by John Brooker | Sep 6, 2015 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Free Articles, Innovate
“As innovation becomes a management discipline, there is a risk that it is seen as the end rather than the means.” John Brooker How can you start to innovate? A while ago I was travelling quite a lot, delivering training courses for a client in Asia. One Saturday, I arrived at Beijing airport and went to the ATM to withdraw cash on my UK debit card. I entered the PIN, a few seconds later the cash appeared and I got a little kick of satisfaction. Every time I use a cash dispenser abroad I get the same kick because I led the original team that made it possible for people to get cash from machines throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa using a Visa Card. No matter that it was almost thirty years ago when we started, that feeling returns. It is this feeling that I want to pass on to others when I facilitate workshops; to get that great kick when something you have put a lot of creativity and effort in to achieves successful fruition. So here are six tips to help you innovate: Don’t talk about innovation. Innovate! Don’t learn to innovate. Innovate to learn. Don’t leave it up to a few. Have everyone innovate. If THEY won’t innovate, innovate yourself. Don’t boil the ocean. Start small and scale up. Commit to move the proposition forward. Tip 1 – Don’t Talk About Innovation. Innovate! As innovation becomes a management discipline, there is a risk that it is seen as the end rather than the means. Many organisations talk too much about innovation but don’t innovate. In...
by John Brooker | Apr 2, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Creative Gorilla # 92 Process is a great tool, but have a way around it to avoid getting stuck… “Nowadays, we have become so obsessed with process, we go to restaurants and eat the menu!” Unknown Are your processes a burden? Many of you will enjoy listening to music and will use or be aware of iTunes, the Apple media download service, which allows you to purchase and listen to music on your PC. Recently, I have been enthused by a new service on iTunes called “Genius”. With this service, you click on a track you like, click the Genius button and it instantly provides a playlist of up to 99 songs to complement your selection. In addition, it lists similar tracks you might like to listen to and buy. I now use the Genius process regularly and this led me to think about my old “process” of music selection. Essentially, a song would pop in to my head and I would pull out a CD and play the album. The problem was that out of my large collection of CDs I probably only played ten, as I tended to play my favoured albums. Playing single tracks from others was a chore. When I bought an iPod, I transferred lots of albums on to it and I made up a few playlists. But again I found myself listening to the same ones. In other words, the process limited my exposure to new stimulation and so my music listening became somewhat stale. This thinking led me on to a recent conversation with a friend. He had mentioned that...
by John Brooker | Mar 30, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Creative Gorilla # 90 When you need to meet a customer’s need quickly, there’s a lot to be said for a prototype… “I love these emails. I would really love them if you did podcasts” A Creative Gorilla reader, in an e-mail. Are you prototyping yet? The above quotation popped in to my e-mail box at the beginning of the month. Should I do a Podcast? I mulled over it for a week or so. “Nobody would want to listen,” “My voice sounds terrible on recordings,” “I haven’t got a clue how to do a podcast.” Oh yes, I had a fine list of excuses not to do it, but one day, with an hour to spare, I took the plunge, just because someone had asked for it. I researched software programmes for recording podcasts which took just fifteen minutes on the web, thanks to a handy review. I selected Propaganda because it was rated as simple, functional and good value. Downloading it direct from the US took ten minutes, a Visa Card and a willingness to invest USD 49. I have a microphone so plugged it in, looked at the tutorial (highly unusual for a man, that) and set to work recording. I was in need of silence. Cue calls from my wife, questions from my children and a loud presenter on kids TV. I ended up in the bedroom. Peace! I began recording and a neighbour set off loud fireworks. Not the best creative climate, but all creativity has its obstacles. Eventually, I completed recording and played it back. “Er, umm, ahh,” smacking of the...
