In the Harry Potter series, Dementors roamed the earth attempting to suck the soul out of unsuspecting victims. In our world, there are equally insidious forces at play that seek to suck the life from our organizations. Left unguarded, one of the victims will be collaboration.
Category: Creativity
I’m writing this post from the lake. Yesterday, I had the privilege to spend the day with great friends and their families. I’m trying to recharge my battery before a crazy short week – coast to coast, multiple cities – with one red-eye thrown in for extra fun. How do you recharge your battery?
If you missed my last post, A Swiss Army Knife for Your Brain, what you’re about to read may not make much sense. Previously, I gave a shout-out to Tony Buzan for his big idea: Mind Mapping. I attempted to outline why it is a tool that you may want to explore. Today, assuming you want to give it a try, I’ll lay out a few ideas to help you get started.
In a recent post, I mentioned that I had created a mind map of my annual plan. This reference combined with several comments prompted me to share a few thoughts on mind mapping. It is an extremely powerful, multi-purpose tool. I’ve described it before as a Swiss army knife for the brain.
Do you take notes? Once we get past the 3rd grade, most of us do. How helpful are your notes? Have you ever considered what would happen if your note taking was 50% more helpful? 100% more helpful? The key to these type gains begins with how you think about this little considered activity.
In today’s challenging economic times, creative thinking is more valuable than ever. Not creative for creativity’s sake – creativity to solve real business problems. Many of the ideas of the past are no longer relevant. As a seasoned leader shared with me recently, “The half-life of ideas is decreasing rapidly.” So what’s our response?
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Work Space Matters
I’ve long had a fascination with design – all types: architectural, graphics, products, interior design, all of it. I’ve also been a student of how work space affects our productivity and our creativity.
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Yes…You Can Be Creative!
I’m amazed how many leaders I encounter who say, “I’m not creative.” When I hear this, it actually energizes me, because EVERY human being on the planet has the seeds of creativity within them. After studying and practicing the disciplines of creativity for over 30 years, I’ve concluded that the realization of this untapped potential is only three steps away.
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Generate More and Better Ideas!
When your team needs new ideas, what do you do? Brainstorming is the technique of choice for most teams. I think people like it because it helps them generate a lot of ideas, requires no special training, and it can be fun. While all this is true, and no formal training is needed, there are a few basics that can exponentially improve the output of your brainstorming sessions.
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3 Ways Leaders Reinvent Their World
As you think about your childhood, can you remember going by car to some exciting destination? Okay, maybe it wasn’t exciting, but you were in the car and you asked the question that kids have been asking since Henry Ford produced the Model T – “Are we there yet?”