Creative Democracy

I was in Adelaide recently and was listening to the closing remarks given by the leader of an organisation when I heard the phrase 'creative democracy'. Although it was directed at the audience, it rung loudly in my ears as a great statement. Creative Democracy . What did he mean by it? He wanted every person in the organisation to feel that their ideas were valued. Instead of some people believing that they were 'just' a receptionist, 'just' a forklift driver or 'just' a finance controller, his intention was to ensure that each person felt empowered, valued and rewarded in their role, to give them the confidence to develop their own ideas. The lesson for me to take back to managers that I speak to, is to eradicate the words 'I am just' a receptionist, sales guy or a simple office worker within their organisations, because that is an immediate ceiling that will create a barrier to people coming up with great ideas. If employees don't believe they are valued, they won't think their ideas have value and consequently their ideas will die inside them. Great leaders who develop an environment of creativity and innovation have a creative democracy where EVERY persons idea or ideas are valued in some way. Some ideas are big, some will be small and some will be a stepping stone for others to build upon. Many good ideas in many organisations die on the vine because there isn't creative democracy and people do see themselves as 'just a....'. Those words should be eradicated from not only the vocabulary of the creative leader, but also from the whole organisation. That is what will start you on the road to creative democracy.

Getting Crafty

Recently in The Espresso we wrote an editor's note on finding your canvas or that creative notion that will unlock your imagination and your great ideas. We found a brilliant idea which will help you find what your canvas is. Based in the US, TechShop is the invention focused equivalent of a fitness club. Here is how it works. You pay a monthly fee and you get access to all these tools, equipment, instructions and a community of creative and supportive people to help you create. Each TechShop is massive and is full of welders, punch holes and every bit of equipment you may need to make your imaginative ideas come to life. What's more you are surrounded by people who are there with the same spirit of creativity that can lend a hand. There are even 3D printers for personal prototyping and a wide range of classes that can train you on using different bits of equipment. Mark Hatch CEO of TechShop says 'the mission of TechShop is to engage in and empower everybody from the hobbyist to inventors, entrepreneurs, artists and students by providing sophisticated machines and tools in a large workshop for members '.

This seems like a great idea particularly when we are living in a world of minimisation and cutbacks where not every bloke can have a shed for tinkering in his back yard. Now you have the ultimate shed at your disposal for the sake of a simple membership. 

Home For Sale

There are those that allow advertising on their car or on their social web pages but we think that this might be just going a little bit too far. Californian based mobile ad start up Adzooki has just launched a program where in return for Adzooki making your mortgage repayments, they paint your house as giant advertising billboards. You have to own your home (it can't be rented or leased). If you do it you have to leave your home emblazoned with these advertisments for 3 months and in some cases up to a year. Now Adzooki will paint your house that is all the sides apart from the roof, windows, doors etc and they will also pay your mortgage for as long as the house carries the ads. CNN reported that the company had over one thousand applications which probably says more about the state of the economy and peoples level of debt than about the concept, but time will tell whether this idea takes off.

Bond Cool

The Espresso is all for cool new gadgets, so when we heard about a new mobile phone that is being produced by Aston Martin, the British brand behind supercars associated with 007 and the James Bond films we had to write about it. It is said to be the latest and greatest and certainly the world's coolest communications handset. The CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone is produced under licence by Canadian luxury phone maker Mobiado and features a transparent touch screen made from solid sapphire crystals. Packed on either side of the phone is all the usual technical stuff like a battery and sim card, while the solid sapphire crystal base allows you to see through the phone which displays the multiple icons or apps that you would normally have on your telephone. Before you get too excited, the phone probably won't go into mass production but will instead be used as a promotional tool for a new range of Aston Martin badged mobile phones which are due to go on sale next month.