Pre-Ramble:

(You know I totally highlighted that article in preparation for this post … )

“Before the highlighter, attentive readers relied on a combination of underlining and marginal notes.”

Actually, when I review a document for pertinent points, I employ the triple-threat of information organization – highlighting, underlining AND written notes in the margin.  Well, and, as every Word processor knows, along with an underline and “comments” function, there is an electronic equivalent of the highlighter - available in a rainbow of different colors.

Like so many innovations, the snappy neon highlighter is the result of a series of contributing discoveries. It all started with the invention of a felt-tipped pen that delivered water-based ink in a smooth uniform line.  The next iterations were: translucent ink; ink that wouldn’t bleed through paper; and finally, a formula for the eerie fluorescent colors that dominate the current text-marking industry.

“Just as important as the ink’s smooth, even application was its color: see-through yellow and pink, which both drew the eye and neatly delineated a piece of text without obscuring it.”

High points – As a concept articulation specialist and writer, my work is all about taking information from a wide variety of sources and synthesizing it, boiling it down into its most meaningful sound bites.  The function of the highlighter is critical to this endeavor … it transforms the flat terrain of a body of text into a topographical view … bringing out important ranges of information … the high points.

The Take-Away:  Two things: 1) Innovations, particularly those that are so subtle and useful as to be ubiquitous, are fascinating; 2)  All input is not created equal.  Moving through the barrage of our complicated, uber-information-overload world, you need a way to separate the important/meaningful stuff from the mediocre and useless drivel.  To highlight the concept of the highlighter is to recognize that its value is greater than physical neon trails of ink.  A mental highlighter in your day-pack can help you keep top-of-mind the awareness that you can tag the interesting, important, inspiring stuff that comes your way and let the rest of the noise and clutter recede into the background.

Post-Note:  Along a visually similar line, I wish that the Minnesota skies had not been so cloudy these past few nights so we could get a better look at the spectacular auroral lights (sample shown below) that have been stirred up by a recent series of solar flares.

“NASA says the outburst sparked an M3.2-class solar flare, as well as a stream of electrically charged particles that is due to interact with Earth’s magnetic field on Saturday. M-class flares are capable of causing brief radio blackouts near the poles as well as minor radiation storms, but it’s unlikely that this one will disrupt communication or power transmission networks.  As the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year activity cycle in 2013 or so, we can expect to see more powerful solar outbursts … “Viewers can be on the lookout for increased aurora.”

Does that look like a giant green highlighter flourish, or what?!

Pre-Ramble:

On that score, Daniel Pink’s site is a must-read – he’s a triple-threat-thinker: 1) insightful; 2) articulate; and 3) the kind of decent all-around good guy that you’d want to sit down and have a cupcake with.

Well, so, in a recent post, Daniel discussed an art installation called “The Idea Store” by two brilliant Brooklyn artists, Athena Robles and Anna Stein. Their work was featured at the (e)merge art fair which was held last month in Washington D.C.  The (e)merge art fair “celebrates galleries, artists, and the creative process with an energetic environment of collaboration and discovery” … Or, in DP’s experience, the affair was, “… a sprawling assemblage of creations from up-and-coming painters, sculptors, photographers, and performers.”  Here he recaps the premise of The Idea Store installation’s concept …

“People who visited a makeshift storefront – think Lucy Van Pelt’s psychiatrist’s “office” (modified version shown at right) – could fill out a card offering an idea and get paid a penny for it. Robles and Stein then placed the card on the kind of rack you might find at a Hallmark store. Then other visitors could select an idea from the rack and purchase it for two cents.”

As you can imagine, the proposed ideas ranged from trivial to considerable, however, as DP so astutely observes,

“The best idea of all may have been the notion of the store itself. It evoked all sorts of associations – the marketplace of ideas, contributing your two cents worth, etc. … And it raised lots of interesting questions: Why is one idea “worth” more than another? Why are some ideas easier to “sell”? Is it possible really to “own” an idea?”

The Take-Away:  For my money, this is the kind of concept (and thinking) that totally delivers the dopamine rush. These gals (Anna and Athena) are sharp – this is but one of several of their clever conceptual art projects — and the deceptively simple Idea Store concept resonates on so many levels. It’s interactive and playful and sparingly executed so as not to wash out the pure core of the idea with flashy, extraneous elements. The Idea Store concept is subtle and elegant — I wish had had been there to experience it firsthand.  Better yet, I wish I had thought of the idea for The Idea Store – !

As DP points out, although The Idea Store was originally conceived as a piece of art, there are many potentially fruitful applications for the idea-exchange-dynamic in other settings, … like schools or businesses, or in other random public venues.

Let’s put one on Wall Street, and let the 1% pay more than 2 cents if they want.

Pre-Ramble: 

If physicists at a giant particle accelerator near Geneva, fired a beam of neutrinos toward a detector that was 454 miles away in Gran Sasso, Italy, only to discover that the neutrinos seemed to be reaching the detector 60 nanoseconds faster than light, does that mean that Einstein’s theory of relativity which says that the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 186,282 miles per second) is the ultimate speed limit — nothing in the universe can travel faster — is all wet?

The speed of light is a big deal … It shows up everywhere …

“… from estimates of the size and age of the universe to the radius of black holes to the power generated by nuclear reactors. Over the years, experiments have rigorously and repeatedly tested relativity and quantum mechanics and found no discrepancies — until now.”

Einstein’s theory of relativity, “a pillar of modern physics” has been called into question here … Any nanosecond now, physicists everywhere will be scrambling to replicate this daunting-if-true phenomenon, the fall-out from which would represent a scientific revolution of unfathomable magnitude. Most scientists believe it still too early to call, but if the CERN experiment is independently verified, the evidence would represent a big fat “X” in the “oops, never mind” column for our celebrated genius.

Take heart, dear Einstein … a recent WSJ article supports, in fact promotes, the role of failure in the active pursuit of creative and innovative solutions.  University of California, Davis psychology professor Dean Keith Simonton advances the idea that successful innovators are those who aren’t afraid to take risks, and in doing so, experience failure on a regular basis …

“Many people succeed at producing innovations because they churn out a very large number of ideas, both good and bad … The most successful people tend to be those with the most failures.” 

It is interesting to note that Dr. Simonton has authored over 500 studies and articles and 12 books on creativity/innovation.  Based on his own risk theory, we can assume that either some percentage of this work would be considered a failure, or that he has an even more prodigious pile of stinkers to account for the successful lot.

Luckily for Einstein and Dr. Simonton, the article suggests a variety of tactics born out of the “failure as a key to creativity” school of thought that employers can use to foster an innovative work environment.  Here is an adaptation of those ideas for use in your own personal environment:

• Make innovation a priority and build the expectation into the structure of your day
• To that point, schedule “free time” where you can meander around, day-dream and otherwise work on creative pursuits
• Play a game
• Take a nap
• Go to an art museum or gallery — or add some new pieces of original artwork to your personal collection
• Draw, paint or sculpt something fabulous yourself
• Build an atrium in the middle of your house — natural light can inspire enlightened thinking (I just made that up, but I know I think better when I’m working in a nice sunny spot)
• Take a hike — natural light is even better outside!
• Meditate — while I’ve not really gotten into this, the experts swear by the capacity of meditation to open up creative valves in the brain
• Run around the block or ride your bike — like meditation, physical exercise loosens up new pathways in the brain
• Listen to new kinds of music
• Take risks — try new stuff, ask potentially stupid questions, look at things from different perspectives, try on different hats, etc. (I keep a tiara by my desk, just in case I need a change in perspective … “What would Queen Katherine do??“)

The Take-Away:  It’s okay, Einstein, … if this whole theory of relativity thing goes down, look on the bright side … It will free you up to try a new creative approach.  Get yourself one of those fancy new super duper particle accelerators, roll it out onto the sunporch, put on some Black Eyed Peas – and see what pops!

Pre-Ramble:

The annual event, a “build-a-thon” held in a scrapyard in Brooklyn, NY, challenges the resourcefulness of inventors and screwballs of all types to demonstrate their skills in a themed, time-limited contest.

This year the theme was “Energy in motion” and the timeframe was a quick 72 hours.  The challenge was to “create a device that could carry the weight of a human being without using fossil fuels.” Sponsors provided tools and equipment (saws, nuts, bolts, blow-torches, etc.) and teams could bring no more than 200 pounds of additional parts and supplies. Participants were encouraged to push the edges of their inventive capabilities as entries were judged on “technicality, functionality, demonstration and awesomeness.”

Twin Cities team, Dillon Hodapp, David Heisserer, Nathan Knutson, and Cory Huseby, calling themselves  ”1.21 Jigawatts,” were selected to compete against 15 other teams to create something that would “wow a crowd of spectators and a panel of judges at the Creation event.”

The team did just that, presenting the “Human-Powered Hamster Wheel with a Text Message Spray Paint Printer,” a curious 8-foot-tall contraption (shown above) made out of plywood, paint cans and a cell phone.  The device was propelled forward under human power and “spit out a text message as it roll[ed] by.”

“The giant wheel was connected to a wireless network using an open source-based microcomputer; a cellular module; and a phone SIM card, which assigned the system its own phone number. Audience members were asked to send text messages to the system, which pulled a small trailer holding a “printer” with a row of seven paint cans. The text messages sent a signal to the printer, which in turn fired the proper paint cans to spell out the words from the text message … [long strips of brown paper were] wrapped around the hamster wheel so that the printed messages could be torn off and taken home by audience members as souvenirs.”

And the winner is …  you guessed it, 1.21 Jigawatts took the $5,000 grand prize for their awesome and “technically impressive” solution (the only thing missing was cedar chips).  Crediting their strategy to play on individual group member strengths, the team knew it would have to “go big” …

“We knew we were going to have to show this in a big venue … We had the inspiration to make it big … make it beautiful, … make it a spectacle!”

The Take-Away:  For those of you who are keeping score at home, this victory comes on the heels of another spectacular coup — the world-record-breaking performance in the 2010 Flugtag event, also set by a Twin Cities-based team.  Venture capitalists take note – Minneapolis/Saint Paul is a hot bed for innovation (and lunacy) … !

Pre-Ramble:

No-show conference presenter, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined and defines “flow” as “the optimal experience” … one where an individual takes part in “activities that stretch their capacity and involve an element of novelty and discovery … they experience … an almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness.”

In his research, Csikszentmihalyi identified nine elements that seemed to characterize the flow experience for everyone he interviewed, regardless of the subject’s activity or demographic …

1. the process is clear (you don’t have to “think about” what to do “next”)
2. there is immediate, in-the-moment feedback in response to action (… a sense of, “Yay – you’re doing it right!“)
3. there’s a balance between challenge and skills (not too easy, not too hard … just right)
4. action and awareness are merged (there’s focus)
5. distractions are excluded from consciousness (intense focus causes a kind of “tunnel-vision” to kick in)
6. there is no worry of failure (everything is clicking and that’s the over-riding vibe)
7. self-consciousness disappears (see “everything is clicking” above)
8. sense of time becomes distorted (“Wow – how long have I been writing this blog post??“)
9. the activity becomes “autoletic”  ( self-rewarding … worth doing for its own sake)

MC suggests that “place” is an important factor in creative endeavor/flow as well. The optimal confluence of information, stimulation and resources ($$$) greatly depends on the environment in which a pursuit or experience takes place. Silicon Valley is a great example of the value of “place” to innovative, creative outcomes.

Speaking of place, I had another experience of flow while in Chicago for the conference — more like synchronous happenstance that just makes you shake your head and think “What are the odds?”

Well, so, I had wanted to take my conference buddy to this really great Thai restaurant that I had been to while in Chicago a couple of years before. Saved that for the last night we were in town … go out with a big hoorah, blah, blah … But when I went to look up the address online, I discovered that the place had closed — !!?

Well, great. NOW what were we going to do?  In a state of hungry frustration (the worst kind) I suggested that we just “walk toward the big bean and see if we could find a good spot.”  Could that plan have been any less of a plan?

So, we walked down Michigan Avenue (tulips were unbelievable!) through Millennium Park and eventually found ourselves on a narrow aluminum walking bridge up to what looked like a museum or field house of some kind.  Great, yeah, whatever … Not a restaurant in sight, but, hey.  Almost to the top, we were approached by a uniformed security guard who politely, but firmly, informed us that the rest of the bridge was closed and we needed to turn around and make our way back down.

Now even more hungry and ornery, I casually leaned in toward the guard and asked, “So, where should we have dinner? … Can you recommend a good place around here?”

He looked at me like I was from Mars and then pointed randomly across a nearby street and said, “Well, I don’t eat around here, but folks seem to like that place over there … (he actually said, “dat place over dare”) … and gave me a faint smile, still shooing us off the bridge.

Long story short, (well, … less long) …  my friend and I went over to dat place and it turned out to be a hip, happening, packed bar/restaurant, hopping with hip, happening Chicago urban professionals meeting up after work on a Friday night for some fun. The wait for a table was 2 hours, so we decided to take a seat in the bar area and watch the lively scene.

Not only were the French fries divine (French fries are experiencing a resurgent status as an “it” food, you know), but we struck up a conversation with a gentleman and his companion who were seated across from us at the long communal table, only to discover that he was involved in international education and communications initiatives in Third World countries … precisely the subject area of a project I had just finished working on.  We had a total “flow” conversation and may find a project of mutual benefit in the future.

The Take-Away: Sometimes the best things happen when you just “go with the flow” … it could even become autoletic.

Pre-Ramble:

In the piece, Vinton Cerf, chief Internet evangelist (?) at Google, lays out a few key dynamics that factor into a highly functioning innovation “ecosystem” including freedom to pursue ideas, freedom to fail, freedom to access information, and also the freedom to “keep attracting the best talent from abroad” (in a good way).

In addition to singing the praises of tight, innovation-spawning relationships between academia and the marketplace, Cerf also suggests that a significant retooling of U.S. K-12 education around the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and an increase in the rock-star status of engineering and science are crucial elements in the quest to get the homefires of innovation started.

“The American public focuses more on sports and entertainment figures and less on the scientists and engineers whose innovations make our lives easier, safer, healthier and more productive … Our successful scientists and engineers should be made more visible and their voices heard more often …

… [And, we need to] refresh and invigorate interest in and regard for science and engineering in our youth … Young people should understand and experience the thrill of science and discovery.

Like many, Cerf advocates for a comprehensive, collaborative effort to expand school and extra-curricular opportunities for young people in math, engineering and science.  He cites success stories like the FIRST robotics program, NASA’s 50-year partnership with the National Science Teachers Association, and Google’s own recently launched global Science Fair. Each of these programs is part of a critical education pipeline that provides opportunities for students to work with experienced scientists and engineers and allows them to learn first-hand.

“We need to help [children] do real science, not just read about it, through collaborative tools that help mentors and students to interact … children learn best by seeing and doing … ”

The Take-Away:  Sounds like a plan!  However, as Chief Cerf and his colleagues are well aware, expanded school and extra-curricular opportunities for young people that’s heavy on “seeing and doing” will take more than a snappy website and a box of rose-colored goggles.  At least part of the innovation equation includes: 1) a winning strategy; 2) a couple of relevant, high-profile champions; 3) a force of infectiously fabulous teacher/mentors; and, 4) piles of money.

Post Note:  While we’re at it, let’s innovate a way to motivate kids to be fascinated by the world around them.  Is there an app for that?  As Cerf suggests, maybe we need a little PR push to Twitter-up some action …  Wonder if Snooki’s agent is available?

Pre-Ramble:

In a nut-shell, the very cool algorithum that they came up with determines emotion in spoken words by measuring 57 different aspects of an audio signal as compared to a signal that has been pre-defined as a specific emotion - such as ”fear, anger, joy and sadness.” 

“Computers have become very good at parsing an audio signal into specific words and identifying their meaning. But spoken language is more than just semantics… it’s far from clear what elements in an audio signal indicate happiness or anger as a quality of voice. Trying to figure that out quickly consumed them. Matt stayed up late reading research papers, ignoring his other homework … Akash was up until 3 a.m. many nights reading and programming… The research paper they submitted for the [science fair] was 30 pages of code and 60 pages of writing to explain it.”

Matt and Akash ended up taking first place at the science fair; went on to represent their school at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose; entered the Siemens Competition (one of two premier science competitions in the country); won the team grand prize at the national competition in Washington; and their program has been linked to practical applications such as a way to help autistic children recognize emotional cues in speech, and to provide emotion recognition capabilities for cell phones and other interactive devices. 

Nice going, boys!! …

But, I digress … The work of these gifted young scientists harkens me back to reflect upon the efforts of another young scientist … less brilliant perhaps, but toiling away nonetheless in her Environmental Living 101 class at the University of Michigan in the late 1970′s. 

As you can imagine, in this nearly pre-historic time, there were no computers … no internet … really no “technology” to speak of, unless you want to count calculators (ha!).  We were practically using the stone and chisel.

The scientific challenge was to create a “parabolic reflector” (an umbrella lined with aluminum foil, poked upside-down into the grass to catch the sunlight) which would harness solar power in amounts strong and focused enough to cook a standard cupcake.  (I blame my parents for the selection of this particular research topic, as I was never allowed to have an Easy Bake Oven … Curiously, years later, when faced with this scenario with my own young daughters, I forbade them from owning or consuming the disgusting packets of chemicals that foamed together under the heat of a light bulb as well.)

The archived project notations are sketchy, however, as I recall, the strength of the sunlight in early April in the northern Midwest left much to be desired, (not even a boost of global warming to help it along).  Due to either the ravages of radiant temperatures in the precisely calculated “hot spot” of the reflector, or simply drying out in the air, the cupcake (chocolate) ended up being barely edible. 

The Take-Away:  My point here, is that there are lots of curious, talented kids out there just waiting for an opportunity to explore some odd notion that crosses their mind.  Matt and Akash were obsessed in their quest to get to the bottom of the emotion recognition challenge … Every kid, even the ones who aren’t pre-inclined to math and science geekiness, has to be wondering about something?  Whether their inquiry results in a patent-worthy method of digital emotion recognition or a petrified cupcake, we, as a society, need to foster both the curiosity and the opportunity for kids to engage in exploration of ideas. 

Post-Note: I want more of my tax dollars to go into the “curiosity and opportunity”/education bucket and less to go into the “get involved in another foreign war” bucket.

Pre-Ramble:

I guess he’s got a pretty interesting vantage point given his professional proximity to the designated arch nemesis — China  (… as in, “Made in” … ).

Like local big-dog, 3M CEO George Buckley, Shapiro asserts that the U.S. corporate tax rate (one of the highest in the world) “stifles entrepreneurship and innovation … And, rather than encouraging innovative global companies to make their home here, America’s high tax rate pushes them away.”

Well, that doesn’t sound good, particularly since entrepreneurship and innovation are widely regarded as the magic bullets of economic prosperity … ”… the nation’s competitive advantage … the source of American exceptionalism.”  In his book, Mr. Shapiro tries to zero in on the exact formula:

“Innovation is the fortunate result of our nation’s rich and unique stew of individual liberty, constitutional democracy, limited government, free enterprise, social mobility, ethnic diversity, immigrant assimilation, intellectual freedom, property rights, and the rule of law.  I can’t deconstruct how each factor makes its individual contribution, but I believe each is vitally important.”

The Take-Away:  Well, phew! … I’ll tell you what … either Mr. Shapiro is on to something BIG, OR, … he’s just assembled the longest list of gratuitous, politically-correct buzz-words ever to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the same sentence. 

You forgot three, Gary: … ”American,”  “hopes,” and “dreams.”  Oh, wait … if you’re playing along at home, he gets a couple of extra points for including “American” and “dream” in the book title.

Pre-Ramble:

Who’d a thunk it? According to Johnson, at any given point in time, the environment or surrounding landscape becomes synergistic … which is to say that certain thoughts or breakthrough ideas become thinkable/come to light at certain points in time, depending on what has been thought or done prior to and in proximity to it.  When lots of ideas and discoveries in lots of different realms (science, sociology, technology, … ) are being thrown out into the common pool of  “the known,” these seemingly random variables shift and bump into each other in new ways.

I hate that the only example I can think of right now is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups ads …

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, a series of commercials was run for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups featuring situations in which two people, one eating peanut butter and one eating chocolate, collided. One person would exclaim, “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” and the other would exclaim, “You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” They would then sample the mixture and remark on the great new taste … “

Mash-up: So, in the “realm of the known” we have: 1) the heated debate spurred by Chinese ninja-parent, Amy Chua’s new book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,”  (If nothing else, the ensuing ruckus is a stroke of publishing genius … ); 2) the call from Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar at a recent “Innovation Summit” to make the U.S. more competitive against the rising economic power of China and India by ”jumpstarting innovation”; and 3) an observation from NY Times columnist, David Brooks which turns out to be a point of intersection between #1 and #2.  

Adjacent impossible – So, … Chua brings her extreme, beyond-no-nonsense parenting style that preaches laser-focused academic rigors and take-no-prisoners perfection, while Klobuchar recites the now requisite (and misguided) strategies for bringing about innovation … more math, science and engineering for high school students … blah, blah, blah.  (How long have we been investing in that strategy?  Since Sputnik maybe?) … We’ve got desperate Americans ”soft” and in decline trying to compete with the hard lined practices of the Chinese education factory (e.g., Amy Chua “and a billion more parents just like her”) … heading for total domination of the global marketplace …  These two ideas may be swimming in the pool of “the known” at the same point in history, but tying a kid to a chair until they complete calculus equations while playing the violin is no guarantee of success or innovation and it is not the magic bullet to America’s education/innovation problem.

David Brooks to the rescue, raises two great and relevant points: First, he cites Chua’s critics who righteously claim that these over-controlled, socially stifled children may be skilled and compliant, but ”can’t possibly be happy or truly creative” … And second, he cites compelling  research which suggests that a highly functioning collaborative effort trumps singular, nose-to-the-grindstone slogging every time.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are skilled at reading the emotions of others, when they take turns speaking, when inputs of each member are managed fluidly, and when they are able to detect each other’s inclinations and strengths … This skill set is not taught formally, but is imparted through arduous experiences … exactly the kinds of experiences Chua [denies] her children by making them rush home to hit the books.

The Take-Away:  If being competitive with a highly-regimented, straight-A Chinese workforce is the goal, … and innovation is the strategy (?) … then creating an environment that fosters creative/innovative thinking is the solution. 

I think Steven is right.  If you want innovation to happen, you need to be actively dangling near the “adjacent possible.”  You have to create an environment that fosters dabbling around in the messy, non-linear playground of openness, communication and collaboration … where ambiguity, tinkering and making mistakes rule the day. I’m not saying we should be running with scissors, or forgoing challenging coursework in math, science and engineering, but there needs to be room to get our kids and/or ourselves out to the “edges” on a regular basis to troll for some random synergy. 

Post-Note: Personally, I exploit the “adjacent possible” as often as possible, particularly in writing the blog. Granted, what I have to say isn’t always well-reasoned or insightful, but it always comes out of a fun mash-up of thoughts, ideas and situations that I encounter on the edges of my sphere.

Pre-Ramble:

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 .