I don’t watch much TV, but the one show I do watch on occasion is House. If you haven’t seen it before, Hugh Laurie plays a brilliant but unorthodox doctor who specializes in diagnosing strange disorders. He’s a creative (albeit cowboy) problem solver.
The one thing I’ve recently noticed is where his brilliant ideas consistently originate. He almost always comes up with his break-through ideas when he’s NOT working on a case. It is either something unrelated that someone else says, does or he sees. It is while his problem-solving thoughts are in incubation – while he is NOT thinking about the case, that his ideas flow. This is also called the Shower Moment.
What is it that motivates people to be innovative? While it may not be the primary motivator, most people want to enjoy some benefit from their own ideas. By default, you own what you create, but that doesn’t hang true if you’re an employee. As an employee, everything you create is owned by your employer whether or not you’ve signed an agreement to that effect. So what does this do to your willingness to be innovative?
Part of this may depend on your entrepreneurial tendency and your sense of personal control. As an entrepreneur, I feel a strong sense of ownership of my efforts and ideas. It’s not about money for me, though. It’s about making sure the fruits of my labor and my creative ventures are being put to good use – that they’re helping change lives. It’s about ensuring my ideas and efforts move forward according to my personal mission. I’m curious – does that matter so much for folks who don’t consider themselves entrepreneurial?
For employees for whom the level of purpose described above is also a key motivator, it is your responsibility to align your job choices with your values. Unfortunately that is not always possible given the current job-market challenges, but ultimately, it is a worthy goal.
It didn’t take long after the launch of Apple’s new touchpad for the jokes to start flying. Yes, the name – iPad – sounds like a feminine product. Case in point: one of yesterday’s top trending topics on Twitter was #iTampon. For those of you who don’t get the relevance of that, trending topics on Twitter highlight the buzz – what everyone is talking about. Adding #iTampon to a person’s tweet was quickly picked up as the way to make fun of the name of Apple’s newest product as an extreme faux pas. And the jokes were actually pretty funny, in a sick sort of way. If they were looking to build buzz with the name, they certainly achieved their objective but I’m not sure this was the kind of buzz they anticipated.
Interestingly enough, the “Apple IPad” was originally a not-so-flattering skit that MadTV put on years ago. Just search for iPad on YouTube and you’ll find it.
The biggest question I (and many others have): didn’t someone do their RESEARCH before launching this product? Were there any women on the team? And if so, were they not comfortable enough to speak up? HOW could this have gotten past any level of market testing and scrutiny?
I know a lot of people have long predicted the death of traditional news media such as the weekend newspaper, but it remains one of my favorite Sunday morning rituals. Settling in to read news on my laptop does just have the same appeal. This morning, I was pleased to find interesting reading around two of my favorite subjects: entrepreneurship and work/life balance. First, I’ll talk about the entrepreneurship and tackle the work/life balance in my next post.
In today’s Washington Post Magazine, there was a great article on Kevin Plank and Under Armour. Under Armour in addition to being close to home physically (I live near Baltimore), carries a personal connection. My nephew Kevin Kirk was recruited by CEO Kevin Plank to be an intern. After reading this article, I understand why Mr. Plank took such a shining to my college-age nephew: I think he sees in him the same entrepreneurial spirit he has always exhibited. Based on the article, it seems both Kevins (Plank and Kirk) spent a good deal of their teenage years finding different ways to make some money. For Plank, in college, it was selling flowers. For my nephew (who is still in college) it has been selling girls’ accessories like head bands, pashmina shawls, flip flops, purses – whatever he can get in cheap supply and sell at girls’ and women’s sports tournaments.
One of the things that stood out to me is how Under Armour has engaged in an intense battle to overtake their competition: Nike and Reebok. Sort of a David and Goliath story with multiple Goliaths. What Under Armour has accomplished so far is amazing and I’m sure if you asked someone today about starting up in an industry with such large, established competition they would tell you that you’re nuts. If anyone had told Kevin that, he certainly wasn’t listening. With smart marketing, sheer determination, and maniacal focus, Kevin Plank has beaten the odds and turned the company he started right out of college into a force to be reckoned with approaching $1B in revenues. Impressive indeed.
“Last year was a tough one for many organizations, with smaller workforces required to do more with less. The new year looks to be more of the same. How can leaders of such organizations motivate their people as they head into 2010?”
Besides this being somewhat pessimistic about what the year holds in store for us, I found it a pretty broad question with varied answers from the team of business executives chosen to respond. The reply that got my attention came from Beth Brooke with Ernst & Young. She’s also a fellow Corporate Ambassador with Vital Voices. Her answer can be best summed up in her own words: “If cost-cutting wrapped up the last decade, this decade should be launched by innovation stimulated by the friction of diversity.”
Once a year for the past 3 years I’ve had the privilege of being on the radio show of Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate. Every time I talk to Jim I have a blast and this morning’s show was no different. Jim has no problem keeping up with my ADD, taking our conversations all over the place but always someplace GOOD. I’m honored that he’s asked me to come back as a regular guest, starting with quarterly in early 2010.
His shows contain a lot of great (free!) content so after listening in to our chat via the link below, check out some of his other interviews! You’re bound to learn a lot…
These past several weeks have been absolutely crazy for me. I’ve been working almost non-stop and, honestly, I have loved every minute of it.
When working with current and aspiring entrepreneurs, I talk a lot about finding your passion. I used to say that you know you’ve found your passion when you’re engaged in a task and time passes quickly.
I don’t believe that anymore. After all, time passes quickly when I drive the repetitive 40-mile route home from teaching 2 nights a week. More than once I have arrived home somewhat surprised that I didn’t remember the drive. Has that happened to anyone else? Sure. But does that mean we’re passionate about driving? Not necessarily.
I recently organized a reception to introduce prospective members to the DC-Chapter of the Women Presidents’ Organization. In addition to discussing the awesome organization and the power of peer advising, I wanted to provide some business value at the session. To that end, I invited Gloria Bohan, Founder and CEO of Omega World Travel, to an informal discussion about how innovation helped her grow the business she founded over 34 years ago into its current 800+ employees and over $1B in sales.
Gloria never really set off to start her own business. She became enamored with cruising on her honeymoon. They had been upgraded to a suite on the QE2 and had such a delightful time, Gloria caught the cruising bug. The next cruise she took, however, didn’t include an upgrade to a suite, but she couldn’t help but notice all the upgraded travel agents. She wanted what they had – access to travel opportunities. And that is how the idea for Omega World Travel was born. As she framed it, “Inspiration carries us where we didn’t even know we wanted to go”.
Over the 34+ years that Gloria operated and grew her company, innovation in all forms was at the core of the company’s success. Gloria credits their “gearshift” mentality – flexibility with ability to change directions – as crucial to survival and sustainable growth. They had to continually understand and tap into their clients’ evolving needs. She also saw huge benefits in making everyone in the company think entrepreneurial – a philosophy that we both share.
Last week, Renee and I gave a talk titled “Getting to Shiny Penny Hell and Back” at the Global Creativity Economy Convergence Summit in Philly. For those of you who aren’t familiar with “Shiny Penny Hell(TM)”, it is that moment when you have so many new ideas – shiny pennies – that you’re overwhelmed into inaction. It is a good place to be if you know how to get out (which, of course we do!). The session went really well - a packed room with over half the attendees requesting copies of our presentation. We had a lot of fun, too! Bonus.
Blogger's Hub View
The funny thing was, the very next day I found myself immersed in my own “Shiny Penny Hell(TM)” at the World Business Forum. As a member of the Blogger’s Hub, sponsored by IBM, I had a great seat and wireless internet to hear the ideas and insights of thought leaders in business, economics, marketing, leadership, the economy and the environment. Although we had some glitches with the internet connection early on, once they increased and secured our bandwidth, the tweeting and blogging went uninterrupted for two days. Unfortunately I had to leave half way through the second day but I believe I got the gist around the general themes that emerged from speakers such as Bill George, Patrick Lencioni, Gary Hamel, T Boone Pickens, and film legend George Lucas. Following are the over-arching messages that I took away from this powerful lineup: (more…)
One of the highlights of last week’s World Business Forum, for me, had to be the candid conversations with T. Boone Pickens and George Lucas. Both were couch-interviewed and held the audience captive with their stories and their wit.
T. Boone Pickens
Pickens’ accent had me riveted, too, as well as a bit homesick for my home-state of Texas. Reminding us that he was 70 years old before he made his first billion, he had a lot to say about the current state of both the economy and the environment.
teaching 2 nights a week. More than once I have arrived home somewhat surprised that I didn’t remember the drive. Has that happened to anyone else? Sure. But does that mean we’re passionate about driving? Not necessarily.
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