Is Your Logo Really Important for Your Business? - Guest Post from Ben Johnson

This Thursday's guest post is a first in that it was unsolicited, and it introduces an international perspective since its author is from the UK. It's been cool how many people globally have been following Brainzooming, particularly because of Twitter. Next week's guest post will originate from Australia.

Relative to the topic, we haven't spent too much time on Brainzooming discussing branding and specifically how logos fit into marketing efforts. We'll address some of that gap today with this guest post from Ben Johnson of Logoinn, a custom logo design service provider based in the UK. Here's Ben's take on integrating logos into branding efforts:

Branding is an early step in developing a company or product. Naturally, you want potential customers to recognize your brand from among the competition by showing you have something not being offered by anyone else. Yet, among all the introductory activities business leaders face, they may consider logo design a secondary matter. That's not sound strategic thinking though if you're trying to mount a successful marketing and branding effort.

For example, think of Nike. The “Swoosh” first comes to mind. What if there were no Swoosh? Would you as quickly recall the perceptions you have associated with the Nike brand? Most likely not.

Hence, before moving ahead with a marketing and branding effort, a well-designed, attractive logo is vital. A strong logo is necessary to directly impact the customers' minds and convey your brand attitude and benefits to the target market.

Other reasons to place a deliberate emphasis on establishing an innovative, strategic logo design? Doing so:

Gives your brand a unique identity
One of the most important functions of a strong business logo is establishing a brand identity that's easily recognized and remembered by customers. A person may not remember your business by name alone, so integrating a logo into your identity system makes it easier to create customer recognition of your business at a glance.

Shows stability, reliability, and credibility
If you don’t have a logo or have one that doesn’t accurately portray your business message, it can undermine customer confidence and desire to do business with you. A logo that accurately represents your business, however, contributes to leaving a lasting impression of stability, reliability, and credibility.

Can make your brand a personality
Think again about Nike and the brand impact it would lose without the Swoosh. Would its brand be as strong today if that image weren't known by customers? Would the name work as well by itself? A unique logo gives a brand personality that can dramatically improve memorability over the long term.

Provides more polish for your brand
Having a logo is important, and having a professionally-designed one is vital. If a logo doesn't look professional or is not well designed, it will reflect poorly on your business image. Customers may get the impression you don’t care about the way your business presents itself, which might signal you also don't care about the quality of products or services you provide.

You can start the design process by brainstorming images you want to represent your business, engaging a logo design company for help, and ultimately working through the entire design process. Obviously, developing an appropriate logo takes time and effort, but getting a strategically sound logo in place is a crucial initial investment that will open the door to successful marketing and branding, which should contribute to your company’s long run success. - Ben Johnson

Flowers Are Red - Guest Post by John McClung

This week's guest post is from Twitter friend John McClung, who describes himself as having been, "a student, college debater, debate coach, manager, food consultant, builder marketer/home & community designer, and real estate agent with a mission of helping people make good decisions. I love my wife, wine, food, Kentucky basketball and traveling. I am currently working on new twists on food, and interpreting wine tastings on canvas using all appropriate shades of red. " What a variety of interests and activities!

And John's varied interests are further confirmation why it's great to have guests bloggers with varied experiences: his post uses a Harry Chapin song as inspiration. Trust me folks, you'd have never gotten a Harry Chapin-related post from me. Yet, John's take on it is a great example of how we can all try to get back to the creativity children so readily express:

Harry Chapin wrote a song about a young boy starting school, being told that “Flowers are red, and green leaves are green.” His response of seeing “so many colors in the rainbow” and using every one, was not well received and eventually gave way to the teacher’s criticism and philosophy of seeing things “the way they always have been seen.”

Want to be more creative? Let your inner child out.

If you feel that you aren’t as creative as you could be, there is a good chance you are looking at things through the rules and the “no’s” you have received over the years. We tend to apply things we are taught and have experienced to criticize ourselves. It is the self-critique that tends to kill our creativity faster than anything. The young boy above was not looking to criticize: he was in wonder of the possibilities. He wanted to incorporate all that he saw and started out not understanding “the rules.”

When I say “let your inner child out,” I’m suggesting you look at things with wonder. There is the sometimes overused command to think outside the box. I’m suggesting that you understand that there is no box to start. “The box” is an imaginary limit programmed into our psyche by others. Go back to the place where the programming doesn’t exist.

It doesn’t matter what you are trying to create: art, literature, a garden, a business, public policy, or perhaps a new dish for dinner. Look at the possibilities and not the tradition. After all being creative is no more than looking at and doing things in different ways.

Can’t release the inner child? Be evolutionary, not revolutionary.

Let’s face it, most of us are not going to abandon the “traditions,” “rules”, and “deep seated attitudes” about what is and what is not appropriate. Change is hard, and creativity is change others have not thought about.

To be evolutionary, you simply look at what is and ask: How could I change it to be different in a way that works? Here’s an example of how evolutionary change can work.

We have friends who occasionally join us to drink some very nice wines and have dinner. One friend once told me he didn’t like grits. Ever since, grits have been on the menu!

First, they were cooked with chicken stock, cream and finished with smoked Gouda cheese and served as a side dish. The second time, they were used in place of rice, with prosciutto substituting for nori and rolled with pablano, roasted red pepper, and andouille sausage resembling sushi. Finally, I cooked the grits in peach nectar, and rolled with fruit, and served on sauce for dessert.

Each rendition was an evolutionary step leading to a new, no rules variation. Sort of like the little boy who simply saw all the colors of the rainbow and wanted to use every one. So go ahead and release your inner child! - John McClung

Strategic Optimism: Tips for Staying Positive in Any Circumstance - Guest Post by Elissa Shuck

Today's guest post was contributed by Elissa Shuck, another cool innovation, creativity, and improvement connection met through Twitter. Based in the Phoenix metro area, Elissa is CEO and President of ES-STRATEGIC, LLC. With more than 2 decades of multi-dimensional leadership experience, Elissa has made a lifelong commitment to innovation, creativity, and improvement while striving to help other experience personal and organizational excellence.

In her guest Brainzooming post, Elissa makes the case for the daily decision to be optimistic!


Life happens; it can be good, bad or ugly and even the most positive outlook has a lifespan.

We get beat up on the job, in traffic and in relationships – all of which can drain even the most committed of optimists of every ounce of water in that “half full glass." In order to stay positive amid the simplest or most challenging of circumstances, we must consciously and constantly feed our optimistic propensity for it to serve us in times of trouble. A Native American parable calls it feeding the wolf that represents this positive outlook.

Unfortunately, many of us have been feeding the wrong wolf for so long our brains have been conditioned to automatically look for the negative in a situation rather than the positive.

So how do we make a change? We must deliberately choose to “feed” the positive by retraining and renewing our way of thinking.

The good news is our brain physiology supports us in our efforts to make these changes. For instance, cognitive therapy offers some insight on how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact and suggests a technique that can be utilized to identify automatic negative thought processes and redirect them toward a new optimistic course. The technique is to not dwell on the negative thoughts when they pop up. Instead, we must stop ourselves at the moment of a negative response and then intentionally refocus our minds toward a better reaction or self-talk message. Practicing the new response by writing it down and reviewing it regularly will help strengthen the newly formed neurological pathway and reinforce the new habit of optimism.

Reading books and listening to speakers encouraging constructive, truthful self-talk can also be a way to condition our minds toward alternative, positive thoughts.

Glasses half full. Clouds with silver linings. Optimism is available to everyone, but it is a daily, moment by moment choice and must be deliberately cultivated. News flash to pessimists: you don’t have to be “realistic” any more. With a little practice and tapping into our natural brain physiology, the habit of thinking positively in any circumstance can happen in no time. - Elissa Shuck ©2009 Elissa Shuck and es-strategic, LLC

Innovation Strategy? Yes, No, and Everything In Between - Guest Post by Mike Brown

How can I be a guest blogger on my own blog you may ask? Well, this post was originally written for Braden Kelley's Blogging Innovation website. So it was a original guest post there in response to the question, "Does an organization have to have an innovation strategy?" Here's my take:


Does an organization need an innovation strategy? Let me say, unequivocally, "It depends."

Depending on its business situation, there are multiple strategic innovation approaches. Here are three different business situations and a potential innovation path for each:

Situation 1 - It's All About Innovation

If innovation is fundamental to an organization's success and competitiveness, then innovation "matters" for that business. And when innovation passes the "does it matter" test, beyond an innovation strategy, it becomes more important that innovation be woven into overall business strategy.

Situation 2 - Innovation Is Appreciated

For many (most?) companies, innovation is viewed as beneficial, but it doesn't matter in the same strategic sense as in the first group. If that's the case, having visible top-level support for innovation can take the place of an explicit innovation strategy.

Beyond that, it's vital to manage the environment's receptivity to innovation. This starts with assessing the degree to which critical success factors (CSFs) for innovation exist. If CSFs are largely in place, the primary task becomes integrating innovation into the company's strategic direction. If some or all aren't present, step one is making moves to put them in place to create a higher probability of innovation success. Among innovation CSFs are:

• Having an innovation-friendly environment - Even absent an innovation strategy, are processes in place that are conducive to exploration and development of new ideas? Organizational forces should motive and support work across disciplines and recognize individual and group contributions to innovation.
  
• A longer term sensibility - Some innovation starts yielding near-term returns. Often, it takes longer. There has to be some rope to play with (both in terms of time and resource investment) for a sustained innovation effort.
  
• Fact-based strategic perspectives are encouraged - Is innovative, strategic thinking considered to be the purview of senior leadership or is it cultivated broadly? Multiple, perspectives are vital to triggering, thoroughly vetting, and successfully implementing new ideas. The closer to customers those strategic perspectives originate, the better, and that's usually not exclusively from senior managers.
  
• A basic comfort level with disturbing the status quo - Moving into new areas is usually messy organizationally and in the marketplace. These disruptions need to be understood as innovation precursors. Is your organization ready to fail fast & learn quickly if it's a step to successful innovation?
  
• A willingness to bring diverse parties into innovation - There's now more recognition and acceptance of the incredible potential in ideas coming from outside an organization. Does yours have an externally-oriented view that introduces broad inputs into innovation?
  
• Metrics are used to motivate and refine innovation, not quash it - Innovation has to produce value for customers and the business to be worthwhile. Monitoring value requires solid metrics. Are they (or can they be put) in place to help steer innovation efforts and monitor their impacts without being used to prematurely shut-down exploration?

Situation 3 - Innovation Gets in the Way

When an organization's sentiment runs counter to innovation, underground innovation is an alternative. This implies working around the system to create and implement innovation efforts beneficial for the business. Going low-key can provide several advantages:

• It potentially lowers expectations and increases maneuverability. With few resources, there’s potentially less scrutiny, leading to some freedom to experiment, make mistakes, learn, and still drive results.
  
• Parties who participate are likely to be more committed. With a certain amount of risk in joining forces with an underground effort, people won't typically get in half-way.
  
• It forces more ingenuity. Cut-off from some fundamental resources, you have to understand limitations upfront, spell out a plan for what you won’t have, and innovate in areas you wouldn’t have considered previously.
  
• You can focus on creating deliverables instead of justifying each innovation step. With a near-term results oriented management team, being able to introduce them to an innovation that's nearer completion can be beneficial.
  
• You can get an advantage relative to competitors. They may be taking a more traditional route to innovation or completely eliminating innovation programs while you're still trying to move ahead.

What Do You Do?

You know your business situation. Consider the range of possibilities and select the level of strategic innovation focus that makes sense for your business and the desired results. - Mike Brown

Add the Main Ingredient - Guest Post by Kai Rostcheck

Today's guest post is from Kai Rostcheck, an Idea Guy who problem solves and discovers opportunities for small businesses that believe in the triple bottom line of economic benefit, social impact, and environmental sustainability. Kai has an "Idea of the Day" that you can sign up for at his website: http://www.kairostchek.com.

In this post, he shares his perspective on the criticality of developing a business, revenue, and profit model that works:


A company I know in Boston is close to closing its doors. This is disappointing, because it’s a truly unique venture that captures the remarkable stories hidden inside of every day people; things you’d usually miss if there weren’t someone clever enough to go looking and tell you what’s really there.

We’re trying to find a revenue model that will allow them to shift gears and have come up with some great short-term ideas. But their long-term viability is still a question mark. Unfortunately, this occurs all the time. People with great convictions start businesses and invest lots of time and money before figuring out how to make a profit.

I heard the same kind of story from another consultant friend recently. After that, I met a young entrepreneur at a Web Innovator’s conference who is struggling to find funding, and still needs to figure out her revenue model.

It’s happening all over the place.

Personally, I work for more than the bottom line and encourage all companies to consider social impact and environmental responsibility as part of their core strategies. But the reality is that we can’t stay in business for long if we’re not profitable. It’s not ok just to build it in the hope that customers will come, unless you are just playing around with a concept and don’t feel attached to a successful outcome.

You wouldn’t make roast beef without the roast. You don’t make pancakes without eggs. You can’t wash your car without water (well, I suppose you can at a waterless carwash. There’s always an exception). If you are an entrepreneur, you can’t succeed without a viable and flexible revenue strategy. No marketing program can make up for this fundamental truth.

One of the instructors at Boston University’s graduate entrepreneurship course requires his students to submit business plans with two alternative business models, to prepare them for the reality their core focus could fail or get pushed back. This is the equivalent of a well-stocked kitchen that allows you to improvise and adapt in case you run out of something.

We are entering the age of lean, when young, flexible companies are driving innovation. That’s a good thing. If you count yourself among that crowd, just be sure to stock the cabinets with your main ingredients before you start cooking up your next business idea. Those ingredients must include a solid financial plan and a great network.

In my area, there are lots of support groups offering free consultations. The folks from DartBoston are a good example. I know of others that focus on social entrepreneurship, pre-VC stage strategy, etc. I bet there are some in your area too. My advice is to look around and see who’s willing to give you advice before you get in too deep. Good luck! - Kai Rostcheck

Employing Strategic Thinking & Choosing Happiness - Guest Post from Tracy Brown & Gordon Simmons

This week's guest post is from Tracy Brown and Gordon Simmons are the co-creators of Happiness Inside – a social networking website offering articles, tools, tips, and encouragement. Its aim is to help each visitor develop a toolbox to build their own Happiness INSIDE. Gordon is a writer, musician, and online businessman. Tracy is a writer, a dreamer, and loves to engage and inspire others. You can follow them on Twitter at HappinessInside.

They're sharing their perspective on making a strategic choice for happiness:

When we were invited by Brainzooming to do a blog on employing strategic thinking and choosing happiness, we jumped at the chance. You may wonder: Why “strategic thinking” when you are talking about being happy? Well, happiness is a choice – we’ll discuss that later in this post – but first let’s start with thinking strategically in order to choose happiness.

The mind is a funny creature. Undisciplined, it wanders from subject to subject, thought to thought, from imagined scenario to perceived situation. Sometimes, this is fine – it’s nothing more than benign musings. But the undisciplined mind by itself doesn't always necessarily act in your best interests. When this happens, thinking strategically can help.

For a moment, picture the mind as river, water rushing along as you stand along the shore. The water in the river will follow the path of least resistance, especially when circumstances cause a surge in its volume. The water itself is not out to create a flood or breach the river banks; it’s just following the route it can flow in most easily without opposition.

The mind can behave in a similar way. When left unchecked (like the river’s water), the mind can wander into subjects and areas you do not want to think about or do not need to dwell upon. And it can certainly wander into areas that are simply not true and have a negative effect on how you feel, and ultimately believe and act.

Consider these examples. You are in school and fail a test. Or you are giving a presentation for work, and you totally bomb in front of your coworkers and maybe even your boss. It just doesn’t go well for you that day. An undisciplined mind might start to travel in “unruly” directions telling you things like:

• “I’m so stupid."
• “I can’t get this.”
• "I never do these things well.”

And on and on. Those thoughts are just not true and do not employ thinking strategically. Now, let’s apply strategic thinking to the two examples above.

Number one, you failed the test. Your deliberate thoughts can go in this direction:

• “Ok, I really did not do well on that test.” [This is true.]
• “Today was not my best day.” [This is true.]
• “And I will work to do better in the future. I can do better.” [This is also true.] \

This last thought is the beginning of thinking strategically. It opens the door and points your mind toward finding a way to create future positive experiences for yourself.

The bombed presentation?

• “This was not my best presentation.” [That’s a fact.]
• “I had the opportunity to learn what works for me when I’m talking to a group and what does not.” [That’s a fact.]
• “My next presentation will be better because of what I’ve learned in this one.”

Again, this is thinking strategically.

So what does thinking strategically have to do with choosing happiness? The answer is simple: What you choose to think about will ultimately have a direct affect on how you feel. Choosing more positive thoughts will create an environment for your mind to be more apt to discover, develop, and experience happiness. Choosing to be happy will create more opportunities for feeling good.

The happier person is the one who is more strategic in his or her thinking – the one who chooses to think, “I bombed today, but I’ll rock tomorrow!” - Tracy and Gordon

Give Your Workspace a Massive Creative Boost - Guest Post from Andrew Tilling

We have another international guest post this week. Andrew Tilling, from Surrey, UK, is a consultant specialising in creative thinking techniques, team dynamics and leadership. He heads Preseli Partnerships Ltd. which provides providing training, coaching and consultancy to help organisations make a difference.

Andrew is also a founding partner in The Nutshell Project, recognizing the value to be found in personal professional development time away from the demands of the day to day. Based on connecting on Twitter and visiting Andrew's blog, I asked him to share his perspective on the importance of place on creativity:


I have the luckiest job in the world. I am given the freedom to work with people to help them find new ideas, develop those ideas, and get on and make a change in their world. Plus, I get to do this in some beautiful places. It strikes me how much more creative people can be with a change of environment.

And as tempting as it is to write a detailed report on why all businesses should send employees to areas of outstanding natural beauty in order to boost creativity, it's more beneficial to explore what we can do to our own environment to help become more productive – and especially more creative.

The unconscious mind is our creative powerhouse. To help it along we need to understand it's capable of processing a lot more than our conscious mind. A natural, stimulating environment adds fuel to the creative fire. We are fortunate that simple objects can remind us of those environments. Objects help our unconscious access old memories in incredible detail, allowing us to draw on new connections and shifting our state into a more resourceful one.

Here are a few things you can add to your workspace to help you become more creative.

• Have something natural – Innovators constantly draw on nature for ideas. We are part of nature and only our artificial environments disconnect us from that. Office policy or not on potted plants, you'll want something that grows (or at least grew) in nature to allow you to reconnect.
  
• Make time work for you– Have a stop watch or countdown clock you can set for 10 minute bursts of concentration or bookmark a site with a countdown-clock.
  
• Something from somewhere special – Remember a time when you felt free from the pressures of daily life? I have a notebook used while travelling that's never far from my desk. It helps unlock creative potential just thinking about it.
  
• A picture of a creative genius – We all need a circle of inspiration – alive or dead. Find a picture of someone whose work blows you away. Learn about and talk with them often (in your head, of course, or people will think you are nuts).
  
• A picture of a business genius – Someone else for your circle of inspiration. If you can keep in mind the demands of the market place while being creative, you have more chance of your ideas becoming a genuine innovation.
  
• Blank paper and 4 color pen – These 'click' pens are awesome for mind-mapping. Shut your laptop lid and find somewhere comfy to sit and doodle.
  
• Composition & presentation space – Recognize that finding and presenting an idea are two very different mindsets. Make different spaces for different kinds of work. Even if you can't move from your desk, you change your space internally through listening to different music styles.
  
• Water – Drink it, walk by it, have it flowing nearby. Take holidays by it, swim in it, and study it. You are 90% water. A dear writer friend of mine swears by toilet breaks for getting over writers block. Water helps you get into the creative flow on so many levels. Without it, there is not much of you left.
  
• An excuse to walk the scenic route – Whether it is walking a dog or feeding stale bread to ducks, get out into nature at least once daily. Walking will allow you to let off steam and clear your head. That beats playing "spot the idea amid all the clutter" and will make you rapidly more productive.
  
• A crowded square – People-watching is a great for finding new associations to help your ideas grow. J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter in a coffee shop. Snatched snippets of conversations and chance encounters make all the difference – SO LONG AS YOU STOP TO LOOK AND LISTEN. Invest the time, and you will reap rewards.
  
• Join the conversation – Social media is a constant source of inspiration nowadays. Just keep your objective in mind as you set your countdown clock and do a 10 minute resource harvest. Later, make sure you post something you learned in return to keep the flow going both ways.

I hope you find these tips to be as much value as I have. I love interaction, so if you have any questions, feel free to comment, get in touch on twitter (@andrewtilling) or check out The Nutshell Project blog. - Andrew Tilling

Everyone's Got Some! A Guest Post from Linda Fitzgerald

One unexpected benefit from investing time on Twitter has been the interest of others in contributing guest posts for Brainzooming. That's great since it helps introduce other perspectives to Brainzooming through both comments and entire posts.

Today's guest post is from Linda S. Fitzgerald, M.S.Ed. I've been tweeting back and forth with Linda, who is CVO (Chief Visionary Officer) of A Women’s Place Network, Inc., for several weeks now. She agreed to share her perspective on an important topic: the creativity that's in each of us.

Everyone's Got Some? I’m talking about "creativity." Everyone has some of the stuff that brings new things into being. The energy that makes something out of what appears to be nothing!

Most of us tend to think we are not very creative. In fact, I meet men and women who tell me – flat out – “I don’t have a creative bone in my body!”

The truth is that each of us is born with a level of creativity intertwined with our "destiny design" - the ultimate purpose for which we were born. Most folks' ultimate purpose requires some creativity if it is to come to pass and successfully function on our behalf and that of others.

Creativity may not look the same to you as it does to me. The genius of Albert Einstein is not the same creativity as mine. My creative genius does not inhabit the world of math. Mine is in design and development of programs and projects. It’s also in the fine art of writing – the use of language to paint word pictures that draw others in and invite them to enter my world through my words.

When we deny that creativity lies deep within us, we deny our very existence and certainly our destiny design. If we choose to decide (and it is a “choice” and a “decision”) we have nothing we or the world would identify as creativity, we have denied our very purpose.

Creativity is energy, and it permeates every aspect of our being. It may be small, such as encountering a challenge in cooking a new dish, only to discover how to overcome the challenge without an expert's intervention. That’s creativity. We don’t recognize it as such because we may have been led to believe that creative folks create big things.

Being creative occurs in all aspects of our lives! When we find alternatives to overcome a challenge, do something a little different with the time and energy saved, turn old ways into new ways because we must –we are using natural creative energy each of us has in ready reserve.

The wisdom of the day is: go out and exercise your creativity. If you haven’t yet found it; discover it. Ask a trusted friend how they see you being creative. Make note of the things he/she says, and then practice creativity on a daily basis. Practice until (as the old adage says) “practice makes perfect”.

Have an awesome creative day!

Borrowing Brilliance - A Guest Post of Sorts

I attended the KC Small Business "Think Bigger" luncheon recently when guest speaker David Kord Murray discussed his new book, "Borrowing Brilliance." The tome covers 6 steps (defining, borrowing, combining, incubating, judging, and enhancing) to build from others' ideas.

While several people afterward expressed frustration with Murray's presentation and demeanor (some of the frustrations were very justified), he shared a number of valuable points. Here's my take on the highlights he covered (thus the designation of this piece as a guest post of sorts):

• To get to a core issue, Murray suggests asking, "What's the problem above the problem we're considering?" This is a different and helpful way of expressing the question, "What are we trying to achieve?" He cited an old, but relevant, example. In the 1920's, Ford defined the issue as building the cheapest car. GM identified a more fundamental issue: making cars affordable. Its problem definition led to auto financing's introduction.
  
• Murray expressed a clear disdain for unfettered brainstorming, claiming stronger ideas emerge when more judging is involved. He has a point, in that once you've moved from divergent to convergent thinking steps, solid evaluation approaches do push you closer to more readily implementable ideas.
  
• In using different perspectives to look for analogous ideas, Murray shared a borrowing continuum to look for ideas in Same, Similar, and then Distant domains (i.e., your industry, a related industry, a radically different industry). This concept has been discussed frequently in Brainzooming (and the "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" ebook is structured similarly), yet this was a new, actionable way of expressing the approach.


• He talked about "aha moments" occurring in the shower so frequently because we've typically minimized conscious thought, allowing the sub-conscious to sift through raw materials it's been fed. I haven't tried scheduling a group creative team meeting in the shower yet, but it again emphasizes the value of changes of scenery and activity in ideation.


• Murray passed along an interesting factoid: Walt Disney conceived Disneyland not as an amusement park, but as a movie starring the park's guests. Instead of "rides," mini-movies were then developed in which guests star for a few minutes. I'd never really thought about it, but it makes perfect sense. It's also a great example of selecting a rich core concept and using it throughout the innovation process to create strategically consistent implementation.

All these are helpful insights. Now here's one for new authors (i.e., David Kord Murray): when a well-known local bookstore (i.e., Rainy Day Books) helps co-sponsor your appearance, maybe your closing book slide should feature its logo along with (or even instead of) the major online bookseller brands you chose to feature. Just saying. - Mike Brown

Remember the Renegades - Guest Post by Paula White

It's become clear over time that my strategic mentors tend to be visionaries who are actively pushing boundaries and seeing beyond what others anticipate. I match up well with these personalities because they stretch me also, and I help translate their visions into implementable steps necessary to realize new and big ideas.

So in keeping with the focus so far this week on Bill McDonald and Kansas City Infobank, Paula White's guest column on renegades is right on the mark. As Paula describes herself on her blog, she's a "grandma, an educator, a teacher, and a thinker." She has numerous educational distinctions, and she's on the forefront of actually applying social media in an educational setting (quick partial translation: I met her on Twitter!).

In today's guest post, she shares her experience in encouraging students that it's okay to think boldly and unusually because that thinking leads to great new things:


Think about people you know who have been considered renegades. WHY were they considered that? Did they do something different? Did they do something no one else would? Did they do something unexpected or unusual? Were they just out of the mainstream?

As a gifted resource teacher, I often see students who think there is something wrong with them because they ARE different. They recognize that they have thoughts others don’t—that they think more deeply about common things and that they look at the world differently than their peers. I sometimes have to work to help students accept who they are because they, too, are often out of the mainstream. They think differently, learn differently and may even try to lead or teach differently. That doesn’t mean that they are better or worse than others. They are just different. And all of us have to, at some point in our lives, learn to respect and honor differences to co-exist on this planet.

One way I begin the conversation with students is to show a film Apple produced in the 90s, called "Think Different."

Misfits. . . rebels. . . troublemakers. . . and you can’t ignore them, because they push the human race forward. Students identify with these traits and by looking at the creative geniuses Apple chose to highlight, they begin to understand that learning differently, thinking differently, acting differently is okay.

Rebels, renegades, thinkers, doers, pushers, sometimes troublemakers. . . Does that describe anyone you know? Have you ever thought about how lonely that path might be?

Remember the renegades. . . and be their friend. Their creativity, their thinking, their pushing the envelope just may change the world. - Paula White

Getting Ready for 2010: Planning in a Recession - Guest Post by Barrett Sydnor

Today's guest post addressing preparing for 2010 comes from Barrett Sydnor, one of the first guest authors ever on Brainzooming back in early 2008. I've worked with Barrett on various strategic planning projects over the past 15 years, including quite a bit of quantitative industry analysis and supply/demand forecasting.

Today, he's addressing the right marketing stance to have during and coming out of a recession:

Fortune Favors the Bold.

The Roman playwright Terence wrote that in the 2nd century BC, though Virgil often gets credit because a similar line later appears in the Aeneid. Terence was probably talking about the military strategy of some emperor, but it turns out that the sentiment applies to businesses—small and large—as they face figuring out how to plan for 2010.

A natural tendency when looking at bad or uncertain times is to hunker down, keep spending to a minimum, and stay with what you have done in the past. Natural, but maybe not smart.

A Hurwitz & Associates report found that 65% of small businesses that expected increased revenues during 2009 had raised or planned to increase marketing spending. Increased revenues were expected by only 30% of those who were keeping marketing spend flat, and almost half (41%) of those who were cutting marketing spend were expecting a decrease in revenue.

This correlates with a study done at Penn State after the 2000 recession. The authors say that using what they call “proactive marketing” can allow firms to improve both capital market and business performance during a recession. They cite increased marketing spending by P&G, Kellogg, Intel, and Wal-Mart during recessions—and depressions—as a way to grab or consolidate dominant market shares.

For sports fans, one way to restate “Fortune Favors the Bold,” is “The Best Defense is a Good Offense.” You might ask, "How did that work out for Bill Belichick and the Patriots against the Colts?" While the execution lacked, he had the science—and the odds on his side (discussion here, here, and here).

In planning, as in coaching football, getting the odds on your side is really is what you are trying to do. Being more aggressive with your 2010 plan may be the way to tilt those odds in your favor. - Barrett Sydnor

Creativity...Where do you find inspiration? - Guest Post from John Storey

In the past few weeks, the guest Brainzooming bloggers have ranged half way around the world, from Australia, Chicago, and the UK. This week's guest post comes from right here in Kansas City.

John Storey of bottlegreen* is an experienced designer I've known for several years. I tweeted him recently and asked if he'd like to contribute a designer's perspective to Brainzooming. Happily, he agreed and shares his personal approach today on finding inspiration:


Where do you find your inspiration?

Much ado has been made on this subject. Supposedly tried and true methods (work, work more, and if still not enough...work harder) may get you there sometimes, but not likely, and definitely not every time. I’ve found that usually when I stop thinking about a solution, it happens. Weird? Nah, I’ve gotten used to it, and it really works! Ha, ha...I know...doesn’t everybody’s method “really work?”

After carefully reading/digesting all the available materials (e.g. creative brief, company manifesto, notes from the marketing director’s child), I usually go mow the lawn, take a walk, or go to my favorite coffee shop to people watch and find a way to relax. My brain then has a chance to catch up with all the information I’ve taken in and can really wrap around the content. I can then think holistically about the project versus only on how I’m going to make this 4-panel brochure different than all other 4-panel brochures I’ve worked on in the past.

If you’re thinking conceptually and allow yourself to “drift,” you can figure out the logistics later. Often you’ll also come up with an alternative production technique that will actually separate this piece from all of the others too. When you allow yourself to be in the consumer’s point-of-view (instead of your heady point-of-view), it can produce very results-oriented work.

It’s also handy to have access to pen and paper to quickly sketch or write an idea when it hits (although your partner might not fully appreciate your little notebooks all over the house, car, bedside, etc.). Sketch quickly, just jotting down the raw ideas...then revisit and explore/refine. When inspiration strikes, you’ll feel it in your bones. It’s quite a rush...and you’ll fill pages quickly so keep going as long as you can in one sitting.

So, go on...relax and do something for yourself or your family – cook dinner, smell the flowers, play with your children – and you’ll see...just when you least expect it...when you actually stop thinking of a solution...BAM! Flood gates will open, barriers will cease to exist, and the creativity will flow.

At least that’s how it works for me. Tried and true. - John Storey

The Power of Daydreaming - Guest Post from Tim Tyrell-Smith

The response to my Twitter-based request for guest posts has been incredible, with several cool strategic and creative thinkers writing their perspectives for Brainzooming.

Today's guest post is from Tim Tyrell-Smith, a 20-year CPG marketer and, during the wee night hours, an author of two blogs. The first, Quixoting™ - A Quest for New Ideas, presents the contents of his idea book and inspires others to take action on their ideas. The second, Spin Strategy™ - Tools for Intelligent Job Search, was the first idea he acted on from his book, covering the strategy and psychology of successful job search and includes a website and a LinkedIn group. You can also follow Tim on Twitter in two places: @Quixoting and @SpinStrategy.

Wow - a full time job, two blogs, Twittering under multiple identities. Sounds familiar, so I'm not sure when Tim has time to daydream, yet I'm really excited he took time to share his perspectives on its creative role with us today:

It can happen when you are supposed to be doing other things. It can happen while you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. For those of us busy thinking almost all day long, daydreaming can be an easy exercise to provide some quiet time upstairs. Think of it as slowing to a jog in the middle of a running race or letting your car's idle push you along a normally busy freeway.

The power of daydreaming is what it lets your brain do: create - on its own time and in its own quantity.

Ever try creating really hard? You clench your teeth and tightly close your eyes only to find emptiness on the page where the ideas were supposed to show up? We've all had creative blocks from time to time, but when the brain stops all together, it's time for a little R&R.

Sometimes my kids catch me staring off into the window behind them. They say, "Dad? Hello. Are you in there?" For a few blessed seconds, my brain was cycling at its own pace with no pressure to solve, compute, or judge - a rare break from synapses constantly snapping.

So I'm going to suggest something: Our brains have two optimum speeds - really fast and barely moving. I know mine works this way, and it's important to appreciate the differences.

Really Fast

Really fast feels really good on most days. On the right projects when your heart is lined up with your brain, there's nothing like it. Yes, your brain can work without your heart, but I don't think the content is as good. These are the days when your brain is most productive, leaving the table, whiteboard, or computer screen covered with the residue of great production. Think of a great thoroughbred halfway through the Kentucky Derby; like that thoroughbred, your brain is meant to run hard.

Barely Moving

Here I'm not talking about sleep. Sleep is sleep. While evidently very beneficial to maintain sanity, sleep is not my focus, although I've had some amazing dreams!

The time I'm referring to is called daydreaming or quiet production. It's the time when you let the brain do what it wants without cracking a whip against its hindquarters. There is no race this time, only the soft shifting of the brain, side to side. I do this sometimes when I drive and keep the music and cell phone off. The only problem with this example is that you might miss your freeway exit from time to time. Let your mind go for a walk and you'll see some great sights. It's how I get what are my best ideas. There and in the shower, of course.

So, whether you plan a good daydream time or have it come upon you without warning, please do me a favor. Enjoy it.

And know that your brain thanks you for a brief moment's rest. -Tim Tyrell-Smith

Musings on Creativity + Innovation in Business - Guest Post by Meghan M. Biro

Today's guest blogger, Meghan Biro, Founder of TalentCulture, calls me the most patient person on Twitter. One day earlier in 2009 when back home with my parents, I saw Meghan tweeting with someone in my network, checked out her intriguing profile, and had a short Twitter conversation with her. Not sure if it was then or later, but I asked (maybe begged) her to do a guest post for Brainzooming.

She said she would, and I began my patient waiting. I'd reach out about once a month to see if she was still considering it, and each time she said she was. That was good enough for me!

In the meantime, we've talked by phone, paving the way for another great business relationship initiated on Twitter. So without further delay, here's Meghan's take on creativity + innovation in business (it's well worth the wait!):


We are a generation raised to believe we are creative. Some of us actually are lucky enough to be employed as creatives; the rest of us, who received colored markers and sketchbooks in kindergarten, must look for ways to draw out the sparks of creativity we secretly nurture while working as accountants, engineers, administrators or in other career paths not known for rewarding creativity.

The dirty little secret many people live with is that creativity is not usually rewarded in the workaday world. So how can we nurture creativity in our work? What are the warning signs that someone we work with is trying to sabotage our creativity, and what can we do to counter resistance?

First, let’s look at some quick creativity-boosters.

• Take time for someone else. The conventional wisdom is to take time for yourself, but turn that around, reach out of yourself and set aside 15 minutes a day to think about someone else, and how they are creative. Contemplate the different point of view this person presents; talk to them and ask questions about what they like, not what they do.
  
• Try something really new. Listen to music you think you don’t like. Commit to buying a CD or checking out live music– don’t just download a song - and listen to the whole thing. Sample new sounds and accept the challenge of something you wouldn’t normally choose.
  
• Ask a question. Then commit to listening to the answer and allowing what the other person says to influence your thoughts. Too often we have the answer we want to hear formulated before we ask a question.
  
• Learn something new every day. Commit to learning – and using – a new word every day. Or read history instead of a novel. Teach yourself to dance. Try something new and expand your perceptions, physical coordination and mental agility.

All of these things can be done easily, and all can make you a more creative person.

But what if you work with someone who seems to suck the creativity out of every situation? You know the signs: this person interrupts others or pushes away from a conference table with crossed arms when they hear something they don't agree with. This person can kill creativity by walking into a room – if you let it happen.

Here are a few ways to work with that person creatively and collaboratively:

• Look outside your context. Your experience of a person may be that he or she is not creative. Try to look at that person from his or her context – manager, colleague or employee – and open yourself to his or her experience of your comments.
  
• Use active listening. Listen to the person speak, restate what they said as a query, and add a comment of your own that brings in a new idea. Open up a closed mind by reassuring the person that you heard them - before you add your comments or ideas.
  
• Engage the person by taking the time to learn what he likes, and acknowledging that bit of humanity. Maybe this person reads a lot, or has a beloved dog, or loves to ski. These are cues to that person’s creativity, and acknowledging them gives you an emotional bargaining chip in your next attempt to infuse the workplace with creativity.
  
• Work incrementally. Someone who is uncomfortable with creative ideas may respond better to small changes than big, bold ideas. Keep your creative goal in mind but break it down into components and advance your position slowly. It’s worth the effort to see creativity bloom.

Dare to take every action with a spark of creativity and you’ll feed your soul and lift the mood of your workplace. What are your creativity-builders? - Meghan M. Biro

So You Wanna Write Something? Become a Brainzooming Guest Author

One objective emerging for the Brainzooming blog is to create a place for cool creative and strategic thinkers to share perspectives. It's always great to have new and different voices on Brainzooming, and it's very humbling to see the number of great guest authors regularly grow!

If you're interested in writing a guest blog, let me know your subject idea via email at mike@mikebrownspeaks.com. Be sure to include "Brainzooming Guest Blog" in the subject line.

Writing & Publishing Overview

As you think about a topic and approach, here's background info I use for doing Brainzooming:

• The broad topic areas for Brainzooming include innovation, strategic thinking, and creativity. Anything within and around those areas that isn't a commercial is potential fair game for an article.


• Articles are typically 300 - 500 words. Please include links to other relevant sources of interest to readers. Similarly, include image ideas that will help convey the article's message.


• The material should be new content or, at minimum, a new variation (updated, freshened, modified) on something you've personally written and published previously.


• You can forward your article in Word or the body of an email. Also include a brief bio.


• I edit the article so its style fits with the blog and includes links to related topics. Should there be a need for significant editing, you'll receive a copy in advance to ensure you're okay with the changes.


• Guest articles typically run Thursdays. Since there's generally a queue of future guest articles, there's no particular deadline. I'm usually able to give you a sense ahead of time about what future Thursday your article will run.


• You'll get a link to your guest post early on the Thursday it publishes to share with your network on Twitter, your blog, via email, etc.

Please consider sharing your expert perspective and joining the Brainzooming creative team! - Mike Brown

Upcycling: The Greener Path - Guest Post by Nancy Martini

We've spent time on Brainzooming talking about recycling ideas, yet haven't touched on recycling physical materials. That changes with today's guest post from Nancy Martini. She's an Art Director and EcoArtist (as she's known on Twitter), working with reclaimed materials.

Nancy's currently working on a collection called, “Lessons from the Dinner Table.” All the pieces contain environmental messages translated from simple lessons learned at the table. Her work consists of 95% upcycled materials: plastic bags, soda cans, coat hangers, plastic bottles, bottle caps, foil, wire, cereal boxes, egg cartons, tin cans, and gift wrap tissue. You can see her process through videos on her YouTube channel.

Today, Nancy provides her view on the need for creativity as the concept of upcycling expands:


Reduce, reuse and recycle are three words that haunt me everyday. How can I use less? What can I do to reuse what I already have? And, what more can be recycled? Now, the latest environmentally conscious word “upcycle” has proven to be even more of a challenge. It is easy to understand the process of recycling by means of breaking down a material then using that material to make something new. However, the idea of creating a second life for a package or product from its inception is a complex concept that needs more explaining and exploring.

Ten years ago, you didn’t see many people bringing cloth totes to the grocery store. I remember having to explain my totes repeatedly to cashiers. Sometimes they would even pack my groceries in a paper sack and then put it in my cloth tote. Change does happen, but it takes time and education.

When I see people bringing their own totes to the grocery store now, I can’t help but wonder if they think about all the plastic in their purchases. What happens to the packaging after we use its contents? Recycling should be the last resort, not a justification to buy whatever we want because we can always toss it in the recycle bin.

Recently at the grocery store, the early morning staff was stocking shelves. Each worker had a few garbage bags filled with plastic shrink-wrap and cardboard from unpacking merchandise off wheeled crates. “All the shipping packaging is going to be thrown away,” I was told. Disheartened by this obvious disregard for the environment behind the backs of the consumer, I thought about products and their packaging and pondered:

• What if containers were designed with an upcycled second life for the packaging so it wouldn’t go to the recycle plant or landfills?


• What could we build or create with discarded packaging?


• And, what if we could then change the way food companies produce packaging?

As I continue on my quest to upcycle packaging to create art, I encourage you to think of the possibilities that upcycling brings. I would love to hear your comments - the more creative collaboration, the greener the path. - Nancy Martini

Want to be More Creative? Relive, Reinvent & Really Blow It - Guest Post from Andee Weinfurt

This week's guest post is from Andee Weinfurt, who has one of my favorite Twitter names - HotCupofCopy - reflecting her dual interests in writing and hot caffeine. Andee lives in Weston, MO and is a copywriter for GlynnDevins Advertising & Marketing.

She admittedly relishes the weird / embarrassing / bad moments of life because they lead to great ideas and ultimately, greater creativity. Today, she shares her approach for how to get from crushing to creative!

While I’m always searching for innovative ideas to capture my creativity, my philosophy has never changed: The worse the situation, the greater the potential to create something from it.

Truth be told, my most embarrassing, unpleasant and downright disappointing moments in life have always been the stepping stones for my most creative endeavors. Many of you reading this, I’m sure, can relate. (If not, watch a John Hughes movie or listen to a grunge album from the 90’s.)

Case in point: when I was fired from my first job at sixteen, there initially seemed to be little worth remembering about the experience. Especially since I had to literally melt my tears before I could dry them (I was given the news in the kitchen freezer, to maximize privacy and apparently my humiliation). But everything that made that experience so utterly awful is also what made it a creative diamond in the rough: I wrote about it and years later turned in that essay to a potential employer as part of the interview process for a copywriter position. While I did get the job, it probably doesn’t speak so much to the piece itself as it does to the idea of using it.

Ever since, I’ve been using this go-to guide for capturing creativity, regardless of the ultimate goal:

1. Relive: Draw upon a bad experience. An embarrassing moment, an unfair outcome, anything is fair game. These experiences make us who we are, and who we are is unique (the most important criteria of creativity).
   
2. Reinvent: Take something from the bad experience, and turn it around to work for you. The irony, the humor, the timing — there’s bound to be something you can apply to the challenge at hand.
   
3. Really Blow It: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. This will inevitably lead to falling flat on your face — and when it does, embrace the moment wholeheartedly. Then you can start the process all over again!

Sometimes the most innovative idea is realizing the value of an old one.

And making lemonade out of lemons? It still works. - Andee Weinfurt

Tapping the Gold Mine of Creativity & Individuality in Your Organization - Guest Post by Marissa Levin

This week's guest post is by Marissa Levin, an award-winning and well-recognized entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Information Experts. The company creates technology-based integrated communications solutions, human capital strategies, and learning strategies for government agencies and firms in a wide range of vertical markets.

Marissa shares her perspectives here on tapping the incredible creative and innovative talents existing among the diverse group of people inside her company:


How well do you really know your co-workers and employees?

Sure, you see them on a daily basis and know just enough about their personal lives to be dangerous. You may even know what they like for lunch. There's probably a "comfort level" you've established. You've identified some personal boundaries, designating topics acceptable for discussion and those off the table.

But have you ever stopped to consider what defines your co-workers outside their jobs? More importantly, have you ever thought about how these aspects influence our jobs, and what they add to the workplace?

As a CEO focused on company culture, I'm always thinking of ways to maintain a connection with my employees and protect the valuable connections among everyone working here. As organizations grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve this. Employees become more scattered (thanks to telecommuting), are assigned to client sites, and work amid additional layers that develop to ensure adequate management structure.

Adding to these challenges, I am out of the office for appointments, meetings, and networking events. Despite email exchanges and conference calls, it is far too easy to lose the human touch. When I am working "on" the business, it is often difficult to work "in" the business.

I've always known we have incredibly creative, passionate, intelligent, and highly individualized people. We are not a typical organization. We have many out-of-the-box thinkers who display individuality throughout their lives. This uniqueness gives us an edge with our culture and customers.

To find a way to understand and bring all this creativity into the company, I surveyed our employees about what defines them outside work. The results were unbelievable.

Beyond having top-quality instructional designers, project managers, strategists, writers, graphic designers, developers, & human capital experts, we also have scuba divers, college-level volleyball players, swing and belly dancers, scrabble professionals, marathoners, environmentalists, a competitive U.S. Master's swimmer, competitive soccer players, classical pianists, wine enthusiasts, equestrian experts, poker players, gardeners, and chefs.

That's not all - our staff also includes:

• A certified "High Power Rocketeer" who has launched rockets to 6,000 feet at 550mph
• Someone who taught welding at a vocational school
• A four-time Outward Bound participant
• A Special Operations Sergeant whose unit's experience was the basis for "Blackhawk Down"
• A two-time patent holder for educational technology who served on Barrack Obama's Education Policy Committee
• A published physique photographer and bodybuilder known at WOLVERINE

Think about the creative & innovative power of that incredible diversity of skills, interests, and passions. The question now is how to integrate these interests and skills into the company. I hope to celebrate their individuality in some sort of event or create an internal online tool that brings people together based on their interests.

Here's your question: What creativity & individuality is beneath the surface inside your company? Ask around, and you may be in for some surprises of your own! - Marissa Levin