The Secret Ingredient

If there's one secret ingredient that separates the successful from the unsuccessful, the innovative from the unimaginative, the forward thinker from someone who accepts the status quo, or leaders from followers, it is curiosity. It is the curious thinker that will push us forward as a society. It is the curious thinker that will solve today's problems for customers or clients, and with a new spin that enables both parties to be successful. If you're not curious then you're not asking yourself questions. If you're not asking yourself questions, then it means you're satisfied with status quo.

In this digital age and the progressive world we live in, those that are satisfied with status quo will perish. It is hard to be an expert today when everything is changing so quickly. In the blink of an eye what was a trend or hot yesterday, is cold, off the boil and replaced by something new. In fact, clients don't need or want experts, they want curiosity and problem solving from their suppliers. It's only the curious mind that finishes the job and automatically starts to think about the next thing. It is only the curious mind that is looking one, two or five years into the future of your industry to ponder where the industry will be. It's only the curious mind that takes a leading brand or organisation and constantly pulls it apart to find the next great idea in administration, technology, sales, finance, logistics, supply or fullfillment.

One of the most important traits of any creative thinker is curiosity. It was what made Albert Einstein the creative genius we all admire. It's also what makes political leaders, religious heads, the best mums and most successful CEO's great. If you, your company or organisation simply want to be good, then stop asking questions. However, if you want to be truly outstanding, then develop a curious mind. Don't settle for the status quo, but think how you could be different tomorrow.

Move Over Ikea

VilaSofa is a furniture store that opened in Amsterdam in October 2008, and is positioned somewhere between an IKEA store and a conventional furniture store. It's claim to fame is reasonable prices and a guaranteed 48-hour delivery of all displayed models. The Amsterdam-based design company Tjep faced the challenge of making all of this look cool. It zeroed in on the warehouse concept but with a homey twist, and it focused on the important aspect of speed and the transitional nature of the place where factory-born furniture lives while waiting to be taken to your home.

Combining warehouse and home isn’t easy, but Tjep accomplished it by suggesting both. They used warehousing and transportation symbols as the basis for gigantic cutouts and wall graphics, and created a white wall with cutouts of chandeliers, windows and ornate balconies that imply a villa and refer to your home as your castle. Staff ride around in cute cash-register trolleys so that customers don’t need to go to them.

Character Project

Character Project is USA Network's ongoing artistic initiative committed to celebrating America's character - the interesting, dazzling and distinctive people from all walks of life. In the summer of 2008, 11 of the most acclaimed photographers in the world set out to capture the character of America. The Character Project website, which explores the results of that search (link below) is interesting to me for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it goes to show just how engaging photography can be when you capture real people in real situations. The David Eustace collection of photos form part of that exploration of American character, portraits taken of real people whilst travelling on Route 50 across the USA. What a wonderful way to ignite your creative spirit by photographing real people in the real world, in real environments, in real time. If nothing else just take a look at the website, kick back and let your imagination go. 

I also like this site is because I believe marketers quite often forget to market to real people. They get caught up in research and make believe and forget to get out of the corporate boardroom and walk amongst real people and hear their problems, pains, sorrows and stories. This website is a treat for bringing you back to real characters. 

Take a look!

Click here for website

New Associations

The secret of creativity and innovation is to get away from the logical train of thought and build unusual and different associations. This ad for Harley Davidson is a classic example of an unusual association that talks to the values of the brand. It's not often you would associate the raw freedom and power of a Harley with an old bloke in a wheelchair!

I believe that you can begin to develop interesting associations by using creative thinking tools like the Spiders Web, Ask Einstein Cards, Mind Mapping, Forced Connections, or Word Associations, to train your brain to think in interesting ways through practice, ie walking around and always looking for possibilities. The same thinking should apply whether you run a sandwich shop, a car dealership, work for the Government (well, maybe that's a stretch!), drive a taxi, or work for an insurance company. In order to truly innovate and find new ways of doing things, you need to create new associations.

Click the link below for a free podcast on how you can unlock your great ideas by using tools to teach your brain to think differently.

 Click here for free podcasts

Email 'n Walk

The Email 'n Walk application for the iPhone allows you to safely compose emails on the go. Using the iPhone's built in camera to show you what's in front of you whilst you're walking, you can now compose and send emails while keeping an eye on what is happening around you.

My response to this.....You've got to be kidding me! You can't tell me that the average person is not able to take the time out to go for a walk without having to email or check texts, so much so that they need this application to enable them to do both! I'm a fan of the iPhone, but I have to say this app is going too far.

Do we really think that we are that important and that busy that we need to email whilst we walk from point A to point B? What ever happened to just chilling, relaxing, looking up, being inspired, taking in the stimulating surroundings and solving the problems of the world whilst getting some fresh air and disconnecting from the technology of the world?

If you buy this app you might as well send yourself an email kissing your creativity and imagination goodbye.