Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
 

IN OUR WORLD:  What a great week (despite the now mind numbing heat of the Southwest).  I finished a huge project for a client and by the end of the day will have huge project # 2 done.  I love feeling productive.  You all know how hard that is.  Most days we can’t figure out where the time went and what the hell happened!  I always use the guy on a backhoe as an example.  His job is to dig a trench from point A to point B.  At the end of his day he turns around and can see the fruits of his labor.  On the other hand, most of us feel like we are digging a trench in water!  It’s nice to feel like you accomplished something.
 

Creative Ventures has a lot in the pipeline with three new clients in negotiations for various new projects and Stephen Harvill Presentations (www.stephenharvill.com) is gaining some traction for our presentations!
 

The next two weeks will put me in hog heaven as the US Open starts on Monday.  My TiVo will be filled with tennis!
 

Laura knows that tennis will dominate the TV time and despite my passion around the game, she actually likes to watch (she thinks the best looking athletes are in tennis) and has developed a keen eye for the game (“what an idiot, trying a drop shot from the baseline”).
 

Keep your eyes on two dark horse players – Dmitry Tursunov and Fernando Gonzales.  Both hit the ball as hard as they can and had a great summer hard court season.  Andy Roddick is also looking good having won the big pre-Open tournament last week.
 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:  We live in a world of interconnected systems, systems that affect everything we do and every way in which we live.  The connected nature of these systems often eludes us and we miss opportunity.
 

It takes a unique point of view to be able to see connections, one of taking time and thinking.  In an on demand world we almost always rush in what we perceive to time sensitive answers to questions and solutions to problems.   This almost automatically eliminates our ability to develop a systemic view of things.
 

We often recommend to clients a strange strategy of SLOWING DOWN.  Most “reaction solutions” create more problems than solutions.
 

Here are a couple of the “laws of systems” as defined by Peter Senge and other systems thinkers:
 

• There are no right answers:  Systems have interdependencies.  This nature of connection shows there is never one right answer.  Instead, a systems thinking discipline always reveals a variety of potential actions.
  
• You can’t divide your elephant in half:  You can’t redesign a system by dividing in parts.  You have to see the whole thing.
  
• The easiest way out will lead back in:  Beware the fastest, easiest solution, it’s almost always wrong.  Be sensitive to time.  To see the whole picture you need to examine the system and that takes time.
  

Just a couple of perspectives to let you see the critical nature of practicing a systemic view of your world.
 

Next week, we will visit about the huge problems systems create.
 

MOVIES:   Huge thumbs up for Invincible!  A great little guy turns into hero story.  Will make you feel good and it’s based on a true story.  I saw the ESPN documentary on Vince Papale and it was fantastic. 
 

NetFlix Fans:  Just saw one of my Top 10 of all time and wanted to pitch it to you for your line up.  Field of Dreams touches on the great connection between unresolved heartbreak and the desire to change it.  It’s worth it for the various James Earl Jones speeches!
 

BOOKS:  There were a couple of good new reads out there and I had to choose on to put in the blog, so I chose Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.  It is a compelling book that makes complicated physiological ideas come alive.  A wonderful read.
 

On the fiction front, try Circle of Sodom by Pat Mullan.  A real thriller with great political overtones.  It will keep you turning pages!
 

MUSIC:  On a recent presentation, the client didn’t have any walk-in music for the crowd, so I hooked up my ever present iPod to the house sound system and started playing one of my play lists.  I had a couple of people come up to me and ask me about the same song, Complications by Steve Forbert.  Find the live version on iTunes.  A couple other people liked the live version of Diamonds on the Inside by Ben Harper.  Both are great selections.
 

SOUTH OF NORMAL:  Imagine getting kicked out of the league for no good reason!  No positive steroid, human growth hormone, testosterone test.  No bad conduct, in fact your actions have been exemplary.  You have done everything by the book and some arbitrary body of assumed authority kicks you out on your butt.  NOT FAIR!
Such is the plight of the planet Pluto. 
We are the Animal House of Solar Systems, hanging out at the edge of the Milky Way.  We have moons bigger than some planets.  We have some planets that spin clockwise and some that spin counterclockwise.  We have some made up almost entirely of gas and others that are rocky little balls.
Despite all of this, Pluto gets booted out!
Apparently, the International Astronomical Union (I guess they control the Solar System) headed up by Jaba the Hut, decided that Pluto, despite meeting all of THEIR definitions of a planet will be stripped of its planet title quicker than a has – been prize fighter.
Stay tuned, I’m thinking of leading a revolt against the evil Union and will be calling upon any other rebels to help get Pluto back in good standing.
“Time is demon and it keeps movin on.  To quick for old, to slow for the young.”
Vance Gilbert
 

Drop me a note with your comments at creativeventures@nova1.com.
 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.
 

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
 

IN OUR WORLD:  A little shorter blog today, as I am in San Francisco working with a couple of clients and just have a small window for writing.
 

San Francisco is my favorite city in America and every time I visit I find something new to love about it.
 

First, as Dallas swelters in 106, we actually wore jackets yesterday under a beautiful sun with winds off the Pacific.  Laura and I discovered a couple of new eateries and my clients showed us a couple of new sights.
 

The projects were both successful and we planted seeds for some future work.
 

Our client here is committed to becoming a learning organization by developing the core business skills of their people and CREATIVE VENTURES is honored to be one of their key resources for cutting edge learning programs. 
 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:  I know that I often sound a little preachy, but there are foundation concepts in business that need constant tending and attention.  The core of these services is SERVICE. 
 

Everywhere I go I am in constant amazement at the lack of focused attention organizations place on this aspect of their business.  Many just place Point of Contact people right out there with little or no people training and then wonder why complaints pile up or customers disappear.
 

I watch restaurant’s send servers into the jungle of hungry customers who are unprepared for their job.  Their idea of training is – “follow that girl around today and tomorrow you will take a station.  HUH?  That’s it.  Don’t act surprised you know it to be true.
 

On this trip I have witnessed hotel staff (at a 5 Star hotel) not know the trolley schedule when it ran right in front of the hotel.  I asked; “how many times do you get asked that question?” and they answered (are you ready for this) – “all the time.”  Think it might be time to learn that little fact?    At Disneyland and World, the most commonly asked question is; “where is the bathroom” and everyone employed in the park knows where every one is!
 

At a wonderful little local place, the guy at the cash register made it a point to ask how I liked my meal and told me he expected to see me here again.  I would hire that guy in a heart beat for any business and teach him what he needs to know!
 

A simple thing to do is spend some time at EVERY staff meeting reminding, training, following up and preaching SERVICE.  With diligence, it pays off!
 

MOVIES:   I saw The Illusionist, with Ed Norton and it was a marvelous little movie.  A period piece with at strong story and a few twists and turns. It is well worth a trip to the theater.
 

NetFlix Fans:  Get Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, RIGHT NOW!  What a great little murder mystery with some dark comedy thrown in.  It has made my top 10 list for sure!
 

BOOKS:  Sorry gang, but I have been working so hard lately that I have simply not found anything that is a must read.  Business books flood the store every week and while I am a voracious reader, nothing has hit my lately hit my fancy.
 

On the fiction side, I have another Jim Rollins book to read on the flight home – Excavation.  Very entertaining without need a huge hunk of your attention span.  A perfect airplane book.
 

MUSIC:  Try Big Mistake by David Wilcox.  It has all of his cleverness and wonderful open tuning, chordal structure.
 

That Was A Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R. always seems to make to the top of recent play lists.  They were opening for Dave Matthews while I was in San Francisco or I would have been there.  They remain my favorite band.
 

My son Colin has turned me on to the Decembrists.  Very cool sound and a huge thumbs up from me!
 

SOUTH OF NORMAL:  One of my first South of Normal columns was about Google.  Here is a company that doesn’t make anything, yet had the largest IPO in history.  I compared them to traditional, tip of the tongue, American icon companies to show a new level of value related to the dominate position of the internet.  I thought it might be interesting to check in on these original South of Normal thinkers:
·        Their profit more than doubled in the 2^nd quarter of 2006 as they continue to increase their market position in the lucrative search engine advertising market.
·        Contrast that to Yahoo, who disappointed Wall Street by having to meet their projections through postponing hiring and adjusting advertising spending.
·        Google continues to develop technology that increases ad revenue it earns from each search.  They are always innovating and moving forward with bold actions.  Many big companies slow down after starting fast, but not Google.  They only continue to innovate.
·        Their top priority is to leverage success.
·        Revenue was $2.46 billion, which is up 77%.
·        They grow while they innovate with over 1,152 new employees brining them close to 8,000.
Not bad for a company that really doesn’t make anything.
“Sometimes I’m an idiot; many of you know that by now.  Sometimes I am not, but that is never clear somehow.”
John Gorka
 

Drop me a note with your comments at creativeventures@nova1.com.
 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.
 

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
 

IN OUR WORLD:  People always ask me if I know how “lucky” I am to do what I do.  I am well aware of it and say my prayers of thanks every day!
 

I was sharing some recent negotiations on an upcoming stage presentation or what we term a “stand alone”.  That is where I do a multimedia, participatory presentation from our menu of topics as a general session or keynote program.  My friend was surprised at the fee structure and said – “you get that for 90 minutes of work?”  WOW.
 

I smiled and said, it has taken me 25 years of program design, constant research, stage understanding and countless hours of rehearsal to become a professional.  It reminds me of the great story of Picasso.  He was sitting a café when a young woman asked him if he was Picasso.  He answered yes and she told him that she was a HUGE fan.  Would he be so kind as to sketch something on her napkin?  He said yes and took a few moments to sketch an image.  When he went to hand the napkin to the woman he said; “that will be $10,000”.  She said, WHAT!  It only took you a minute to draw that.  His answer was, “Madame, it took me a lifetime to draw that.”
 

I also got to start the huge project of cultural shift with one of our core clients.  Nothing is more exciting than to see the genesis of change.  It starts with the way you think and results in the way you behave.
 

Yes, I love what I do and yes, I start my days at 4:00 AM and love it!
 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:  I thought I might give you a little insight into some general business information as to economy and some trends:
 

• Retail is looking good as Target, JC Penney and Federated department stores all had substantial earnings increases that beat Wall Streets projections.  Target continues to be a key stop on the teenage shopping scene.  They increased earnings from 61 cents to 70 cents.  What do they do?  They focus on design and it pays!  JC Penney found great traction is a focus on the female shopper (no jokes).  Jewelry and women’s apparel gave them a 33% increase in earnings from a year ago.
  
• Does great service pay?  Can you charge a premium for a level of service that takes a laser like focus and considerable budget allocation to training?  Ask the 4 Seasons hotel chain as their earnings raised to .47 a share, beating Wall Street projections by 5 cents.  They are one of the model organizations that commit huge amounts of energy to unsurpassed levels of service.
  
• The trade deficit shrank by .03% in July as shipped farm products (I think that means food) helped off set increases in oil imports.
  
• Disney earnings were up .30% on great DVD sales (how many of us have VHS tapes still lying around) and an increase in theme park attendance.  When you do something right the first time, you are rewarded.  Over 65% of Disney theme park attendance is REPEAT customers.
  

Just thought you might find that stuff interesting.
 

MOVIES:   I am so sorry for my recommendation of Talladega Nights.  Despite checking any level of upper brain functions at the door, it was still bad.  I guess I am not the “lowest common denominator”.  The entire movie was in the previews.  They sucked me in and took my money.
 

If you enjoy dark comedy (Snatch is my all time favorite) you will like Little Miss Sunshine.  It is weird, wacky and full of strange laughing moments!
 

NetFlix Fans:  Try adding the movie Proof to your queue.  It is an interesting story about a math professor and his last days.  Good little story and I am a physics junkie so I loved it!
 

BOOKS:  With design playing such a big role in business, maybe you should start to get an idea of how it can help you.  Try The Idea Index.  It is compendiums of ideas that help designers get past creative blocks.
 

Dennis Lehane’s scary thriller, Shutter Island will keep you turning pages, but don’t read it at night!
 

MUSIC:  Find some music by Carbon Leaf.  I recommended these guys earlier and just heard What About Everything and it reminded me how great they are.
 

Over My Head, the new song by the Fray is about as listenable as any recent tune I have heard and is now residing on my iPod.
 

SOUTH OF NORMAL:  Believe it or not, our South of Normal thinkers have found some niche leverage in public restrooms.
On the Champs-Elysees in Paris, PointWC has created the idea of a luxury public restroom.  For 1 Euro (no, I don’t know the current exchange rate) you enter a public restroom where you are greeted by a smartly dressed attendant who sells every kind of product you can think of associated with a journey to the restroom; diapers, hand lotion, custom toilet paper holders for your home and assorted luxury toiletries. 
They are impeccably clean and provide a private powder room for women.  They are co-sponsored by companies that supply the various items featured in the store.  A method of co-branding that is catching on.
They are a huge success and PointWC is ready to open 10 more before year end.
Niches always contain opportunity; sometimes you just need a South of Normal perspective.
 

“Don’t worry about a thing.  Every little thing is gonna be alright”
Bob Marley
 

Drop me a note with your comments at creativeventures@nova1.com.
 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.