I have been applying Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week recommendations on outsourcing and simplifying life, and must say that it’s been quite helpful. While I am no where close to getting down to an actual “4 hour workweek,” I am checking e-mail a lot less, not indulging in so much content (i.e. RSS feeds, blogs, tv news, etc.), delegating a lot more, and am a lot less stressed. One of the exercises in the book is to create a 6 month dream line which forces you to really think about what you want to do (e.g. Taking a two week RV trip across the US.), be (e.g. professional photographer) and have (e.g. MacBook Air) what you want. The next step is to figure out how much it will cost and then how you are going to fund your dreamline. Amazingly, I was stuck on this and really had to think about these things before they became clear.

This is the problem with the way we perceive life; society feels like we all need to work like hell until we are 65, then we can retire. Do I really want to wait that long to retire? I think Tim is right in creating dreamlines, taking mini retirements, pulling oneself out of the 9-5 rat race, and joining the New Rich (NR) club. It’s amazing how new possibilities start with a simple change in mindset. Can you really get to a 4 hour workweek? Tim shows you how in his book, but it really starts with you believing it can be done.

via FourHourWorkWeek.com

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Lightning in a Bottle is a “proven system to create new ideas and products that work.” So far it has great reviews on Amazon and looks to be a good read. Innovating, particularly in larger organizations, is never easy as bureaucracy and day to day fires always seem to take precedent. David Minter and Michael Reid provide anecdotal approaches to overcoming corporate obstacles by focusing on less ideas, decreasing bureaucracy by decreasing the number of people on the team, and keeping ideas simple in theory and communication (”Less words is more”). Duh? In reality, keeping things simple , especially in corporate organisms, is easier said than done unless there is a strong leader to make the calls and break the rules. Everyone wants to have their say, people have agendas (career) and “simple “takes time, effort and focus. I look forward to reading this one and hope there is a focus not only on process, but selecting the right people for innovation.

Honestly, after reading their 10 reasons why ideas fail, I do have some reservations (which makes me want to read Lightening in a Bottle even more).

Trying to sell things people don’t want to buy.

Okay, this simply should not be on the list. Products that sell the most are things that people did not know they did not know they needed (ie. iPod). You really do not know if something is going to sell unless you get it out in the market. I love Japan’s Akihabara (Electronic City). Companies like Sony and Panasonic create stuff and dump it here to see if it will sell. If it does, then they bring it to the masses.

The ideas don’t make financial sense.

Yes, the product must be profitable. Of course, one never knows if more marketing is going to be required to get the word out and a lot of times products do not scale as predicted.

Giving up too soon on good ideas, which are often big ideas.

What is a good idea and what is a bad idea?

Usually most people think the best ideas will never work to begin with. Look at the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Hubble’s successor. It will orbit Earth from far beyond the moon and can not be serviced.The telescope was shot down when first conceived a decade ago because 10 dependent technologies had not yet been developed, let alone proven. Good or bad idea? Depends on who is driving it.

Pushing bad ideas for too long.

JWST is set for launch in 2010 and 9 of the ten dependent technologies have passed. Even if the telescope does not launch the development of these technologies will find other, useful applications. What is too long?

No separation of good ideas from bad ideas, so money is wasted.

How does one know if something is a bad idea without failing?

Thinking small.

Yep,  the only reason I do not have a question about.

Delegating idea development to junior people.

Hmm, not sure about this one. What is a “junior person”? This is where I think most thought leaders pushing innovation have a ways to go with their theories. It’s not about whether their junior or senior, it is far more important if they are the right people in my book.

Not having specialized talent — idea factories or idea experts — to develop ideas.

What? Ideas are just ideas and the fewer experts the better. It’s more important to have people who can do things and keep prototyping costs to a bare minimum. Of course Minter and Reid are really selling their service as idea experts so this a an expected plug from them. Importantly, they do not “do” innovation from their list of services.

No process, or a poor process, for developing ideas.

If you have the right people, process takes care of itself. It’s more important to have a process for testing ideas.

No real, important differences in the idea versus the competition.

I don’t know about this one. The only important difference is if your product is better (quality, functionality, delivery, beauty, etc.).  Being different for the sake of being different is not necessarily a good strategy.

I am sure “Lightening in a Bottle” has helpful suggestions and approaches to creating new ideas and I look forward to the read.  Hopefully the book will answer my questions.

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This is a snapshop of an upcoming book by Jeremy Gutsche on the art of watching trends, identifying winners and innovation culture. The list mainly focuses on the trend hunting and ideation side, and Jeremy admits that he will focus on innovation more in his book. This will be interesting to contrast and compare to the work already out there. Perhaps it will be a Peter Drucker meets Jonathan Ive or something (theory + practice).

Here’s my short list:

• See a compelling vision for the future.
• Overcome obstacles and status quo till you puke.
• See it through to reality (vs. mediocrity).
• Do it again…

via Trend Hunter

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Well, Copernicus’ birthday came and went (Feb. 19th) and I am sure it was a fleeting thought at best for 99.99% of the world. I was only made aware of it because I subscribe to Wired News.

It immediately reminded me of a great book on the origins of the Universe by Simon Singh (The Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe). The author does a great job highlighting the people behind the theories, technological breakthroughs and stages of status quo (religious and scientific) without getting muddled too much in science. From Aristarchus, the fifth century BC Ancient Greek astronomer who theorized a sun centered Universe, to the COBE Project, which provided the evidence (CMB radiation variations) to scientifically prove the Big Bang theory in 1992, you can get your arms around what it took to prove something so complex.

The creativity, determination and insanity of people (Aristarchus, Copernicus, Kelper, Einstein, Alpher, etc.) to just go out and disprove reality (i.e. Earth centered Universe) without having or waiting for the necessary technology (i.e. Telescope) is inspiring. There wasn’t an “It can’t be done,” or “Why bother?” in their minds. They simply could not help themselves and spent their lives doing the best they could with whatever means they had. In doing so, they pushed the limits of technology by inspiring others to come up with better ways of seeing and measuring (i.e. Galileo, Hubble, Smoot). Who wouldn’t want to help some 15 year old kid, which happened to be Einstein in this case, figure out whether or not he or she could see himself in the mirror when traveling the speed of light?

One thing is for sure, there are no limits to creativity and we were all put here to ask more questions than provide answers. So what is your Big Bang?

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I am in the middle reading a few books and decided to throw another one in the mix. What the heck, it’s only another 100 pages. The Book of Five Rings is something I read 7 years ago and decided to re-read it because of the first page in the book. It reads:

The Winning Strategy

1) Do not harbor sinister designs.
2) Diligently pursue the Path of Two-Swords-as-One.
3) Cultivate a wide range of interests in the arts.
4) Be knowledgeable in a variety of occupations.
5) Be discrete regarding one’s commercial dealings.
6) Nurture the ability to see the truth in all matters.
7) Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters.
9) Do not engage in useless activity.

Miyamoto Musashi, the books original author, was a Samurai during the late 1500s and early 1600s. While Musashi-san is one of Japan’s most prolific Samurais, with an undefeated record, he later when on to become skilled craftsman, sculpting in wood and metal, as well as a calligrapher. He applied Zen and the same process of mastering the way of the Samurai to these other areas of his life, eventually reaching enlightenment.

It’s all about the “way.”

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I saw this post on Slashdot about the inventor of the Walkman, Nobutoshi Kihara, leaving Sony. Kihara-san biefly explains the process behind the Walkman’s creation and that Sony still has the genes to innovate.

I don’t know why I thought of this, but reading Kihara’s story made me think of the book, Shoshaman. (After reading the book I realized that I wanted to be an entrepreneur). In Japanese, “Shosha” means trade and of course, “man” means man. Together it more or less means corporate (yes) man. It’s been a decade since I read the book, but I could not help thinking about Kihara-san and his remaining years at Sony after the Walkman. What were those last days like? Was he innovating? One may never know.

In corporate japan, people were/are more or less provided a job for life. While it is changing, there still remains an obligation by coporations to keep people employed at just about all cost. This is especially true for those grandfathered in before the mid 1990s. While coporations feel obligated to keep people employed, they do have there tricks in getting them to quit - “the window job (mado giwa zoko).” Instead of firing someone, corporations will sometimes give them a mado giwa zoku with absolutely nothing to do. People in these positions come to work and gaze out the window thinking of what life would have been like if they just listened and did not fail (take a risk). Man, I would be writing a business plan, calling potential investors, getting a prototype made, etc! But that is not how employees in corporate japan think as they honor obligation with unwavering duty.

Anyway, Shoshaman is about a corporate “yes man” who has great ideas of his own, but would never take the risk himself to realize them. He is married with kids, and has a mistress. He shares his vision with the mistress during bed talk bolstering his bravado (talk is cheap of course). One thing leads to another and he ends up in a “window job,” and more or less at a dead end. The mistress goes away and Shoshaman grapples with his family life and social deterioration. Years go by, and he reconnects with his mistress. Ironically, she has become a multi-millionaire by executing his ideas! In the end, Shoshaman takes a risky opportunity to expand his company’s business in the US and in the end does well. His family life returns back to normal (less the mistress) and he is alive.

I read the book on a flight to Narita (Tokyo) when I was 27, and promised myself that I would never become a Shoshaman with a mado giwa zoku. I began searching for a business to start, which eventually lead to the creation of the BlackCoat. It’s interesting how things turn out and I know I would have gone nuts had I stayed in my corporate job.

“Take a chance. Life is a chance. The man (person) who goes the furthest generally is the one who is willing to do and dare.” Andrew Carnegie

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Here is a first draft of the above book by Charles Leadbeater, which focuses on “innovation by the masses not for the masses.”

Courtesy of TED:

With “We Think” he tries to go beyond that and describe how the increasing involvement of “large groups of committed and knowledgeable amateurs, working without pay, are creating highly collaborative forms of organization which operate with little hierarchy and bureaucracy and yet mobilize resources of a scale to match the biggest corporations in the world” and analyze what that means for the future of society and businesses. “Thank to low-cost technology, many more consumers can become producers at least some of the time (…) The next big thing will be us, our power to share and develop ideas without having to rely on formal organizations”.

In the spirit of mass collaboration, Charles is asking for comments. Peer power! Way cool.

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Jim Haviland sent me this book to read and apply to KOYONO. It’s a great story on the trials, tribulations and success of a company that just wanted to make great products (they themselves would use), help save the Planet, and have fun. I became intrigued by the lifestyle of the author, Yvon Chouinard, who is the founder and owner of Patagonia. I immediately Googled “Crazy Rock Climbing.” Here is what I found. Man, these guys are nuts! However, I am not sure Yvon would be one to recommend this kind of speed free solo climbing. Then again, in the book it shows him scaling the Great Wall of China and he jokingly comments that its level of diffculty was only a 5.8. That is .1 more than the wall this guy was filmed climbing!

Jay

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I saw Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, speak at a recent National Governer’s Meeting (on C-Span) and was impressed by his insights on the need for an education system that nurtures creativity. He goes so far as to suggest that creativity is as important as literacy and that children are unfortunately forced into specialized subject matter and ways of thinking. He points out that there are outdated hierarchies in both education and the workforce, which were formed from the industrial revolution and no longer as relevant in today’s fast pace, constantly changing and uncertain world. I was a little surprised to see that most of the governors did not seem to get the link between creativity and innovation. It’s no wonder the arts are at the bottom of the list in the hierarchy of learning and why so many US companies are outsourcing “cool.” Where is the US going with standardized testing and arts programs being cut? Only time will tell, but countries like the UK, South Korea and China are moving education in a new direction and adopting some of Sir Ken’s thought leadership.

Here is a rather fun video archive of Sir Ken talking about creativity and education. Enjoy!

Jay

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