Before & After : Creative thinking in business

My wife had a creative idea for a Christmas Tree that became a Monahan family tradition for many years. We’d go to the corner tree stand and pick out, not the best tree, but the best top of a six foot tree. Because other than the upper three feet and the trunk, the rest of the tree was going to be kindling. (more…)

There’s a segment in Andy Dick’s Bush speechwriter parody right after he pinpoints topics (by throwing darts at stickies with words on them - war, taxes, muffin, etc.) “…then I sleep on them….” he says.

And at that he has the stickies scattered across his bed, then jumps on them in his Uncle Sam boxers, “…and I see what sticks…” only to awake in the morning with Post-its stuck all over his body. Bingo. A speech.

It’s a pretty funny segment in an uproariously funny video. The only part that’s not so funny is that most people aren’t this smart when they approach idea generation or problem solving.

The most prolific idea person in America totally believed in “sleeping on it.” And it led to thousands and thousands of ideas, 1042 of them patent-worthy. (more…)

I’ve often looked at Miles Davis as the grand daddy of creative growth.

Not so much because of his amazing creative accomplishments, but because of the way he surrounded himself with youth. And the older he got, the younger were his side men.

I don’t care if you never heard this master trumpet player, if you listen to most any samplings of his work; from his early career to middle years to his swan songs, so to speak, you’d have to be totally tone deaf not to hear his creative growth.

Miles Davis probably had many secrets to his continuous development. (Let’s hope it wasn’t the heroine.) But the one thing that always impressed me was the way he continually recruited youth to participate in his creative exploration. His steady stream of pianists alone included some of jazz’ biggest names, usually before they reached their prime. Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and others.

Who do you surround yourself with in your creative pursuits? (more…)

I love hearing about the thinking behind creative endeavors. I get a real charge out of watching the “making of “ bonus scenes on movie DVDs, sometimes more than the film itself. I eat up the stories behind breakthrough moments in the development of new products or entire technologies. I totally dig the “Behind the Music” shows on VH1. These glimpses into the creative process can be so revealing.”

Do you have any favorite magical creative moments? I’d love to hear them. Here are a few of mine. (more…)

…waiting for the next creative leap.

A great idea is conceived in a nanosecond. But which nanosecond?

Sometimes you must wait for the right nanosecond. The perfect opportunity.

Such is the case with what many experts believe is the greatest leap in the field of archeology. We had to wait nearly 1800 years for it.

I’ve always felt that the biggest ideas, the freshest thinking happens under the most extreme conditions; war, disease, pestilence. (How many ideas can you name that were conceived thanks to pestilence? Well, a few of the great Super Bowl TV spots happened thanks to advertisers pestering the ad agency guys. Okay, we’ll keep pestilence in the mix.)

So, if big problems encourage big thinking, why are there so many ordinary ideas in business? Is it that most of the time our problems aren’t big enough? (more…)

I can’t hide it. I do wish I’d written this book. The Houdini Solution, by Ernie Schenck. Heck, I don’t have to have written it. I just wish I had been the one to see so clearly this “thinking inside the box” perspective that Ernie built his book around. Not only is it brilliant, it’s damn true. Very often, the best ideas do happen in the box. And if you can’t succeed there, well, I think you’re in trouble. (more…)

This blog is quite new. I’m amazed and delighted to see the activity and diversity of commentary being generated in such a short time. Thanks to all visitors and participants.

Early on I’d like to make clear the context for these ramblings and, hopefully, the ensuing discussions. This is about creative thinking in business. Not this or that category, but the business world in general.

“Isn’t that a little broad, Tom?” you might ask.

Exactly. As Thomas Friedman tells us in his best seller, “The World is Flat,” today business is not made up of lots markets, it’s one immense free-for-all. (more…)

You don’t always have to create. Sometimes you can just recognize the potential for a great idea in something that already exists.

I believe you can divide the creative process into two fundamental methods, if you will; active and passive creativity. Active: consciously looking for new ideas. And, passive: simply being open to new ideas.

When you look at creativity with this in mind you might see a surprisingly large portion of fresh ideas emerge in this latter, more receptive manner. And one of my favorite categories of creative exploration that demonstrates this quite frequently is song writing. (more…)

I dare you to click on this URL. I double dare you, if the kids are around. (more…)

I’ve always been fascinated with where ideas come from. I mean they have to come from somewhere, right?

Sometimes it’s very clear to us where we got an idea. Some times it’s clear to others, too. Like when it’s so damn obvious.

Take comedians. They can often be quite topical. Over the years we’ve had the OJ jokes, the Martha Stewart jokes, the Howard Dean jokes, all inspired by the their subject’s headlines at the time.

It’s a joke in the ad business when it’s quite clear that the creators of a piece of work borrowed shamelessly (often outright steal) from the advertising industry award shows.

This image was created by The Ad Workers Local in Milwaukee for a program I ran there a few years ago.

You gotta’ love the headlines, here. For those not familiar with the book being spoofed, it’s called “Communication Arts.” The sub head of their yearly advertising awards issue normally reads Advertising Annual, not Advertising Manual. If you can’t read the ad parodies on the book cover; there’s “Did you ever get that not-so-fresh idea?” and “Just do it again.” (more…)