by John Brooker | Jan 24, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 24 Tune your creative antennae to be much more sensitive with the 5 “Ds”. Miracles, you do not have to look for them. They are there, 24/7, beaming like radio waves around you. Put up the antenna, turn up the volume – snap… crackle… this just in, every person you talk to is a chance to change the world… Hugh Elliott, Standing Room Only weblog, May 6, 2003 (The blog is not for those of a sensitive nature) This week I took a taxi to Cairo airport. Being a car passenger in Cairo invariably leads you to close your eyes and hope, (the drivers have their eyes closed already), but this was 7.00 a.m. on a Friday with little traffic around. Even so my taxi was “cut up” by a speeding driver. A kilometre further up the road on a bend the speedster lit his hazard flashers and slowed. My driver took the opportunity to overtake and accelerated. Every antenna in my body stared resonating, “Why are his hazard lights on? Something is wrong… why the hazards?” and I clung to the hand strap. (Seat belts? Hah!). Rounding the bend at 100 kilometres per hour (my eyes glued to the speedometer) we hit an accident scene. My driver braked, skidded on spilt oil and we began scraping along the central reservation. My antennae were right. Antennae are useful (if you are in control!) Before the launch of the Creative Gorilla, I was concerned I might have insufficient inspiration to move past five articles. The impetus to start writing was the advice Michael Neill gave...
by John Brooker | Jan 20, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 20 How do you obtain the right balance of operation and innovation? “This coffee plunges in to the stomach…. the mind is aroused and ideas pour forth like the battalions of the Grand Army on the field of battle. Memories charge at full gallop… the Light Cavalry of comparisons deploys itself magnificently, the artillery of logic hurries in with their train of ammunition and flashes of wit pop up like sharp shooters.” Honore de Balzac, Author and Journalist “So was that decaffeinated coffee you had, Honore?” John Brooker Is your organisation balancing operation and innovation correctly? In my office I start up my brand new (expensive) computer. It has a noisy fan. Box it up and return it. Fan replaced, I fire it up. No sound and the memory reader doesn’t work. I wonder at the money they spend on advertising when they can’t get the basics right. In my car I drive in to a motorway service station to buy a coffee. The billboard adverts extol the virtues of their Italian coffee. “A decaff coffee to take away please.” “Sorry” says the lady behind the counter, “we haven’t got any lids.” “No lids?” I reply, bemused. “No, we’ve only got six cups left too.” I think she is proud of that. Pushed for time and not wanting hot coffee in my lap, I leave without coffee and muse on the logistical planning that leaves a coffee store without the basic needs to trade. After twenty articles, most of you will realise I am a raving fan of creative thinking and innovation....
by John Brooker | Jan 19, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 19 You should give yourself time to think and innovate. “Exit, pursued by a bear”. William Shakespeare – stage direction, in “The Winter’s Tale”. “Exit, in pursuit of a beer”. John Brooker – seeking direction in a Russian winter’s tale. Last month I was being driven from an airport in Moscow to the hotel. The driver had limited English (though better than my three words of Russian) but was very talkative. As we passed a large advertising hoarding next to a forest he said, “Fifteen years ago my friend’s…” I anticipated a tale of brave heroes “…car was hit by a moose there”. I laughed. He continued, “In this forest we have moose and er… pork?” “Wild boar?” I suggested. “Da, da, in the forest, moose, pig, but no beer.” I looked at him, puzzled, I guess no beer would ruin the barbeque and then I translated correctly. “Ah, BEAR!” He nodded. “Da, da, BEAR. Beer you drink yes?” We both laughed but I wondered, shamefully, if a mouse rather than a moose had hit his friend’s car! During the ongoing very slow journey, the “moose, pork and beer” trilogy triggered off the memory of a game called Giants, Wizards and Goblins that I use in some workshops. Some of you have played it. For those who haven’t, it is similar to the children’s game “Rock, Paper, Scissors” but acted out with the body. In the game, Giants kill Wizards, Wizards kill Goblins and Goblins kill Giants, so it shouldn’t take you too much effort to see how the new...
by John Brooker | Jan 18, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 18 You have to be a bit brave to innovate, but it is worth the risk… “It’s a different kind of scary.” Michael Neill World Class Coach Do you ever fail to put forward an idea because of the risk of rejection? Next week (by the time you read this it will be over), I am piloting a new course, “Teeming with Llamas”, using llamas to help people understand team working. I have planned it, rehearsed it and invited along a group of friends that I know will provide honest and contructive feedback. Even so, I am nervous that it may go wrong. What has that to do with creative leadership? Simply, for innovation to happen it requires a number of factors, one of which is to be able to face risks. In the book, “How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work“, by Dave Allen et al, the authors call this “Bravery”. I hesitate to use that term in my case but, using the llamas for context, let’s take a look at what they call: “The five steps to creative bravery”. (I have adapted a few points for brevity). Step 1: Face your fear ~ go your own way and discuss your fears. One of my fears was that people would think using llamas to develop learning would be a ridiculous idea. Indeed, I did get a few wry grins from people I discussed it with. But I got sufficient positive feedback to give it a try. Step 2: Know your comfort zone. I knew that I would put...
