Capitalistic Creativity
There's money in them thar ideas!
New Zealand Herald reports investment in innovation is profitable for four out of five companies.
Thanks to Chuck Frey and his Innovation Tools newsletter for sharing the info. You really should sign-up for it...
Today's Cartoon
I think I worked for this guy...
Glasbergen.com features a great new cartoon everyday.
Today's cartoon is great for all us Idea Guys and Gals, and depicts a boss we've all probably worked for at least once in our lives.
If you've NEVER worked for the guy in the cartoon, feast your eyes on your future!
Randy Glasbergen is a Humorous Illustrator with over 25,000 published illustrations to his name. Most recently, Randy completed a project with another of my favorite people, Jeffrey Gitomer. Watch for a new book by Jeffrey and Randy to be published soon.
If you happen to read this entry a day or two late, simply visit Glasbergen.com and scroll down to the weekly archive of links -- you've got about 7 days to enjoy this cartoon before it rotates out of the archive.
Brain|Blog Special Edition
Quick update to pass along a link
My friends at The Nub posted an interesting entry about Nancy Kline's theory on Unlocking Creativity. Definitely worth a read, especially if you'd like to become an "enabler" of innovation.
Hands That Shape Humanity
World Icons Lend Hand to Archbishop's Project
Hands That Shape Humanity is an initiative of the Desmond Tutu Peace Trust. One hundred people from all walks of life (Spike Lee, George Lucas, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Gates), and from all around the globe, were asked to contribute one piece of wisdom for future generations.
As part of the process, the Foundation team had each of the 100 write one word on the palm of their hand, which was then photographed. There will be a traveling museum exhibition, bronzed hands of all participants, etc, etc.
The first one that pops into mind for my own choice is "WHAT-IF?" My second choice would probably be "CREATE" -- What would yours be?
The Bloglet Box is Back!
Free Sign-up Service Provides Brain|Blog Update Alerts
Enter your email address in the "subscribe" box to the left and Bloglet will send you an email within 24-hours of a Brain|Blog update.
I like the idea of the service, but wish they were more consistent in the alert times -- somedays the alert is immediate, other days I get it almost 24 hours later. Notification delays aside, it's still a nice reminder to visit the site (in case you get tired of checking it every day to see if there's something new!)
CHANGES
I've slowly been making Brain|Blog format and linking updates, and I have some fairly dramatic changes in mind for the next months. I plan to refocus the Brain|Blog to specifically deal with creativity-themed topics and am contemplating splitting the blog into three individual blogs -- the Creativity Blog (Brain|Blog), and business and sales blog, and a personal blog. Each blog would have a scheduled set of days and times for updates (i.e., Monday, Wednesday, Fridays by Noon, etc.) Nothing is set in stone, but that's the direction I'm considering.
Any thoughts? Opinions on the proposed changes?
Post 'em in the comments section below.
C'mon... Admit. You Are CREATIVE!
What? Hallmark doesn't make a card for this?
Happy Creativity and Innovation Day!
Here's the 'official blurb' taken from the Creativity Day website:
Creativity and Innovation Day was founded on June 1, 2001 to encourage people all over the world to use their creative capacities to make the world a better place and to make their place in the world better too. It's vision rests on the belief that every person is endowed with the ability to use knowledge, imagination and evaluation to create new and meaningful solutions to meet the challenges we face.
April 21 2002 marked the beginnings of our better world. To get involved now please click here.
That's right folks, a day (actually, it's a week) devoted to the idea of making the world a better place through our creative thinking and ability to innovate. Play your cards right, follow your dreams, reach for the stars, and YOU might be the one to create the world's most important idea -- of course, if you're going to top the BananaGuard, you better get cracking!
I don't care who you're voting for...
This idea is clever, funny, and apparently very effective!
MoveOn.org, the political action committee devoted to unseating President Bush in the coming election, organized at least 1,000 bake sales from Maine to Hawaii on Saturday, raising about $250,000 dollars in the process.
Featured treats included "Beat Bush Brownies" and No C.A.R.B. (Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Bush) Meringues.
Adam Ruben, field director of MoveOn, said it took only a single email to recruit over a 1,000 volunteers from the MoveOn mailing list.
You can read more about the event at Yahoo News.
How Big is YOUR Brag Bag?
Online Take-12 Questionnaire
I read this book and posted it in the VISION section above quite awhile ago, but like any book on self-promotion that I think is great -- it deserves to be revisited.
I recently obtained the audio book version to listen to while riding in the Idea Mobile, and got an abridged refresher course. It reminded me that there is a pretty decent website devoted to BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.
Author Peggy Klaus has included a downloadable article on BRAG! as well as an online version (and downloadable PDF) of the Take-12 Questionnaire that figures so prominently in the book.
I don't want to "brag" or anything, but the book is pretty good. :)
Chicken The Way You Want It
Site of the Subservient Chicken
Sounds like some sort of perverted website, but it's actually an attempt by Burger King to unleash an Idea Virus.
I gotta admit, it's clever concept.
Typing in keywords makes a guy in a big chicken suit (wearing garters!) go through all sorts of "Simon Says" commands. He'll sing, throw pillows, clean the room, even DIE.
You can visit the site here: http://www.subservientchicken.com, but you may want to visit the Snopes Urban Legends page for the full details and a list of keywords to input. Snopes even offers up proof of the connection to Burger King.
Fuzzy Bunny Deathmatch!
Easter Bunny vs. Happy Bunny
I just realized I missed the opportunity for a "very special holiday edition of Brain|Blog" -- oh well, guess you guys will have to suffer through it a day late.
We're all familiar with the Easter Bunny -- that pusher of sweets and all things chocolate -- but what about Happy Bunny? He's not corrupting our bodies with sugar and chocolate like that once-per-year hopping has-been! All Happy Bunny does is spread joy and happiness.
...oh yeah, and attitude. Lots and lots of attitude.
You can visit the Happy Bunny hutch by clicking HERE.
Free Prize Inside!
How cool is this???
Oh, MAN.
I just received my preview copy of Seth Godin's new book "Free Prize Inside" and it blew me away.
Some of you may have noticed the big ol' book cover I added to my link column. It'll take you to an Amazon page where you can preorder your own copy. One of the really cool things about preordering is this: if you order in time to receive a copy from the first printing, the book comes packaged in a cereal box! (Get it? Free prize inside?) The book is scheduled for release on May 11th.
I've just started reading the book, but I'll keep you updated on the interesting stuff. I'm most looking forward to learning why Mr. Godin thinks brainstorming doesn't work and should replaced by what he calls "Edgecrafting."
More soon!
Intense
The pictures will leave you speechless
If a picture's worth a thousand words -- then why can't I find the right words to describe the weight in my chest, the lump in my throat, and the intense feeling of (foreboding? fear?) that all increase the further I travel through this photographer's gallery of her journey through the Chernobyl "Dead Zone?"
Be sure to stay with Elana through the final pages of her photo album, where even she simply lets the photos speak for themselves.
Ghost Town
Creativity for the Time-Stressed
Five exercises for squeezing a little creative thought into your busy day
Creativity consultant Jean V. Dickson offers five fun games to help build innovative thinking for the time-stressed:
Play the 3 Cs: Clothes, Colour and Counting Game
Think of as many alternative ways of describing the colour of the clothes you decide to wear each day.
Play Connect-the-Cars Traffic Jam Car Game
Look at the back of the car you're stuck behind, focus on one element and think of ten things that spring to mind. Then try to relate them to a problem at work or home you face.
Play the Elevator Awareness Game
Look at the people next to you in the lift. Think of all the occupations that might match each person.
Play the Round-the-Table-Across-the-Country Meal-Time Game
At dinner, start a conversation about a wacky family who are also sitting down to eat somewhere else.
Play the Movie Mania Game
Study the main character and think of 20 ways he/she is like you and 20 they are not. Then relate one trait to products advertised in the commercial break.
Full article here.
I found the article above at The Nub -- a great source for creativity, business, and improving your work life
The Geek Factor
Ascending the Geek Hierarchy
Neil Gaiman's blog passed along a link to this chart of geekyness and I found it funny (and true!) enough to pass along as well. Enjoy -- Geek Hierarchy
May your own position on the chart be as high as possible... personally, I'm about third tier from the top.
April Fools' Parody Gets Friendsters Goat!
"Goatster" Spoof Makes Visitors Look Twice
My friend Ryan at GoateeStyle.com goes out of his way to give a 'gotcha' to his site visitors on April 1st -- April Fools Day. This year Ryan must have spent several hours crafting his Friendster-look-a-like layout (prominently featuring his goat-buddy, Pan) in order to create "Goatster." Parodies of past years have included American Goat and Goats Gone Wild.
GoateeStyle is essentially a personal website and blog, but with an obvious focus on the hairy facial fashion of "The Goatee." When I asked Ryan why he started a site called GoateeStyle, he responded with a well thought-out concept that reinforces the idea that this man is in the process of creating a very unique brand that has drawn (by accident or design) a very loyal following of friends, artists, and facial-hair fanatics.
In 1996 Ryan became known among his college buddies for his goatee. While creating his first website, he decided that "goatee" HAD to be in the title somewhere. This site was originally conceived for friends to look and laugh at. Ryan's core concept is that to grow a goatee means you live life with a certain outlook. A hip fun attitude that only the goateed can really understand.
For a couple years, the site simply featured artwork and silly journal entries -- no actual goatee-related content. But then GoateeStyle started to achieve top placement on the list for "goatee" search engine queries, so naturally he received a lot of emails from people that were confused by the title vs. content. Ryan eventually decided to give in and create some goatee content, but rather than post facial hair grooming tips (he's really no expert) he tried to make the goatee pages entertaining for anyone. (Checkout the evil twins idea and wanna-be paper goatees!)
It seems facial hair has been good to Ryan. Being seen as some sort of goatee guru has gotten Ryan interviewed by several newspapers, and even credited in the book "One Thousand Beards."
How does Ryan personally feel about this goateed monster 'growing' out of control? "I can't turn my back on the follicles that built me. But at the same time, I want to be seen for more than my face fuzz. I want Goatee Style to be an entertainment site. I want to become known for my comics and Flash cartoons. Humor and art."
Visit GoateeStyle.
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