Report 103

Your newsletter on applied creativity, imagination, ideas and innovation in business.

Wednesday 2 October 2013
Issue 238

Hello and welcome to another issue of Report 103, your twice-monthly (or thereabouts) newsletter on creativity, imagination, ideas and innovation in business.

As always, if you have news about creativity, imagination, ideas, or innovation please feel free to forward it to me for potential inclusion in Report103. Your comments and feedback are also always welcome.

Information on unsubscribing, archives, reprinting articles, etc can be found at the end of this newsletter.

Note

Most articles in this issue of Report 103 can also be found in the archives together with dozens more articles, papers and thoughts.

In this issue of Report 103

Packaging
Jeffrey at the Brussels Imagination Club
Creativity of the Artist: Continually Try New Ideas
Musicians may be most creative 'when not actually playing instrument'
Twitter Founder's Innovation Secret

Packaging

This article has been moved to Creativity Articles.

Jeffrey at the Brussels Imagination Club

I am doing a workshop on "Your Cosmic Creativity" at the Brussels Imagination Club on Wednesday, 9 October. This will be a fun experiment for me. For the most part, my professional creativity workshops have been very much based on the science of creativity and innovation. My usual methods are modelled after proven methodology.

However, I am keen to try out a more new-age, spiritual approach to creativity -- in order to see how people respond to it. That's what this short, experimental workshop will be all about. If you are in Brussels on 9 October, come join us!

The Brussels Imagination Club meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month in order to hold an experimental 90 minute workshop on just about any topic. It's a platform for professional facilitators and trainers to try out new ideas as well as a place where people who have an interest in running workshops can try out their skills. It's a great place to meet new, international people, share idea and learn.

There are now Imagination Clubs in the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. And if you like the concept, you are welcome to set up your own Imagination Club. Co-founder Andy Whittle and I would only be too happy to support you.

Jeffrey at Your Next Event

One of the great things about the Brussels Imagination Club is that it provides me with a forum to try out innovative, new ideas before incorporating them into my professional repertoire. This keeps my professional workshops fresh, creative and up-to-date.

If you are interested in my speaking at your next event or running an interactive workshop that will boost your team's creativity, get in touch with Rob Bigge (+32 2 540 81 33) of The Greenhouse Group, which represents me, follow this link, or just reply to this newsletter and he'll be in touch.

Creativity of the Artist Three: Continually Try New Ideas

By Jeffrey Baumgartner

Artists love to experiment by trying out new techniques, tools and media. When I visit a gallery or museum, I am always paying attention to what artists have done and how they have conveyed their message. Sometimes something in nature inspires me. Sometimes, the manner in which a person sits inspires me to want to paint that position. Nearly every artist is like that. No artist wishes to paint the same thing, the same way again and again.

Sometimes a new technique works. Sometimes it does not. Occasionally the result is so bad I decide to paint over the canvas and try again. In my sculpting days, I would tear apart work I was unhappy with and start over.

Sometimes the result is wonderful and inspires a new approach to painting. Most artistic movements started through such experimentation.

In business, however, this kind of experimentation is much rarer. People learn how to do a task the right way and then do it the same way every time. They are uncomfortable about changing the way they do things. Often not doing something the right way results in reprimand. For example, if you are required to file a monthly report for your department, you probably do it the same way every month. Only the details of what you report might differ. Why not experiment? Try presenting information in a new way, including cartoons to illustrate results or formatting the report in a newer, more graphic manner.

Why not do these things? Probably because it would be more work, your colleagues might question why you are diverging from the standard approach and your boss might reject the new approach to reporting. Frankly, those are good reasons not to experiment at work!

Small Businesses

In fact, young, small businesses often provide more room for experimentation. Management is still finding its way, and so is not so set. As a result, they are more likely to be open to new approaches and experimentation. Indeed, entrepreneurs launching new businesses are often flexible and experiment with ideas in order to tweak their businesses. This is why new markets are often initially cornered by innovative start-ups rather than big companies. The former are more willing to experiment.

Not an artist?

What can you do if you are not an artist? If you run your own business, experiment. Try out new ways of marketing yourself, doing things, selling. See what happens. Learn. If you work in a big organisation, encourage people on your team to experiment. You might do this by offering small rewards for the most creative report -- simply to encourage people to experiment. If you do not have a team, be daring. Experiment now and again. See what happens. You may find more efficient and effective ways to work. You may also find that experimentation is more acceptable than you believe it to be! Start small in your experimentation and see what happens.

You?

What is it like in your place of work? Is experimentation welcome or discouraged? I'd love to know!

The Baumgartner Report

"I was asked to do something creative for the Boston Anger Management Seminar. So, I'm going to do a workshop on 'Extracting Revenge with Common Kitchen Utensils'" - The Baumgartner Report, 27 September 2013.

The Baumgartner Report is a new, twice weekly (and soon to be weekly) irreverent, silly and hopefully entertaining cross between a newsletter and a blog. You can read the back issues on line and subscribe to get The Baumgartner Report in your email-box regularly.

Musicians may be most creative 'when not actually playing instrument'

Researchers are looking into when and how musicians are creative. Not surprisingly, one finding is that musicians are more likely to be creative about music when not actually playing an instrument -- at least not a physical instrument. Read more in The Guardian.

Twitter Founder's Innovation Secret

Ev Williams, founder of Twitter and other successful internet start-ups claims the secret to success on the web is not to come up with something radically new, but rather "the real trick is to find something that’s tried and true — and to do it better." Read more in Wired.com