Innovative Thinking
Boost Your Business by Creating Good
What if there was a way for your business to create good?
I’m talking about real good. Authentically good. Do good. Feel good. Deliciously good.
I believe there is a deep flaw in business today. A gap in our thinking. A missed opportunity. Good should not be reserved for non-profits, for discussions of social responsibility, for fringe companies that do something good while making a profit. Good should be a part of every business vision or mission, whether overtly stated … Read more
Ten Tips to Spark Innovative Thinking
To fuel growth, many of our clients are pursuing company-wide innovation initiatives. We often assist in these large scale efforts by providing innovation processes and creativity training. A client recently requested a few tips to help individuals think more creatively as their company-wide innovation effort takes hold. Here are ten tips I shared with my client:
1. Find creative inspiration. One great way to keep your ideas flowing is to surround yourself with things that inspire you. Gather a … Read more
What’s Your Vision for the Future?
Whether you’re managing a company, a department, a brand, or your career, it’s important to have a clear picture of the future. As innovation becomes a driving force in virtually all industries, a clear vision provides a guide for where to take your entity.
A well-articulated vision tells you where you want to be in the future without getting bogged down in how you’ll get there. The “how” work comes with strategies, objectives and goals. If innovation is part of … Read more
Are you addicted to ideas?
I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to generating ideas. There is nothing better than a blank sheet of paper, begging for new ideas. I can easily spend hours generating ideas for virtually any problem, challenge or creative need. Lucky for me, at SparkFire I work with clients to help them generate breakthrough ideas for their businesses. When it comes to my own ideas, I sometimes lose momentum when moving an idea from a concept in my mind to … Read more
Keeping a Vacation Mindset
As I wait out the long, cold winter, I can’t help but daydream about my vacation last summer. The awe-inspiring beauty of Gimmelwald, Switzerland and Chamonix, France are unmatched. Once I turned off my email, shut down my cell phone and became fully present, the stage was set for a wonderful vacation.
What I most long for now is the vacation mindset – the energy, enthusiasm and feeling of renewal that comes with vacation. Upon returning home and re-entering the … Read more
Funny Business Leads to Better Ideas
It was a dream project. A client asked us to immerse a team in silliness to help them better understand their target consumer, teenaged boys and twenty-something men. How much fun is that?
Our immersion consisted of interactive presentations on the benefits of play and the styles of silliness, an improv workshop designed to help the team experience silliness firsthand and a knock-down, drag out, finger-shooter war.
Along the way, we discovered that the sillier we got, the more we … Read more
What is Your Innovation Temperature?
Take this simple innovation quiz: How would you describe your innovation temperature? Are you …
- On fire
- Crazy busy (don’t even have time to take my temperature)
- Below zero
This simple quiz provides useful diagnostic information about your innovation health.
On Fire – If you’re currently on fire, keep stoking the flames. You likely feel in the flow and ideas come easily. Sparks fly as you move ideas into action. You are in the innovation zone. People who feel “on … Read more
Is failure a state of mind?
When something fails, it is done, finished, the end. There is no energy or passion for failure. Hide the failed idea in the closet and forget about it because it is (whisper) a failure. We say with a somber tone, “The product failed in market.” “Martha failed to meet expectations for her job.” “John failed his science test.” Yet embedded in each of those statements is an untold story, a journey, something to learn, or to do differently the next … Read more
Talking Creativity on Talk Radio
I was recently a guest on the Walk the Talk with Kim radio show on KKNW 1150am (www.walkthetalkwithkim.com). If you had a chance to listen in, I hope you enjoyed the show. I shared a few tips for creating great ideas and talked about turning my personal adventures into a way to give back.
Creativity Tips
As promised, here is a quick summary of the brainstorming tips I talked about on the show:
Speak in How tos and I wishes: … Read more
Helen Thayer: An Uncommon Life of Adventure
At the age of 48, Helen Thayer, a world class athlete and mountaineer, stood on top of Mt. Communism in Tajikistan and was struck by an inspiration. At that moment, she decided to start a new chapter in her life by using her world expeditions as metaphors to teach and inspire students. She founded the non-profit Adventure Classroom with the mission “to inspire students to embrace integrity, demonstrate courage, and assume responsibility for their actions.”
“I work to inspire kids … Read more
