Quiet Your Left Brain

Don’t you sometimes feel like your left brain won’t let your right brain get a word in? There you are, waiting for that big aHa idea and all you can think about is the logical? And with the logical comes its dear friend judgment. Both of them squelch the right brain creativity. It’s like the left brain needs to be quiet just long enough for you to have a conversation with your right brain.

I recently read a quote in The Imagineering Workout, a book by Disney Imagineers, about this challenge:

“We recognize ideas as they form in our imagination, but often for unexpected or unusual ideas, the logical and judgmental aspects of our recognition system need to be preoccupied with other duties for these ideas to be considered. This is what happens when we are driving, exercising or dreaming.”

So true! We hear our imaginative voice when we are busy doing more mundane tasks. It’s why so many people share stories of their aha moment coming to them in the car or the shower. I know I get my best ideas when doing very basic tasks like putting away dishes or cleaning out my purse. As the quote above states, my left brain is preoccupied and I am able to hear my right brain and all its ideas.

We should all have go-to duties that help us preoccupy our left brains when we need that creative juice. My favorite trick is to brush the dog. I get great ideas amidst all the dog hair.

What are your go-to duties for quieting or preoccupying your left brain? When do you get your best ideas? Share in the comments section below and help us build a handbook of tools that quiet the left brain.

Can Ideas Really Come From Anywhere?

“Ideas for exhibits can come from anywhere. Visiting artists and scientists sometimes propose exhibits. Inspiration also comes from research articles, news stories, and even YouTube videos. Often, an exhibit emerges spontaneously when someone is just playing with stuff and seeing what happens.”

This text is directly from the website for the Exploratorium, a truly one of its kind interactive art, science, and human perception museum in San Francisco. I almost hate to call it a museum because I think it implies a lot of looking at things. At this museum, everything, I mean everything, is interactive. I have very fond memories of going to birthday parties at the museum where we would go through this thing called the Tactile Dome. The dome was this completely dark maze where we had to feel our way through. We went over rope, cement, fur and something slightly rubbery to find our way. It’s an experience I will never forget.

But, today I’m not writing about being interactive – although I love it. Instead I’m going to refer to the “ideas for exhibits can come from anywhere” portion of their site.

In your organization, do ideas come from everywhere or are they sequestered to a few innovative souls? Is the preverbal door open to everyone from the CEO to the janitor to the customer to the competitor?

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our little worlds and forget that awesome ideas are everywhere. In fact, I find that the best ideas come from the places I least expect them. Maybe it’s the different perspective or naïve intelligence that does it.

Many of us work on teams, in departments or as solopreneurs going far and wide to get ideas. And that can be difficult. My favorite trick to open up the funnel for more idea input is to talk to strangers. I know, weird! In the old days we horded our intellectual property and didn’t tell anyone our ideas in the fear that they might steal them. Today, however, open collaboration has become the norm. Websites like quirky.com and 99designs.com are successful thanks to open collaboration. In fact, I believe in order to thrive in the new economy we must accept the notion of open collaboration.

It’s the reason our IdeaJam sessions are so successful. We bring together a range of diverse perspectives and experiences – everyone from entrepreneurs and small business owners to corporate executives and big company employees – for open collaboration. Open collaboration then leads to a wealth of ideas. The truth is, no one person has all the answers but many people have nuggets of the answer.

So, if you aren’t in Denver and can’t come to an IdeaJam, go talk to a stranger…..
• Go sit alone in the company cafeteria and strike up a conversation with whoever joins you.
• Stop on a different floor and ask a completely different group of people what they would do if they were in your shoes.
• Working at a café today? Great, you can talk to just about anyone at a café.
• Have a best friend that has nothing to do with your work world? Perfect, ask for their naïve opinion.

Open collaboration is the way of the future. Embrace it!

Challenge Tree Exercise

Here is the Challenge Tree Template-Have at it!

Innovative Find: Brian Wansink and The Lunch Counter

”Putting fruit in pretty bowls at the end of the lunch line can increase fruit sales in schools by 75%.”

“Renaming zucchini to Fresh Spring Zucchini can increase student’s intake of vegetables otherwise overlooked for the gross factor by 25%.”

I know, I didn’t believe it either but then I read an article about Brian Wansick. Brian studies how humans interact with food and behaviors around eating. Recently, Charlene O’Connor, from the Plattsburgh, New York school system, called him with a problem…a fruit problem. Kids were not eating enough fruits and vegetables. As you are reading this you may think that the solutions is simple – offer more fruit and vegetables and take out the bad stuff. Brian, in this article by Edward Lewine, comments:

“While schools and nutritional advocates have been trying to get people to eat better for years, few have succeeded and Wansink thinks he knows why. Traditional weight-loss measures in which people deny themselves fattening foods, governmental attempts to tax or ban foods, and well-meaning efforts by people like chef Jamie Oliver to employ reason to get people to eat better create resistance.”

“When people are forced something against their will”, he says, “they rebel.”

What intrigues me about this article and about Brian isn’t just the noble cause of fighting the childhood obesity epidemic facing our country, although I heartily applaud the effort; no, it’s the innovative, yet obvious thinking that goes into his solutions for change. His ideas on transforming the lunch counter aren’t drastic and they certainly don’t fight our instincts. In fact, quit the opposite, they tackle kids’ eating habits through the lens of human behavior that is inherent to our being. Brilliant yet simple!

Brian shows us that in order to impact human behavior we must first seek to understand. Next, we must build our intended behavior changes on our natural instincts, not try to contradict them. As they say, “resistance is futile.”

Thank you Brian for being an Imaginibbles Innovative Find. Truly inspiring!

Do you have an innovative find you would like to share in the Imaginarium? Post a comment or two.

Why Can’t You See the Kissing Camels?

Woman One: “Wow! Look at the kissing camels!”
Woman Two: “Huh, what are you talking about? They’re just rocks.”
Woman One: “No look, they’re right there.”
Woman Two: “I’m looking but I don’t see much more than a pile of rocks!”
Woman One: “Right there, right where I’m pointing.”
Woman Two: “I see your finger but I don’t see any camels.”

This is the conversation I overheard as I was walking around the Garden of the Gods Park this past weekend. Of course, I couldn’t help but tune in. This type of random conversation stops someone like me right in their tracks.
These two women were having a very heated debate about the fact that one woman could see a formation in the rock affectionately known as the Kissing Camels, while the other women could only see a pile of rocks.

Doesn’t that conversation feel oddly close to home? You see something brilliant – an opportunity, an idea – and the person you are talking to only sees a pile of rocks. Much like the woman that could see the Kissing Camels, no matter how many times you point out the seemingly obvious, the other person just doesn’t get it. It can be very frustrating.

Depending on our mood and frame of mind we can either be woman one or woman two in this story. We can either stretch our minds and believe in the unbelievable or we can refuse to see more than the obvious elements staring us in the face.

Like woman one, once I let my imagination take over, the Kissing Camels were a delightful find in this massive rock structure.

So now I ask, where are you finding Kissing Camels and where are you seeing a pile of rocks? Today, are you more like woman one, with a little imagination or woman two, with a little too much skepticism?

When your battery hits 2%: No need to reboot, just plug in

I missed a meeting and a birthday. When I say missed I mean totally and completely forgot. It didn’t even occur to me that I had missed two critical dates until my meeting emailed me to find out if I was okay. At least they gave me the benefit of the doubt and didn’t assume I was flaking – which was the truth.

When I called to apologize she said, “That’s what happens when your battery gets down to 2%.” That statement couldn’t be truer. It got me thinking about when your laptop gets down to 10% battery and suddenly everything is moving slower, applications stop responding and you are in a desperate rush to save your work before the screen goes blank. You get that horrible feeling that is a mix of anxiety and stress as you realize that whether you like it or not, you are done working.

Well, that’s the state I found myself in the other day. We forget how important it is to take care of ourselves. Between the travel, speaking, consulting, board positions, and so on, I was cooked and didn’t even realize it. But let’s face it, life is busy and doesn’t tend to slow down just because you need a break. In fact, it does the opposite. Busy people get even busier which depending on your perspective can actually be a good thing.

To keep the momentum going we need to keep our batteries at an optimal level above the 90% battery life mark. When we are full of energy it’s much easier to tackle and conquer all life has to offer. When I got down to 2% the other day, I couldn’t fully check out to do a full scale, all hands on deck rejuvenation session (which I always encourage especially if it includes a spa). Instead, I had to keep going and find mini ways to get my mojo back. Here is a list of a few things I changed. Hopefully some of them will speak to you.

1) Aromatherapy travel spray: I spend many nights in hotels and unless it’s the heavenly bed at the W, I have a hard time falling asleep. I bought this tiny little bottle of relaxation scent. I spray it all over the bed before I get in and it lulls me into a state of calm. I bet the cleaning crew hates me for it but it’s a trigger for a good night’s rest and that matters.

2) iPad fever: I’ve always loved my iPad, but now I really love it! It’s replaced my computer for many things. I no longer need to lug my laptop to bed. Instead I grab the ipad. I find it encourages me to do a few things but not spend too many hours staring at the screen. I also find it travels well and can do almost anything I need on the road. No more heavy computer to carry around. Let’s face it, whatever you need…there’s an app for that.

3) White noise: Clearly, good sleep was an issue for me. Most often I was waking up tired which is a bad way to start the day! I turned off the TV at night and turned on the white noise. No more waking up in the middle of the night to weird images on my TV screen. And yes, it’s an app on my ipad.

4) Laugh: Laughter releases the good chemicals in our bodies. It helps relieve stress and often gives us a moments reprieve from the day to day grind. I have literally scheduled laughter into my day. Whether it’s a TV show on hulu, a youtube video or calling a funny friend, I make sure to get my fair share of laughter in daily.

5) Water Up: I know we all know this one but do you practice it? I used to grab for the nearest caffeine the minute any sign of fatigue hit. Now I reach for water. If after 3 cups of water I still want caffeine, than I can have it but mostly I find that water springs me back up.

6) Eminem: That’s right, I love his music. More importantly I find his music to be energizing. Find music that energizes and pumps you up. Play it during those down times. I find it particularly helpful around 3pm in the afternoon when I am starting to fade. Everyone is different so what works for me might not work for you. I also love Beastie Boys and Nina Simone. Strange right? If you don’t have it already, download Pandora. It’s free and conforms to your favorite music.

What’s your pump me up and keep me energized advice? Remember, you don’t have to do a total reboot, you just need to plug in!

Fun Changes Behavior

Can fun actually push us to change our behaviors for the better? What if infusing fun into our functional lives not only changes how we engage with the world, but it helps us do what is best for ourselves?

I recently came across www.thefuntheory.com, a pioneering individual, Kevin Richardson, asks the question, can fun change human behavior? A simply, yet incredibly powerful question. Through his project, a winner of the VW challenge, he has proven time and time again that fun can change human behavior, especially for the better. More people will obey the speed limit if going the speed limit is like winning the lottery. This is such a transforming, yet obvious idea that I wanted to share it with the community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcaKocRXCB4

More people will recycle if you make it an arcade game…

And, more people will skip the escalator and take the stairs if it makes music…

Enjoy the videos and ask yourself, where you can infuse fun to change your everyday behavior. Remember, fun doesn’t have to be about halting the serious work and taking a break to play. I think Kevin has taught us that fun should be incorporated into our actions and habits to instill positive change not only within ourselves, but also for the world.

To check out all the fun theory videos go to www.thefuntheory.com

Creativity is Sketchy

Sketch: [ a simply or hastily executed drawing or painting, especially a preliminary one, giving the essential features without the details] [ a rough design, plan or draft, as of a book] …..

As a child and even an adult I spent hours doodling outside the margins and sketching ideas that pop into my head. I’m far from the commercial definition of an artist but there is something about sketching that has the ability to bring ideas to life in a way words can’t. As the definition from dictionary.com states, it’s a simple representation without the details.

Sketching can be a powerful tool for exploring and generating a wealth of ideas. If you take out the need for perfection, a sketch can act as a simple starting point to drive new thinking. In fact, drawings of any kind can engage the right brain. The right brain is the more intuitive, holistic side of your mind. It likes patterns, new connections and sometimes, unexplainable thinking. You’ll find it will take you down a different train of thought. Think how powerful it will be to engage the whole brain in your meeting, discovering a range of thought paths!
Sketching not only let’s you engage holistic thinking, it also allows your mind to wander and play with a range of concepts. It helps you investigate the possibilities. Through sketching you can quickly and creatively expand and stretch the mental playing field. I often use sketching when I am trying to come up with multiple iterations of the same idea or explore various solutions to one challenge.

I encourage you to add sketching to your daily practice. No, I’m not asking you to become a showcase artist – although wouldn’t that be fun? When you pull out your notebook, journal or notepad at a meeting take a break from the written word and sketch out some of your thinking.
So here is my challenge to you…in your next meeting, ideation session or even personal journaling try to sketch out at least half of your thoughts. When you are done, take a look at what you’ve created. Did you venture to new ideas? Did you spark new thinking? Did you even have an aha moment? I think I just had one…oh ya!

Here are some tips to help you use sketchy creative in your practice:
1. White pages: We all know we need to keep a journal. I suggest buying one without lines so that you have more freedom to sketch.
2. Rainbow of color: Keep a packet of colored sharpies on hand at all times. Adding color to your rough sketches can add both dimension and depth to your visual thoughts.
3. No judgment: The beauty of sketching is that it is supposed to be rough and imperfect so don’t put on your judgment hat. Don’t worry about your skills, the perfection of the idea or if someone will see it. None of that matters when you are using sketching to visually bring thinking to life. Perhaps one day your sketches will be in the MOMA, but I’m guessing it will be shown as part of the great innovators of our time! More on the Imaginibbles Sketchy Creative idea another time!
4. Discipline: Commit to adding sketching to your journaling or note taking practice. To truly unleash your right brain and reap the benefits of this powerful tool it’s important to make this an ongoing part of your practice.

Upload your sketchy thinking and inspire us to harness our imaginations!

For you, in life, what’s the difference between being imaginative and being creative?

No blah blah post this week. I want to know what you think about the question in the title. Can’t wait to read, listen and learn from all your tidbits!!

Imaginibbles Game: Tidbits of Treasure Hunt #1

Arrrgggg…welcome to the Tidbits treasure hunt. The one and only treasure chest full of imaginative ideas, creative tools and innovative wonders to spark your imaginative superpowers. In the treasure chest you may even find freebies, discounts, a night at the movies or even a spa treatment….now that’s worth it’s weight in gold. Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Not sure what to do? Go onto your mobile device and download the QRCODE app (it’s free). Take a picture of this visual code with your app and find yourself in a new place with special Imaginibble tidbits just for you…

Have fun and enjoy the ride….buckle up….many more to come! You may even win a day at the spa or a night at the movies. Who knows where Hide and Seek will take you!