At ThoughtOffice, we’ve made a real emphasis on helping users move from “idea hamsters” to producers. Why? Because in the real world, it’s APPLIED CREATIVITY that moves us forward. Now, this is not being critical of true artists. People who have the freedom to create with no end game in sight are great. But in my world, we have to create something of value that people will exchange for some other value (money, for instance).
How does ThoughtOffice Compare to MindMapping? First, let me state I’m a big fan of visualization of ideas. Get me within 10 feet of a whiteboard and I can’t help but grab a dry erase pen, pop the cap and start doodling. I’ll share where that came from someday. Suffice to say, when your big brother is on stage making a presentation and you just KNOW you can do better, you grab the pen and prove it…
I can imagine the eyebrows going up all over the Internet, the quizzical looks, the frantic Google searches on "The Columbo Principle". Allow me to explain myself.
For those of us old enough to remember Detective Lieutenant Columbo, masterfully played by Peter Falk, in his rumpled raincoat and battered Peugeot convertible, we will also [...]
Today’s post is about a new launch we’ve been working on for well over a year now… some say since 1998. It’s not about brainstorming… but it IS an innovation. And it took plenty of brainstorming to pull it together.
Creativity and innovation come from asking all sorts of questions. Either previously unasked, or just asked from a fresh perspective.
Ray Anderson of Interface Inc. is a guy whose ideas really give me encouragement for the future. He shared his approach to sustainable business recently at TED Talks. Seems he experienced an epiphany in 1994, when he was called out in Paul Hawken’s book The Ecology of Commerce, as an example of the traditional “take / make / waste” method of doing business. Anderson took the criticism to heart, and began a program to completely reshape the way his carpet manufacturing company does business. Here’s what he has achieved, in his own words:
