Pre-Ramble: What was I thinking?! … Barack’s poll numbers are down, so I can just stroll in at the last minute to hear his speech at the little DFL pep rally on the University of Minnesota campus??  Despite the forecast for rain, it turned out to be a lovely day; lots of energy buzzing around on a too-warm-to-be-crisp football Saturday.

Walking blithely along, I’m all, “Going to see the President … la-de-da-de-da … “

And then …. Wrought-iron barricades lining the main drag … yellow tape drawn around entire buildings … faux slackers smoking outside the Starbucks with wires coming out of their collars …

And then … The Line.

O-M-G … Block after block after turn-the-corner block … 12,000 people strung out in a single file line … It’s is a pretty impressive thing. And daunting.

Well, so, if it hadn’t have been such a clear-cut case of, “No way are you getting in there … and even if you do, you are going to be too WAY WAY far away from any meaningful sightline to the President,” I might have hung in there for what was sure to be another 3 or 4 hours. Plus, I would have had to give up my cheetah-print umbrella, which, along with knives, guns and bottled water, is considered a weapon by campus security. The deciding factor was actually that I had to be back up in suburbia by 5:00 to get ready for a night out with friends to see some Canadian guitar player guy. Whatever.

Cut to me slicing through a seared scallop as the main act strolls out onto the stage. The venue is a quasi-intimate jazz/dinner club in downtown Minneapolis. You’ve seen it — low black platform stage jutting out like a peninsula into clusters of candlelit tables and uncomfortable chairs. Performers can play their music up-close-and-personal – you can see their fingernails.

Where’s the beef? So, Mr. low-key guitar guy, in jeans and shirt-tails, ambles over to the mike and makes a few crowd-pleaser Canada jokes while tuning up what looks like a curly metal snarl at the end of his instrument. I’m thinking, “Who is this guy? If he’s not wearing a meat suit or headed off to jail, how good a musician can he really be?” … And then he unleashes this:

Who’da thunk it? Far beyond humming and strumming, this guy OWNED that guitar — and the audience. His aerobic combination of picking, slapping, tapping and what may have been Irish step dance moves … truly a wonder to behold.

The Take-Away: While this video of Don Ross’ (guitar guy’s actual name) artistry is amazing (1,673,166 hits on YouTube as of 4:15 p.m. CST), it will never be the same as the up-close, in-the-room experience. Get out there and see a live performance of something to shake up your world a little bit!

Post-Note: And if you’re walking around on campus and you see a trash can with 12, 000 umbrellas in it, you’ll know what happened.

Pre-Ramble: I’m guessing we’re not going to see THIS doll in a heap on the floor with snarled hair and no clothes on …

Quick – there’s still time! … Break out the piggy bank and head over to Rockefeller Plaza to join in on the bidding on “the rarest and most valuable Barbie ever created.”  … !!

Australian jewelry designer Stefano Canturi was invited by Mattel to create a unique piece to highlight the iconic Barbie brand. The result is Barbie by Stefano Canturi, a one-of-a-kind gem inspired by the Cubist art movement and recognizing Barbie’s “modern yet timeless style over the ages.”

Hand-selected by Canturi himself, the modified square-cut fancy vivid purplish pink natural color 1.00 carat diamond transforms this exceptional doll into a “historical investment piece.“ The stone, shown above, is nestled into a tiny latticework collar necklace fashioned out of variously-cut diamonds to dress up a simple accordion-pleated black strapless party dress and pink peep-toe stilettos, also designed by Canturi.

Yay Stefano!  This exquisite toy is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 at auction with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. (The current world auction record for a Barbie is $17,091, set at Christie’s London in 2006.) So, what, you may ask, does a bedazzled Barbie have to do with creativity, innovation, nonprofit strategy, grantwriting or any of the other topics this blog is supposed to be about??  Well, it goes to the grand caldron concept of creativity …  … the idea that innovation and creative combustion happen when seemingly random elements (or, “bunches of hunches” as innovative author Steven Johnson calls them)  come in contact with each other in the big steaming swirling cauldron of existence and incite something new. This baubled Barbie scenario is just such an odd end.

The Take-Away: I’m betting you that Stefano Canturi’s Big Bling Barbie will work its way into your sphere of relevance in one way or another … In fact, if you aren’t compelled to mention BBB out loud at some point in the next couple of months, I owe you a pack of bubble gum.

For more information about the diminutive BLING go to the Christie’s website .

Pre-Ramble: I want to put a word in on the awe-inspiring rescue of the 33 Chilean miners before the clock strikes twelve and reality comes rushing in to spoil this fairytale scenario.

What a historic, heroic and humbling thing we were able to witness last week as a cadre of scientists, engineers, psychologists, doctors, mechanics, nutritionists and sunglasses manufacturers came to the assistance of the thirty-three men who were trapped 2,300 feet below the earth.

Apparently, pretty much the whole world was watching as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera marshaled his forces and the will and spirit of his country to methodically and confidently move forward with a plan to bring every man out alive.

Viva Chile! Many compare the rescue to the NASA moon landing, a seminal moment in American history that I remember watching on our big old black and white television as though it was yesterday. In her usual well-crafted and moving account of events, Peggy Noonan (WSJ) describes the “Leave no man behind” ethos of the miners’ rescue and cites its power to forever transform the people and nation of Chile …

“What does it do to the children of a nation to see [this unifying and transcendent event] … Everyone from Chile will be proud as they go through the world … ‘You saved the miners.’ Chilean children will know, ‘We are the kind of people who get them out alive. We did not let the men die. We made up our mind to do it and we did.’ … What a thing to know about your country… What a transformational event this is going to be for that nation … Viva Chile!”

Form follows function - If I was writing about the innovation surrounding the event, this would certainly be an example of creative thinking and collaborative implementation at its best. What a dizzying spectacle those early brainstorming sessions on the miners’ situation must have been – fueled by adrenalin and parameters around time, space and the human condition too grim to fully comprehend. 

Charged by a staggering number of unknowns, the real miracle is the fact that a hierarchy of power and identification of resources and skills could be sorted out at all, let alone in any kind of reasonable timeframe. In the end, the jury-rigged capsule and rigorous pre-game routine designed to ferry the miners to safety were as comprehensive as they needed to be – simple and functional - a hallmark of truly successful solutions.  

Rock-solid solidarity - Even more impressive than the mechanics of the rescue however is the unshakable optimism and rock-solid solidarity displayed by ”the 33,” both while biding their time underground and carried forward as the ordeal continues to play itself out in the daylight. 

These rugged working-class men are rock stars – the world is throwing every imaginable appearance, book and movie deal at their feet. What kind of forethought must it have taken to prepare the miners for the onslaught of media attention they were undoubtedly going to receive? According to reports out of Copiapo, Chile, the miners received several hours of “media coaching” as part of a “broader strategy to control their story and any proceeds it generates.”

“The men appear to have formed a pact to jointly disseminate and market the story of how they survived longer underground than any previous accident victim … All 33 have agreed not to say anything that would break the pact they have made underground, which is that they will speak only as a group … They have some kind of group agreement to create a ‘foundation’ that would market their story.”

The Take-Away: There is plenty to take-away from this uniquely harrowing and deeply inspiring situation. My hope is that the universe will continue to shine upon the 33 miners and allow them to persist in conducting themselves on the incredibly high ground upon which they currently stand. … How tempting must it be for these individuals to capitalize on their extreme misfortune and cash in on the drama? What kind of character have these men, to forgo the lure of personal fame and fortune for the ultimate benefit of the whole? For the rest of us, I hope this event and the character demonstrated by the folks involved can even scratch the surface of the interminably shallow greed-driven hype of our ”reality TV” culture. 

Post-Note: Talk about point/counter-point — last night’s 10 o’clock news covered the return of one of the volunteers who worked on the drilling crew over at the rescue site,… Meanwhile, on a return trip from Boston, my beloved and oblivious spouse recently found himself seated next to fab-ab reality television celebrity “The Situation“  …

Pre-Ramble:  My friend Julia is an artist – a real artist. She has a studio, her work is shown in galleries all over, and she’s been at her craft for long enough that she totally embodies the profession.

Recently, Jules went on an artist’s retreat at a place called Catherine’s Vineyard (excellent name, I thought), a ridiculously picturesque piece of property in California wine country. Among her photos of the beautiful rolling hills and robust piles of grapes, is a shot of her standing up in a tree (shown right). 

How cool is that?!? 

When was the last time you climbed a tree??  People who climb trees aren’t in any hurry.  They’re usually strolling around outside, … in a contemplative mode … They notice birds and bugs and clouds and stuff.  At some point, people who climb trees see an opportunity, … go over, … swing their leg up onto a low-hanging branch, … and climb up. 

The Take-Away: Climbing a tree is the perfect metaphor for trying something new, … seeing things from a new perspective, … or doing something in the moment, … just because.  This is a stance I would like to take way more often in both my personal and professional life. 

Climbing a tree is a great way to shake things up … In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that all grown-ups should have a picture of themselves in a tree.

Post-Note:  Thanks Jules, for the inspiration!  Next chance I get, I’m going to climb a tree, and I’ll post a “proof-of” pic right here. 

(Reader Challenge: Send me a photo of you in a tree, and I’ll post that too!)

Pre-Ramble:  If you had a whole bunch of money - money that you wanted to give to “exceptional people who are likely to make great things happen in the world“ - who would you choose? 

Such is the annual task of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s esteemed MacArthur Fellows Program, a secret nomination and selection process that singles out 20 candidates from a pool of hundreds to receive the prestigious prize – $500,000 paid in quarterly installments over a period of five years to be used in whatever way the recipient chooses — !

According to the Foundation website,

The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction … The program is intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations … Recipients may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.

Eclectic mix – Often referred to as the “genius” grant, the MacArthur Fellowship prize is designed to give recognized individuals the freedom to delve more deeply into their creative pursuits.  As in past years, the 2010 recipients are definitely an eclectic and creative mix … artists, musicians, scientists, economists, environmentalists and sociologists … This year’s roster includes:

• Marla Spivak, 55, a professor of apiculture (beekeeping) at the University of Minnesota
• John Dabiri, 30, a professor of aeronautics and bioengineering at California Institute of Technology, studying the swimming motion of jellyfish
• Nicholas Benson, 46, a calligrapher and stone-carver currently working on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington D.C.
• Sebastain Ruth, 35, founder of a music academy that works with inner-city kids
• David Simon, 50, celebrated author and screenwriter, creator of HBO’s “The Wire” and other series

What I love about the MacArthur Fellows Program is its under-the-radar model. Its search and selection process is the polar opposite of the shallow, confrontational, tawdry reality show fare that we have come to expect. The highly accomplished recipients have neither sought, campaigned, auditioned, performed, Twittered nor started a fan page in order to call themselves to the attention of MacArthur nominators. Along with industry, curiosity and dedication, humility appears to be one of the qualities that the process seeks to reward.

But, what I love the most about this unique program is the premium that it places on creativity. MacArthur Foundation president, Robert Gallucci marks creativity as the heart of its commitment to identify and recognize these gifted individuals, … ”the most vexing problems we face are not going to be addressed without creativity.” 

Here, here, public K-12 education policy ! … Here, here, corporate America ! …  If it’s only about teaching to the test and driving the bottom line, many of the most challenging problems we face are going to go unaddressed. Do you want that happening on your watch?

The Take-Away:  Cheers to the beekeepers! ( … would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Ms. Spivak wrestled off the beekeeper suit to take that early morning call … )

If there was ever a ratification of the “follow your bliss” mantra, this is it.  In this age of pompous self-promotion (think Snooki and Gaga), it is exhilarating to encounter a scenario that steadfastly (and stealthily) affirms and supports over-looked, unglamorous and often game-changing efforts … 

“Although nominees are reviewed for their achievements, the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential … The purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.”

Cheers to empowering individual originality, insight and potential!