
There's just one thing I'd like to know

(Chorus, sung)
Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still playIn their ivy covered burial ground?
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League

(talking blues) Told his friends ...
"You know the law of averages says: Anything will happen that can."
That's what it says.
"But the year the Cubs last won a national league pennant
Was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan"
The Cubs made me a criminal
Sent me down a wayward path
They stole my youth from me (that's the truth)
I'd forsake my teacher's
To go sit in the bleachers
In flagrant truancy

And then one thing led to another
Soon I'd discovered alcohol, gambling, dope, football, hockey, lacross, tennis
But what do you expect,
When you raise up a young boys hope
And then just crush 'em like so many paper beer cups.

Year after year after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year ....
'Til those hopes are just so much popcorn
For pigeons beneath the "EL" track to eat
He said "You know I'll never see Wrigley Field, anymore before my eternal rest
So if you have your pencils and your score cards ready,
And I'll read you my last request:

Give me a double header funeral in Wrigley Field
On some sunny weekend day (no lights)
Have the organ play the National Anthem
And then a little "na, na, na, hey hey, hey, Goodbye

"Make six bull pen pitchers, carry my coffin
and six ground keepers clear my path
Have the umpires bark me out at every base
In all their holy wrath
Its a beautiful day for a funeral,
Hey Ernie lets play two!
Somebody go get Jack Brickhouse to come back,and conduct just one more interview
Have the Cubbies run right out into the middle of the field,
Have Kieth Moreland drop a routine fly
Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a Frosty Malt
And I'll be ready to die

Build a big fire on home plate out of your 'Louisville Sluggers' baseball bats,
And toss my coffin in
Let my ashes blow in the beautiful snow
From the prevailing 30 mile an hour south west wind
When my last remains go flying over the left field wall
Will bid the bleacher bums adieu
I will come to my final resting place, out on Waveland Avenue

The dying man's friends told him to cut it out
They said stop it that's an awful shame
He whispered, "Don't Cry, we'll meet by and by near the Heavenly Hall of Fame
He said I've got season's tickets to watch the Angels now,
So its just what I'm going to do
He said but you the living, you're stuck here with the Cubs,
So its me that feels sorry for you!

And he said "Ahh Play, play that lonesome losers tune,
The one I like the best"
And he closed his eyes, and slipped away
What we got is the Dying Cub fan's last request

(Chorus, big finish, sung)
Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy covered burial ground
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League

Living the Life Adventure

2007-09-25T17:54:00.000-06:00

“I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a man’s life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.” -- Martin Buber

Fying High

2007-09-17T15:45:00.001-06:00

"Breakthroughs require confidence in nonsense." Burt Rutan

Fear is Step Zero

2007-09-11T15:53:00.000-06:00

Most of you know that The Innovise Guys blend structured problem solving with improvisation. Problem solving begins with identifying a problem you want to work on. What are the problems we don't work on? The ones where the fear is too great to even consider more conscious, deliberate, and creative thinking. Embracing your fears is Step Zero in creative problem solving. So, don't deny fear, explore it. Then get creative.

On this anniversary of 9/11 let me say this, let's not fear terrorism so much that we don't get deliberately creative about preventing it, and thwarting it.

FEAR-Fooey

2007-09-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

“I will know my fear. I will live my fear. I will experience my fear …
and when it is gone, only I will remain.”

David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine

"Godin-uff"

2007-09-10T12:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Seth Godin for commenting on our last blog entry and pointing out that his book -- Survival is Not Enough was originally published in 2002. However, since much of it still holds true and he stands by it, I thought it appropriate to share some selected/edited key concepts from the book that he has bullet-pointed. Proof, in a way, that fresh ideas -- or fresh thinking does not grow old.

Change is the new normal.
If you and your company are not taking advantage of change, change will defeat you.
Change presents new opportunities for companies to capture large markets.
Change is the enemy of the current leader.
Change also represents opportunities for individuals to advance their careers.
Companies that introduce products and services that represent significant changes can find that they lead to rapid, runaway successes.
Companies that cause change attract employees who want to cause change.
The way species deal with change is by evolving. Companies can evolve in ways similar to those used by species.
Companies will evolve if management allows them to.
Companies that embrace change for change's sake -- companies that view a state of constant flux as a stable equilibrium - zoom. And zooming companies evolve faster and easier because they don't obstruct the forces of change.
Once you train the organization to evolve regularly and effortlessly, change is no longer a threat. Instead, it's an asset, because it causes your competitors to become extinct.
If your company is too reliant on your winning strategy, you won't evolve as quickly.
Low-cost, low-risk, real-world tests are the most likely to have high return on investment.
Your company's posture regarding the process of change is far more important than the actual changes you implement.
If you have employees who don't embrace this posture, they will slow you down and cause you to make bad decisions.

Two Seth Godin books published in recent years that I recommend include: Small is the New Big and Free Prize Inside ... The Next Big Marketing Idea ...and he has a new one, published this last May -- Dip. (This guy is prolific! Do you think Stephen King feels the heat?)

Thanks, Seth! Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Purple Spots

2007-09-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Seth Godin has a new (oops/almost new -- 2002) book: Survival is Not Enough. This is an excerpt.

The Paul Orfalea Story: A Process, Not a Plan
One of my favorite entrepreneurs is a guy named Paul Orfalea. Paul is brilliant and quite successful, but he’s unbelievably modest and also very honest about his shortcomings. Paul is profoundly dyslexic. He didn’t learn how to read until he was well into elementary school and did nothing in high school that would be associated with the idea of success. He went to college but didn’t care an awful lot about his classes. It was the perfect background for an entrepreneur.

Paul started a little copy shop (so little he had to wheel the machine outside to make room for customers) on his college campus. He sold pens and paper and made copies. That store grew to become Kinko’s, a chain with more than one thousand outlets that he was able to sell for more than two hundred million dollars to an investment group.

The secret to Kinko’s success is disarmingly straightforward. "My reading was still poor and I had no mechanical ability, so I thought that anybody who worked for me could do the job better," Paul explains. He set up a unique co-ownership structure that let him grow the business with more flexibility than a franchise could offer. The end result is that for years, Kinko’s stores were partly owned by someone local.

Paul described his job to me this way, "I just go from store to store, see what they’re doing right and then tell all the other stores about it." By allowing local entrepreneurs to make millions of low-cost experiments every year (just three per day per store gets you to that level) and then communicating the successful ones to the other stores, he was able to set the process in motion that led to that all-night store I found in Cleveland.

The Cleveland store wasn’t part of a specific plan, but it was very much the outcome of a specific process. Very little specialized knowledge is required to open a copy shop. Yet Kinko’s dramatically outpaced every other competitor by reinventing what a copy shop was, every single day. Kinko’s did not have a patented new technology. Instead, it had a posture about change that treated innovations and chaos as good things, not threats.

The more successful Kinko’s got, the more likely it was to get job applications and co-venture deals with people who made the company even more successful. The more Kinko’s stores there were, the more likely it was that people would seek one out. The better Kinko’s did, the more successful it became.

Kinko’s became a success. Working there was fun because the company attracted people who could compound its growth. Kinko’s stopped worrying about surviving and enjoyed the ride.

It’s interesting to see that since the takeover of Kinko’s by an investor group, new management has bought out the individual owners and installed a command and control system. Kinkos.com is regrouping and the entire chain is experiencing slower growth, despite external economic and technical conditions that should have allowed it to grow even faster. Paul was right. All of us are smarter than any one of us.

http://www.zoometry.com/zoom/excerpt.asp

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Ch-Ch-Ch-Change

2007-09-07T14:48:00.000-06:00

John Kotter's 1996 book Leading Change was required reading, along with Roger Firestein's Leading on the Creative Edge and Daniel Goleman's Primal Leadership in my Creative Leadership class at The International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College (SUNY). In this book, Our Iceberg is Melting, the best-selling Harvard author teams with Holger Rathgeber to present his "Eight Step Process of Successful Change" in the form of an illustrated business fable about a colony of penguins which must deal with their shrinking iceberg home. (Sorry "W", there is no Cliff's Notes on the Classic Comics version of this book, but we can arrange for it to be read aloud to you.)

The book is a quick read, very accessible and is a great way to "break the ice" -- and communicate Kotter's 8 Step process which in short, is:

Set the Stage
1. Create a Sense of Urgency
2. Pull Together the Guiding Team
Decide What to Do
3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy
Make it Happen
4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy In
5. Empower Others to Act
6. Produce Short-Term Wins
7. Don't Let Up
Make it Stick
8. Create a New Culture

If you find yourself in a situation requiring change (and who doesn't?) wherein change is being resisted (and when does that NOT happen?!) this little book could begin the thaw and start people warming up to the idea that change is necessary.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus observed that "The only thing constant is change."

This little book, Our Iceberg is Melting teaches us that if life deals you a cracking iceberg habitat, you might as well make ice cubes and "party on dudes" to your next destination.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Why a Duck?

2007-09-04T13:22:00.000-06:00

"These are my principles; if you don't like these, I have others." Groucho Marx

Today's quote comes from the dedication page of a new book called "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar ... Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes", by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein. We will review this pithy book on a later blog and hope to interview Messrs. Cathcart & Klein on a future podcast.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Happy Labor Day B/Lager Entry

2007-09-03T22:23:00.000-06:00

"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." Oscar Wilde

Life's a Beach

2007-09-01T23:53:00.000-06:00

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf."

Jack Kornfield

Mixed Emotions

2007-08-31T11:04:00.000-06:00

My friend Kevin Patrick Connor's send-off was not so much a day of mourning --although it was -- as it was a day of celebration of a life lived full-tilt.

I think he'd like this Jagger-Richards epitaph from "Mixed Emotions":

"Let's grab the world

by the scruff of the neck

And drink it down DEEPLY

Let's love it to death

So button up your coat

Let's go out dancing

Let's ROCK & ROLL"

Doug Stevenson ... Just Waiting on a Friend ...

Paint it Black

2007-08-31T11:02:00.000-06:00

My friend Kevin Patrick Connor passed away last week after a long illness. He was 55.

He was T-H-E consummate Rolling Stones fan, finding much inspiration in the darkness, reckless abandon, often irreverent -- if not vituperous lyrics and the defiant frolic of his beloved icons.

Kevin, like The Stones, was an iconoclast that dwelled in both darkness and light, sneering at and celebrating life at the same time.

Among the things that made him creative and interesting to be around were:

His irreverence

His dark sense of humor

His love of people

His deadpan delivery

His disdain for complacency -- and playing it safe

His capacity to connect people

His love of variety and diversity

His explosive laugh

Hi insatiable appetite for the new

His love of change and challenge

His keen intellect

His penchant for organizing fun

His spirituality

His authenticity and blunt honesty

His tolerance/attraction to the strange and unusual

His love for art, music, cooking, reading -- any challenge, including acting, triathalons and long-distance bike rides

Nils Lofgren once wrote a song entitled "Keith Don't Go" about Keith Richards.

Last week our hearts seemed to be exclaiming "Kevin don't go!"

But he didn't have it in him to "gather moss" -- and he had fought tirelessly and with great spirit and humor to beat his unrelenting cancer.

Keith Richards once said, "There is the sun, the moon and The Rolling Stones."

A lot of people felt that way about Kevin.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Creative Clutter

2007-08-29T14:39:00.000-06:00

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?"

Albert Einstein

Take Your Notebook to Church!

2007-08-26T08:49:00.000-06:00

Since we have established that both a sermon and a boring meeting are opportunities to think creatively, you might want to take a notebook and a pen with you to today's religious services. If your mind starts to stray, as it often does, record the aberrant creative thoughts that cascade like tumbleweeds through your mind. Treat these thoughts as unintended or subliminal inspirations -- gifts from the pulpit and from a higher realm.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

innovation, creativity, CPS, improvisation, Osborne-Parnes

ideation, facilitation, consulting, keynotes, change management

When Do CREATIVE IDEAS Come?

2007-08-24T14:21:00.001-06:00

I attended a luncheon lecture that Dr. Lisa Gundry of DePaul University's Center for Innovation presented recently and she shared the top ten places where new ideas tend to happen:

1. Mowing the lawn.

2. During a church sermon.

3. Waking up in the middle of the night.

4. Exercising.

5. Reading.

6. During a boring meeting.

7. Falling asleep or waking up.

8. Sitting on the toilet.

9. Driving.

10. Taking a bath or shower.

Dr. Gundry also shared that she knew people who worked in a corporate culture wherein there was an ongoing competition to appear to be working hardest, such that employees there would try to arrive at work the earliest, leave the latest and seem to be the busiest.

I observed that this was not only a waste of energy, but if ideas tend to come when we are "off task" or not working/doing, then all this busy-ness actually subverts productivity and the discovery of breakthrough ideas.

Albert Einstein was once asked if he had an hour to solve a problem, how he would allocate his time. He responded that he would spend 55 minutes thinking about and clarifying the problem and 5 minutes solving it. (working/doing)

We need to give ourselves permission -- and allow ourselves to do the important creative "work" that we do when we are not working.

Doug Stevenson

The Innovise Guys

innovation, innovisation, applied creativity, CPS, Osborn-Parnes ...

keynotes, consulting, workshops, facilitation, business humor

ROCKS in your HEAD?!

2007-08-23T10:41:00.000-06:00

"Laughter frequently signals when a wacky, quirky, crazy idea has broken the 'unsound barrier.'" Doug Stevenson

What the Huck ...

2007-08-17T15:12:00.000-06:00

Thought for the weekend ... I forgot one other thing that Mark Twain said that is relevant to innovation:

"If you're not having FUN, you're not doing it right." -- Mark Twain

Play it Again, Sam ...

2007-08-09T14:32:00.000-06:00

I was watching a rerun of the 2004 Mark Twain Award presentation to Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live fame on PBS the other day. Referring to his groundbreaking concept to bring a live comedy show back to television, a presenter quoted Mark Twain:

“A man with a NEW IDEA is a crank until the NEW IDEA SUCCEEDS.”

"Not bad," I thought. And I began to look for what else Samuel Langhorne Clemens might have had to say relevant to innovation ... I found these gems ...

“Name the greatest of all the inventors -- ACCIDENTS.”

Amen. If only we did a better job of keeping an open mind about our "mistakes" and would reframe them.

“Necessity is the mother of "TAKING CHANCES". Often.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is one very good way to do this.

“DO THE THING YOU FEAR MOST and the death of fear is certain.”

Going at your fears works -- Amazingly. Although you don't need to do the Gordon Liddy thing and eat a rat or something like that.

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. Then success is assured."

This reminds me of what Napoleon described as the key to success: "Audacity". One thing's for sure, nothing happens unless you take a risk and take an action.

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”

Laughter is essential to creativity. It shares the same DNA. It is at once core building block material and a potent lubricant of prodigious ideation.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

This one inspired me to take risks and seek to live out my life's purpose with passion - Creativity.

“Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.”

Do I need to explain this one? Speaking of which, The Innovise Guys are looking very much forward to working with Wine Australia in San Francisco in September. And we'll continue to serve wine (Australian you can bet) as we record our podcasts.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Reaching Beyond Your Grasp

2007-08-07T16:01:00.001-06:00

This week the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency will celebrate it's birthday for the 72nd time. In my days at LBC, it was a special day of themed entertainment, all sorts of histrionics that only an advertising agency - or something like it - would sponsor, along with day-long lunch excursions with colleagues and the famed "silver dollar bonus" - one for each year the agency was old.

I had a special affinity for the funny-looking little man who shot from the hip and spoke from the heart. (Google "When to Take My Name Off the Door") His work ethic and advertising approach were distinctively Midwestern - Sincere, if not corny -- But on this ethos he built one of the world's most revered and successful agencies. And maybe I related because I was a Leo too -- also born in August -- a dyslexic 1953 to Burnett's 1935. Or because it was my first job out of school -- where I made many life-long friends and played joyously in Grant Park for the curiously quirky, creatively fluent and amply elixored softball team, The Bad Apples.

Leo was at heart an iconoclast and an adventurer. Everyone told him he was crazy to start an ad agency in the midst of the Great Depression. Pernicious prognosticators predicted that he would be selling apples on the street before long -- Thus the signature apples that he gave away, as the agency does to this day. Turning a negative into a positive was at Leo's core ...

Leo was an innovator par excellence because, among other things:

His dreams always exceeded his grasp.

He turned negatives into positives.

He believed that advertising/work was fun.

He put the client first -- always before profit.

He understood Client TOUCH POINTS: From the apples, to the thick black pencils in his conference rooms, to his habit of signing all his letters and memos in green ink. Each were a distinct reminder of the brand Leo Burnett and the distinctly innovative thinker behind it -- His passion for what he did, a proud penchant for detail and a unique style.

Happy Birthday Leo! Thanks for the lessons in innovation ...

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

Mary's CREATIVITY Garden

2007-08-01T06:52:00.000-06:00

Dr. Mary Murdock of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College, shows off her "Creativity Garden" at her beloved home in the Carolinas. The Garden was the inspiration of ICSC colleague Dr. Susan Keller-Mathers, who traveled south to Mary's home with plants and hoe in tow to till the earth and to toil with Mary to bring their vision to life. The flowers and plants which decorate the lavish landscape are all gifts from Mary's students, colleagues and friends, all of whom are wishing her well during her second bout with chemotherapy after a recurrence of her cancer.

Like her own beloved mentor and Creativity Hall-of-Famer Dr. Paul Torrance, Mary has enlightened minds, inspired the hearts and lifted the spirits of those around her. The CREATIVITY GARDEN is a living tribute to Mary's many years of ongoing tireless work (and play) and the many lives she has enriched. After providing the gifts of creativity to her minions, Mary has been known to say, "Now get out there and kick butt!!" And that's what many of her proteges have done --- in sharing the gift of creativity with the world.

Do you have a "Creativity Garden"? We all do in some measure -- We have people whose lives we have touched and have touched ours. So plant your own Creativity Garden for inspiration -- or make a collage representing it -- Maybe it's comprised of photos or images that represent the richness in your life. Maybe you cut out images in flower shapes and mount them to green pipe cleaners potted in clay. Or, make whatever suits you and "tills your soil" -- a sculpture, a poem, a drawing or a song ... Let your "garden" inspire you to wellness and a richness that comes from doing great things.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

PHAT FRIENDS

2007-07-30T15:38:00.000-06:00

The media just broke a "BIG" story about how hanging out with obese friends can lead you to obesity as well. I guess when people hang together we can't help rubbing off on one another -- or rubbing butts, if the elevator is below average size. So, I made a connection other than the fanny kind ...

Hanging out with people who have BIG IDEAS also rubs off on you. You will tend to have BIG IDEAS more frequently AND the more frequently you hang out with them. SO, find your BIG IDEA tribe if you desire to be more creative and more innovative. I found them BIG time at Leo Burnett and The Players Workshop of Second City and the Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI). BUT (and that's a BIG BUTT, in case you want to know) often BIG thinkers are disguised as actuaries, cab drivers, clergy, waitresses, bartenders, children, book & sewing club cohorts, your bowling team, even animals -- My dog Shamus was no fool and we all know, neither was Flipper. -- So think BIG and look and listen to all around you for BIG IDEAS manifesting.

And the deliberate effort to go to places where BIG thinkers tend to hang -- theater, book signings, poetry slams, college campuses, MENSA, conferences, volunteer agencies, seminars and John Prine concerts won't hurt either. Maybe even take a notebook as Gregg would say and write all your new BIG IDEAS and new Big Idea friends names down. No big deal for the REALLY BIG difference it could make in your life.

IMAGINE

2007-07-20T14:29:00.000-06:00

The other day I was driving to work and heard a cut off of the newly released "Instant Karma -- The Campaign to Save Darfur" CD on WXRT in Chicago.

It was a poignant cover of "Imagine" by recording artist Jack Johnson. I heard the song in a way that I had never heard it before.

It serves as a reminder that as a principal of living creatively, we should as often as we can, look at and listen to things in as many different ways as possible ... upside down, backwards, in Chinese and through a blender. Challenge all your beliefs -- Then embrace what you disbelieve, just to try it on for size.

It also reconfirms the importance of an active imagination in our lives. Our dreams, as we imagine them, can become our realities. In fact, what we think about most almost always manifests -- Good or bad -- So I would keep your imaginations intensely focused on your passions and fantasies.

A few years ago -- 8 to be exact -- I dreamt of becoming a creativity/innovation consultant. And here I am. By the way, I never dreamed of becoming an Innovise Guy -- but we played our way there -- and that's a topic for another blog.

So go out there a ride your imagination to your dreams.

For now, here's the lyrics to John Lennon's epic song ...

Oh, and I would recommend the CD -- It's for a good cause. We CAN change the world, as the CSN&Y song goes -- and even incremental change -- one cause, one person, one perception, one organization at a time is just fine.

Doug Stevenson

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
In a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Change is Good

2007-07-19T11:13:00.000-06:00

Today's inspirational quote comes to us from Steven Covey, by way of the online newsletter The Inner Journey:

“I can change. I can live out my imagination instead of my memory. I can tie myself to my limitless potential instead of my limiting past.”
-- Stephen Covey

Independence & Innovation

2007-07-04T13:25:00.001-06:00

Here's to the kooky kats known as "The Founding Fathers" who made some creative fireworks happen some 231 years ago today -- visionaries, imagineers, innovators all -- who had the audacity to make big dreams happen.

We are all in their debt -- and may we now remember their example and rededicate ourselves to their principles. It's needed now more than ever -- because almost everyone of these "kooky kats" would be called out, lionized, ridiculed and discredited on the FOX News channel and all over the conservative talk radio programs of today because they dared to put concepts like diversity, the coexistence of opposites, free thinking, imagination, justice and tolerance above all.

So, to them a toast, "Thanks for the chance and thanks for the party -- May we work to deserve the great innovation you bestowed upon us."

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to All!

Torrancial Outpour

2007-07-02T07:17:00.000-06:00

"Learn to free yourself from the expectations of others
and to walk away from the games they impose on you."

Dr. E. Paul Torrance, 2007 CEF Hall of Fame Inductee

A beloved leader in the field of creativity and a mentor and friend to many, Dr. E. Paul Torrance was recently inducted into the Creative Education Foundation's Hall of Fame at the annual Creative Problem Solving Institute Conference. (http://www.cpsiconference.com/) Among his many inspiring words is the following "manifesto" to his beloved students & children everywhere:

The Manifesto for Children

"Don't be afraid to fall in love with something and pursue it with intensity.

Know, understand, take pride in, practice, develop, exploit and enjoy your greatest strengths.

Learn to free yourself from the expectations of others and to walk away from the games they impose on you.

Free yourself to play your own game.

Find a great teacher or mentor who will help you.

Learn the skills of interdependence.

Don't waste energy trying to be well rounded.

Do what you love and can do well."

Sick Sigma?

2007-06-19T16:04:00.001-06:00

A must read is Business Week from June 11, 2007. It's all about the adverse impact of Six Sigma on the renowned innovative culture at 3M. In a nutshell, when measurement and metrics are paramount, they begin to drive behavior focused not on innovation, but that which best optimizes what is being measured. It is an example of "the scientific effect" gone Frankenstein.

Find a copy and read it. Some gems:

"[4 1/2 years after GE & Six Sigma trained James McNerney departs] abruptly ... his successors face the challenging question: whether the relentless emphasis on efficiency had made 3M a less creative company."

"When these types of initiatives become ingrained in a company's culture, as they did at 3M, creativity can easily get squelched. After all, a breakthrough innovation is something that challenges existing procedures and norms."

"Invention is by its very nature a disorderly process." [says current CEO George Buckley] who has dialed back many of [his predecessor's initiatives]. "You can't put a Six Sigma process into that area and say, well, I'm getting behind on invention, so I'm going to schedule myself for three good ideas on Wednesday and two on Friday. That's NOT how creativity works."

" ... Once bloated U.S. manufacturers have shaped up and become profitable global competitors ... [so now] the onus shifts to growth and innovation, especially in today's idea-based, design-obsessed economy. While process excellence demands precision, consistency, and repetition, innovation calls for variation, failure, and serendipity."

"Six Sigma is plainly a euphemism for cost cutting."

Of Bob Nardelli of Home Depot, "Facts are friendly was a favorite mantra of his ... The bottom line of Nardelli's tenure: Profitability soared, but worker morale drooped, as so did consumer sentiment. Home Depot dropped from first to worst."

"The term [Six Sigma] gives me an allergic reaction."

Art Fry -- developer of Post-It Notes: " Innovation is a numbers game . You have to go through 5,000-6,000 raw ideas to find one successful business." -- "Six Sigma would ask -- why not eliminate all that waste and just come up with the right idea the first time?" [I think some consultants like 'DH' might like this attitude -- or pander to this C-Level bias to sell his pricey ideation services, but I think this sucks.]

Okay, I'm finished. Please read the article and share it with your clients, colleagues and bosses. It's a must.

Doug Stevenson

The Innovise Guys

One the Road ... Again ...

2007-06-19T16:01:00.000-06:00

On the way home from my recent road trip to the region of the Black Hills in South Dakota, one of our last stops was Iowa City, home of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop and to Prairie Lights bookstore -- a favorite. There on a display of refrigerator magnets I found this quote from Jack Kerouac:

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars ..."

I thought this was fitting, as Gregg and I are headed out on yet another road trip to mingle with mad radiant people of this ilk at the 2007 CPSI Conference -- "The Nature of Innovation" at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia - June 24-29. Besides, we're both big Kerouac fans. And the road -- the one "less traveled" -- calls again.

Doug Stevenson

The Innovise Guys

Buffalo Roaming

2007-06-06T09:36:00.000-06:00

Where have we been? Roaming, of course. Truthfully, we've been gone too long. (Yes, a rare "judgment statement" from The Innovise Guys.)

Okay, so the bison shot here is not only symbolic of our "shuffling" off to Buffalo recently for the E2E Conference at Buffalo State, sponsored by the International Center for Studies in Creativity -- and traveling across "The Pond" to the CREA Conference in Sestri Levante, Italy and to Creativity & Innovation in Dublin (both in April) ... and before that, to the American Creativity Conference in Austin (late March) -- It is also about giving a "GET WELL Shout-Out" to our friend, mentor and teacher Mary Murdock -- who once dubbed my distance Master's cohort "The Wild Things" (fierce bison among them). Hi Mary!

Where was I? Oh, yes ... it's about what really had us away ... (and we could claim "busy") But the truth is, the culprit is an "old friend" -- namely, "Procrastination". This guy normally travels with a henchman known as "Perfectionism". While some people proudly proclaim their perfectionism, those of us who have studied creativity know it as a scantily cloaked version of judgment that has a way of sabotaging creative productivity. (Witness a three month void of blog entries here!)

It might be a good time to remember the importance of deferral of judgment and Linus Pauling's admonition that "In order of have a lot of GOOD ideas, we must first have a LOT of Ideas." (quality notwithstanding) It is also important to note, that no matter how far behind our old, self-sabotaging behaviors may seem, nor how well-trained we are in creative process, we need to be mindful. One selective-perception-based blind spot creativity practitioners may indeed have is that we believe we are "so creative" we are "cured". Not so, at least for this buckaroo.

Okay, so we promise to be here more often with even small pearls, some diamonds in the rough, and from time to time, some lumps of coal or piles of bat guano -- We'll try not to judge.

One last insight that came in Jonathon Vehar's session at E2E -- in which Jonathon was facilitating a discussion on the definition of innovation. I had an insight: We were agreeing that often seemingly small, incremental improvements upon existing ideas or product platforms may create sweeping and enduring change ... In other words, a novel idea "that sticks" -- which is, for many, what qualifies as a true innovation. My inference? ... That a lot of "innovation" comes from "uhu moments" rather than the legendary, watershed "Aha! moments" so often referred to in creativity lore.

Expect to see a lot more "uhu moments" here from now on. If we do that, the "Ahas!" will take care of themselves.

I am off (literally) to "where the Buffalo roam" -- the great state of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, Custer National Monument, Deadwood and Flinstones Bedrock City -- and we'll probably stop at the iconic pop tourist destination, Wall Drugs -- along the way. We'll gratefully except the "uhu's" along with "Ahas!"

Bye for now, but not for long.

Doug Stevenson for
The Innovise Guys

Letting Go

2007-03-17T05:40:00.000-06:00

"It stands to reason that if we direct all our efforts towards reaching a goal, we stand in grave danger of losing everything on which we have based our daily activities. For when a goal is superimposed on an activity instead of evolving out of it, we often feel cheated when we reach it . . .If we are trained only for success, then to gain it we must necessarily use everyone and everything for this end; we may cheat, lie, crawl, betray, or give up all social life to achieve success. How much more certain would knowledge be if it came from and out of the excitement of learning itself."

Viola Spolin,
Improvisation for the Theatre

Our friend Steve Shapiro, author of "Goal Free Living" and "Innovation 24/7" published this quote recently on his blog. Steve is a good friend who truly walks his talk. As the Innovise Guys prepare for CPSI, we are mindful of the admonitions of one of our key mentors -- Viola Spolin -- who makes sense of "Innovisation" in a profound way. She inspires us daily.

Doug Stevenson
The Innovise Guys

First Anniversary Celebration!

2007-03-05T11:16:00.000-06:00

Hey! Welcome to The Innovise Guys Blog! In honor of our first anniversary, we are making a limited number of CDs of our first year of podcasts available, as quantities permit, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Just post your request here and include your snail mail address. We should have the CDs out before the end of the month. Thanks for your interest ... and Best Regards! The Innovise Guys
podcast: http://dainnoviseguys.libsyn.com/

Honoring Our Guests on Our 1st Anniversary

2007-03-05T09:49:00.000-06:00

Just over a year ago, Gregg Fraley and I met with my friend and podcast pioneer Heidi Miller (http://www.heidimillerpresents.com/) in my loft in a former Gothic church built in 1886 in Chicago, which served as the "international headquarters" for All Creation. After an hour of perfunctory, but lucid instruction from the ever-helpful Heidi, Gregg fired up his Mac Book, and in the spirit of improvisation -- in the spur of the moment -- we were recording our inaugural podcast. A week later, we huddled, pale-ale-palliatives in hand, in Gregg's office in his Lincoln Park lair to record podcast # 2 and we were off and running. It's been a great first year and we'd like to thank our loyal, occasional or even accidental listeners for checking us out. So too, would we like to thank our remarkable array of enlightened and entertaining guests, who gamely and enthusiastically joined in the fun. They include:

Paula Rosch (http://www.paularosch.com/)

Jean Bystedt (http://www.tothemax.net/)

Steve Shapiro (http://www.goalfree.com/)

Blair Miller (http://www.blairmiller.com/)

Dan Greenberger (http://www.greenhousecom.net/)

Jill Badonsky (http://www.themuseisin.com/)

Megon McDonough (http://www.megonmcdonough.com/)

Gale Seminara (http://www.transitionsbookplace.com/)

Linda Yaven (http://www.lindayaven.com/)

Jon Pearson (http://www.createlearning.com)

Ralph Kerle (http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/)

Segami (http://www.segami.com/)

Tama Kieves (http://www.awakeningartistry.com/)

Julia Cameron (http://www.theartistsway.com/)

Pamela Meyer (http://www.meyercreativity.com/)

Nike Quirk (http://www.thegreaterpossibility.com/)

Eva Niewiadomski (http://www.catalystranch.com/)

David Horth (http://www.ccl.com/)

Joe Pine (http://www.strategichorizons.com/)

and Doug Hall (http://www.doughall.com/).

Thanks, thanks, thanks again to you all for greatly enriching the content and scope of The Innovise Guys' podcasts -- and here's to "what's next"!

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys

podcast: http://dainnoviseguys.libsyn.com/

The Innovise Guys First Blog Entry: Origins

2007-03-04T11:40:00.000-06:00

"Life is too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde

I first met Gregg Fraley in his role as head of the Chicago Chapter of the Creative Education Foundation (CEF). Gregg was leading a public session on a creativity-related topic in observance of "Creativity Week", scheduled annually in April around the birthday of creative juggernaut Leonardo da Vinci. (Shout out to Creativity Week founder Marci Segal.) For several years, we collaborated on local CEF events, volunteered for community outreach projects, interacted at the annual Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) and when our schedules permitted, engaged in creative goofing off.

In late 2005, Gregg called me and suggested that we join forces in creating a public workshop on creativity for which we would enlighten the unenlightened, inspire the uninspired, shock the complacent, mock ourselves and maybe make some cash money while we were at it. As we played with ideas for the seminar, we searched for ways to provide added value that would be relatively unique. As we were both former stand-up comedians and trained improvisational actors, we began to play with pedagogical schemes that would combine what we knew of applied creativity -- mostly CPS (Osborn-Parnes) and improvisation, largely inspired by Viola Spolin, her son Paul Sills, and other adherents as Keith Johnstone, Bernie Solins and Del Close. Our playful collaboration back and forth resulted in the concept of "Innovisation".

As it turned out, the workshop we envisioned did not materialize just then. Instead what followed was a leap into podcasting, actually first as "Da Creativity Guys" (Inspired by Click & Clack of NPR's "The Car Guys"), then as "Da Innovise Guys" and by our third podcast, "The Innovise Guys". It has been over a year now, and our podcast continues to be one of the leading podcasts on innovation and creativity on the Internet. In the process, The Innovise Guys have also become a business consulting partnership and a traveling global road show -- with workshop and/or keynote appearances at CPSI, The Applied Improvisation Network conference, Mind Camp (Not including Gregg Fraley's keynote side trips to Great Britain & South Africa) and others scheduled for ACA, E2E, NSA, CREA in Sestri Levante - Italy and The Innovation & Creativity conference at Dublin City College ... All of this just through May of 2007.

In our first year, we've been privileged to interview a cornucopia of creative professionals and enthusiasts, workshop with countless others and had a lot of fun along the way. While many diverse topics related to creativity or innovation have earned our focus, we have an emphasis on results-driven innovation in business and organizations. In our practice, while very diverse in our offerings, our focus on our emerging and evolving specialty dubbed "Innovisation" has also placed an emphasis on fun and humor, all the while witnessing the breakthrough synergies that result from fusing time-tested CPS tool and techniques with the playful, child-based games in improvisational theater. In our workshops, as in our podcasts, we have fun, but all the while with our higher purpose in mind.

So, welcome to our adventure. We hope to make this blog a place of amusement, insight and meaningful dialogue for everyone interested in creativity and bringing forth the novel and new things that will make a difference. In the spirit of improv, we invite you to join in and promise to support your initiations and, as best we can, make you look good, "Yes, and" your ideas ... and so much more. In so doing, while we are results-driven in our work, we will reassert the primacy of play in all that we do, especially, as Wilde's quote suggests, around the most serious of challenges.

As another pundit, quintessential American humorist Mark Twain once asserted, "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right."

While we are most often on the same page, Gregg & I have our own voice, so as we express our opinions here, we will identify ourselves, so that you know which one of us to be pissed off at ... or in the unlikely event, know to whom specifically to send the plaque for that literary or humanitarian award.

Doug Stevenson for The Innovise Guys ... March 3, 2007
podcast: http://dainnoviseguys.libsyn.com/