The Brainzooming Group

Keith Prather and I attended the October 21, 2009 Central Exchange CEO Series luncheon featuring Beryl Raff, Chairman and CEO of Helzberg Diamonds.

It was an interesting talk, especially when she went off script, discussing challenges in her career, how she developed a specialty in turnarounds, and the first meeting with her new “boss,” Warren Buffett.

The first audience question was about what type of atmosphere she feels fosters innovation. Her answer was one where the status quo is challenged all the time and people “talk about ideas.”

There’s your creative quickie: see how often you’re challenging the status quo today (vs. settling for what’s okay or routine) and notice amid the time pressures of business, if you’re avoiding “talking” about ideas.

Don’t rush to “just do something.” Invest time in strategic thinking and challenge your world as it exists today. – Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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There are so many situations in everyday life that can be sources of current and future creative inspiration, especially when you have a creative block.

How do you become better at actually capitalizing on their inspirational creative value?

One way is to get an easy-to-use video camera and start capturing situations which provide creative inspiration.

Having a video camera with me nearly all the time this year has not only allowed capturing blatantly creative images, but has also refined my eye for spotting hidden creative moments in more mundane situations.

Figure out which type of video camera works best for you – it could be a Flip, a Kodak (that’s for former BMA board president Jeff Hayzlett!), or your PDA. Find the video camera that allows you to video at a moment’s notice and build an inspiration reserve for when you hit a creative block. – Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Riding the Waves

One night, based on my wife’s question about if and when George C. Scott had died, I followed Wikipedia links to Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Gene Rayburn, Bert Convy, Bobby Van, and Elaine Joyce – Bobby Van’s widow. (If you’re wondering, the clear theme was my rabid viewership of mid 1970s CBS game shows.)

Amazingly, it said Elaine Joyce dated J.D. Salinger for several years before marrying Neil Simon – who knew? I really have abandoned my earlier passion for pop culture trivia!

That revelation led to more clicks and discovering this 1951 Salinger quote on literary influences:

“A writer, when he’s asked to discuss his craft, ought to get up and call out in a loud voice just the names of the writers he loves.”

2 Creative Quickies

• Need a little quirky inspiration? Take a period of your life, pick a starting point, and do some Wikipedia surfing as source for semi-random inputs. You never know what cool places Wikiwaves will take you.
• Expand on Salinger’s idea and “call out in a loud voice” the creative influences you love. You choose where to do it – maybe it’s a blog, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. Gosh, maybe it’s actually really speaking them aloud. Simply pick the venue and have fun doing it! - Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

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Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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I downloaded this menu of standard meeting room layouts from a hotel where a strategic thinking session had been scheduled. Quite frankly nearly all of these layouts could be big inhibitors to innovative thinking. Put people in a conventional room arrangement, and you foster conventional thinking.

What can you do? Work with the hotel (ahead of time, ideally) to come up with a room layout that’s anything but standard:

• Avoid lines of tables & chairs, especially parallel and perpendicular to walls
• Get round or square tables and arrange them randomly
• Scatter work areas
• Get a room that has way more space per person than the hotel recommends

All of these steps create a space for people to think, interact, walk around, and innovate!

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Follow Me:

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Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Continue Reading