Stay In The Room
I wanted to share an excellent bit from one of my favorite pint-sized books of powerful inspiration - The Pocket Muse.
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I once heard a college student in Waterville, Maine ask visiting writer Ron Carlson how one knows if one is really a writer. Ever the showman, Carlson delivered an entertaining riff about the distractions writers put in their own way all day, all the time: leaving the room to get coffee, check the mail, get coffee, walk the dogs, go to the bathroom, get coffee, look something up, get coffee. Then, dead serious, he summed up the whole enterprise in a line I have never forgotten: "The writer is the one who stays in the room."
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Innovation is about 'staying in the room' too.
Innovation isn't easy. It's constantly challenged by interruptions of "real" work, and the pressure of "being productive." The catch-22 is, the right sorts of innovations with help you accomplish more work more profitably -- which equals greater productivity.
Stay in the room in the room to develop your ideas, just know when it's time to get out and put them into action.
Note: This is the same as my entry for today's Idea Department blog on The Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel, but this is not always the case. If you haven't clicked-over to the new "blog channel" to see what's on -- you're missing lots of new and rare Idea Guy content. I invite you to visit and see for yourself.
I wanted to share an excellent bit from one of my favorite pint-sized books of powerful inspiration - The Pocket Muse.
---
I once heard a college student in Waterville, Maine ask visiting writer Ron Carlson how one knows if one is really a writer. Ever the showman, Carlson delivered an entertaining riff about the distractions writers put in their own way all day, all the time: leaving the room to get coffee, check the mail, get coffee, walk the dogs, go to the bathroom, get coffee, look something up, get coffee. Then, dead serious, he summed up the whole enterprise in a line I have never forgotten: "The writer is the one who stays in the room."
---
Innovation is about 'staying in the room' too.
Innovation isn't easy. It's constantly challenged by interruptions of "real" work, and the pressure of "being productive." The catch-22 is, the right sorts of innovations with help you accomplish more work more profitably -- which equals greater productivity.
Stay in the room in the room to develop your ideas, just know when it's time to get out and put them into action.
Note: This is the same as my entry for today's Idea Department blog on The Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel, but this is not always the case. If you haven't clicked-over to the new "blog channel" to see what's on -- you're missing lots of new and rare Idea Guy content. I invite you to visit and see for yourself.
posted by Don The Idea Guy at 7/14/2005
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