Pre-Ramble:  Here’s a noteworthy and potentially paradigm-shifting event (and one big nasty story-problem) …

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:  Well, our good buddies at Red Bull (the high-energy folks who brought us the Flugtag event in back in July 2010) have pulled off another big innovation fest — the Red Bull Creation USA 2011 competition.

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: In my last post, I gave a few overview details about the Learning and the Brain conference that I attended a couple weeks ago.  One of the big themes was the concept of “flow” … specifically, being in it and the remarkable performance boost that comes from this relaxed, yet heightened state.

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:  I want to understand it, but I just don’t. Several tech-savvy folks, including my kids (one of whom is an IT major), have patiently tried to explain to me how Twitter works.  It makes sense when I see Ashton Kutcher tweeting stuff on TV …

I mean, I can do facebook and text-messaging and blogging (sort of) … I even have a Twitter account of my own.  But, something just isn’t lining up for me yet, so I guess I’ll just have to hang out in the nest until the light bulb goes off.

Meanwhile, in way more than 140 characters, a piece in Sunday’s NY Times (3/20/11) describes the emergence of Twitter as a promising literary format on the collective anniversary of the very first Twitter message ever sent and World Poetry Day. 

The article cites ”Twitterature,” a book featuring “eighty works of Western literature boiled down into Twitter messages” published in 2009, that sets the stage for the next Twitteration (heh-heh … I could sit here and think up Twitteritives all day … ) of the short form style and invites poets of all ilk to try their hand at a 140 character Twitter poem.

“The Twitter haiku movement appears to be well underway … and linguist Ben Zimmer said he thought the growing popularity of the service (Twitter) as a creative outlet could be ascribed to the same [challenge] that goes into writing a sonnet … of accepting those kind of limits.”

Some of the poems submitted to the Times appear alongside the article; fine efforts by actual poets.  For me though, a Twitter poem is going to have to go a LONG WAY to beat out my favorite poetic form of all time — the Limerick. 

The Take-Away:  Like any endeavor that challenges us to work within parameters, I definitely believe that Twitter has a place in the pecking order of creative communications media. We’ll have to wait and see what linguistic innovations the nascent Twitterati can come up with.

Pre-Ramble:  Among the many characterizations of the mechanisms behind creative thought, creative thinker and author of the book “Where Good Ideas Come From,” Steven Berlin Johnson suggests that a necessary pre-condition to innovation – one presumably born out of a creative process – is trafficking in the high potential waters of “the adjacent possible.” 

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: As a grantwriter specializing in education-related issues, the primary goal of nearly every project I work on is to “increase academic achievement in underperforming student groups,” also known as, “closing the achievement gap.”  

Do the math.  A concerted effort to foster high academic achievement for students as they prepare to join the “college and career ready, 21st-Century, multicultural workforce” totally makes sense … I mean, … we need kids to have a firm grasp on the 3 R’s — reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic (… and if there is a catchy word for “technology” that starts with an “r” I would throw that in here too … ) if they’re going to land decent jobs, support themselves and their families, and become active productive members of our local and national (and international) communities.

2+2=4 … So, this “high academic achievement” that everybody is talking about really means that kids are getting passing scores on standardized tests in reading and math. You remember those tests – two fun-filled days of sitting at your desk with a couple of sharpened #2 pencils filling in bubbles on the sacred Answer Sheets.  Well, so, ok … I’m not here to quibble about standardized testing (I’m happy to do that another time, though … ) … Let’s say every kid in America, black/white, rich/poor, is suddenly able to ace these tests.  …  A+++, … WOW! … Done.  … Achievement gap closed. … No child is left behind!

Now what?

Here’s where we open up the conversation about creativity and innovation. You can’t swing a copy of Harvard Business Review over your head without hitting a bunch of claims around “innovative” this and “breakthrough thinking” that.  Business leaders, policy makers and educators are rapidly becoming aware that the ability to innovate is where the true competitive advantage lies.  A kid can read Catcher in the Rye and solve for “Q” until they are blue in the face, but until these activities are part of a larger solution set, they pretty much exist in isolation. 

Alarming then, is the statistic cited in a recent WSJ article, “Americans scores on a commonly used creativity test fell steadily from 1990 to 2008, especially in the kindergarten through sixth-grade age group.”

The finding is based on a study of 300,000 children scores from 1966 to 2008 on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, a standardized test that’s considered a benchmark for creative thinking … The Torrance tests have been used in the U.S. and abroad for decades … and are considered a reliable indicator of divergent thinking — the ability to generate many different, new and appropriate ideas … (WSJ, 12-15-10, p. D2)

Yikes. Our kids are getting a failing grade in creativity?!?  Shoot. Is there some extra credit we can do? A professor of creative studies and gifted education at the University of Georgia believes that students have “as much creative potential as ever,” but that our education system is doing a D+ job of recognizing and supporting it.  Experts have also begun to advance the idea that creativity in and of itself is only part of the equation and that equal importance needs to be given to learning how to select the best ideas as they apply to specific problems. Learning to work collaboratively with others to arrive at creative solutions is also an important skill set.

Purple hair.  So, what are the qualities we’re looking for in a creative kid?  Does “creative” mean “artsy”? … Or, silly? … Or, odd?  Is it that wild kid who is bouncing off the walls and throwing things? … Is it the kid who is randomly tinkering with three paper clips he found on the floor under his desk? … Is it the kid who is staring out the window, oblivious to the directed learning going on in the classroom? … The kid with purple hair?

All of the above.  I would like to believe that all of these kids have the right stuff to be creative in their own sphere of capability. And, I don’t think there is any test that can separate out the “creative kids” from the, what? … “NOT creative” kids?  Show me a kid who is engaged in an activity that they feel passionate about, … reptiles, outer space, video games (game theory?), cooking, cartoons, photography, spreadsheets (I’ve seen some pretty creative things happening on spreadsheets … ) … whatever; and I’ll show you a creative kid. The trick is getting a kid to the place where they can discover and engage with the things that spark their interest. 

The Take-Away: Any grantwriter worth her salt knows that successful project outcomes are the flip side of well articulated project goals. If you aren’t addressing it at the beginning, you’re sure not going to see any of it in the end. 

If we, as individuals and as a nation in the context of a competitive global society, need workers/citizens who are able to wield their energy and grasp of basic knowledge to generate new ideas and drive new ways to address the challenges we face, then we need to actively cultivate that. Bottom line — we need to put policy and funding into the outcomes we want to see.

Let’s find some RFP’s that are looking for innovative ways to foster high creative achievement for students as they prepare to join the college and career ready, 21st-Century, multicultural workforce — I’ll write ‘em up.

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:  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!

Pre-Ramble: What better time than this back-to-school week to think about thinking, innovation and the proposition of lifelong learning. 

Cut to the MIT Media Lab, a covey of designers, engineers, artists and scientists who conduct a staggeringly broad array of research around “the impact of emerging technologies on everyday life.” 

Tucked into the academic mêlée that is Boston, this hotbed of geeks and geniuses established in 1980 by Professor Nicholas Negroponte and former MIT President and Science Advisor to President John F. Kennedy, Jerome Wiesner, has developed new approaches to physical and social “human adaptability,” cognition and learning, and merging our physical world with digital technology. In this unique culture of “learning by doing” …  

… researchers develop new technologies that  ”empower people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all societies, to design and invent new possibilities for themselves and their communities … future-obsessed product designers, nanotechnologists, data-visualization experts, industry researchers, and pioneers of computer interfaces work side by side to tirelessly invent—and reinvent—how humans experience, and can be aided by, technology.”

Part of the point here is, “Wow – look at all the neat stuff these guys are working on!” … The other, more important message is that there is so much to know and do and experience “out there” in the world, that you might want to seize this opportunity to strap on your backpack and look to the cool productive air of fall to redirect your energy around some new exciting and enriching experiences.

The Take-Away: Hey – if not now, when? … Conduct your own inquiry into the things that are most intriguing to you. One place to kick-start your process might be to look into the Lab’s “Lifelong Kindergarten” project. Here, on a mission to create a more creative society, researchers look at new ways to “engage people in creative learning experiences.”  Go ahead and eat the paste, if you want … In the spirit of ”blocks and fingerpaint,” the group works to expand upon tradition ways of thinking, ultimately to incite “a world full of playfully creative people, who are constantly inventing new possibilities for themselves and their communities.” 

Class is in session!!

Pre-Ramble:  So, I came across an ad in one of the business publications I read, maybe it was Wired … could have been Fortune … anyway, I came across an advertisement promoting the Disney Institute.  Apparently, Mickey and the gang are leading a professional development consulting practice, preaching the gospel of Disney to organizations and individuals who want to realize success by “thinking differently” about their businesses.

“Are you ready to D’Think your organization? … Think outside the status quo … Built on the real-life practices of the Walt Disney Company, a global leader in everything from customer service to leadership excellence, our customized programs have re-inspired over half of America’s Fortune 100 companies. See their testimonials on our website and ask yourself: Are you ready to D’Think?” 

D’Think? … Does this mean, “de-think“? As in, “de-ice or de-clog“? … ”Stop thinking the way you’ve been thinking“? Or, does it mean, “Think D-isney” … as in “Disney-Think“? 

I think they were going for something creative and catchy and think-outside-the-box-y. (Never mind that the accompanying photo features two guys with cardboard boxes over their heads that actually look like giant Fig Newtons with legs … ) At first blush the concept of a corporate coaching arm inspired by Disney is, well, … inspired. 

Certainly, the Magic Kingdom, created by “artistic genius” Walt Disney, embodies all of the elements that one could wish for in an effective organizational model. The efficient and whimsical work environment can only be characterized as “innovative,” and the Disney reputation for delivering a world-class “Guest experience” is legendary. And when it comes to branding, Disney, with its tightly controlled worldwide scope of motion pictures, theme parks, stage shows, books, magazines, television, merchandise, music (… we can talk about the Mouseketeers later), apparel, radio, resorts, cruise line and more, practically invented the concept. So, as claimed,

“The end results may be magical, but the Disney formula … has much more muscle than pixie dust.”

Hey there, hi there, ho there …  Sounds like the muscle of the Disney Institute “formula” involves some pretty basic business school fare…

… That’s what you’ll learn in Disney’s Approach to Inspiring Creativity — one of the five core topics available at Disney Institute. Discover ways to tap into the same power source that has propelled more than 80 years of continuous business success:

• Analyze the working definition of “organizational creativity” as it applies to the success of any organization
• discover the four key components of the organizational creativity model – organizational identity, collaborative culture, structural systems, and the leader
• Examine the best practices of Disney in each of the four components

Wait a minute, Boys and Girls … What’s all this “analysis” and “key components” and “collaborative culture” talk?  Is this the brand of Disney-Speak that leads to Disney-Think? 

Where’s the pixie dust?  Sure, there’s value in sound, foundational business processes and practices, and deft strategy and execution around these things this is surely a part of what has made Disney the formidable and ubiquitous powerhouse that it has been for decades. But, the Disney “formula” is only part of the equation.  The thing is, what amounts to a highly innovative and organic outcome for the wonderful world of Disney, cannot be that for any other entity. Like a fingerprint, an innovative, thriving brand is unique and authentic and it takes some serious alchemy between relevant and random factors to punch that ticket.    

The Take-Away: It’s the “pixie dust” that offers the most competitive advantage here.  Beyond a business formula dressed up in tutus and tiaras, organizations and individuals who seek the vistas beyond the edge of the box are looking for the magic. They’re looking for ways to access the kind of creative spark that will inspire their thinking and transform their business.  Hopefully, the Disney power point includes a magic wand.