Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

IN OUR WORLD

I am coming to you live from my favorite city in Texas, Austin!  A quick client meeting and then some time with my oldest son Dylan and his girlfriend Amanda.

This week provided me with a chance to finish all the design work on two new programs launching the first week of March.

I continue moving closer to signing a project on personal branding for a sales force of 500!  The idea isolates the product from the sales force in a radical move of simplification and skill reinforcement.  It would be a fantastic opportunity and I hope it becomes a reality next week.

Next week I get a chance to introduce the new FRAMING program designed to create new paths of opportunity located outside the industry of the client.  Then off to AZ to further push the trends I see creating real and true impact in 2010.

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

I get my frustration needle redlining when I see a great idea launched within a company and then, just when the idea can be impactful, when it can gain traction, it dies for lack of action.  It drives me crazy.  Do you have any idea the number of strong ideas that could have changed the destiny of a company that simply did not happen because no one pushed? Sometimes it’s a big push that’s needed sometimes it’s small and subtle.

Ideas are seductive.  They often call to us like the Sirens of Greek mythology.  We see a new idea full of potential, we call together the decision makers, we plan the implementation strategy, and we announce it to the troops and begin a forward journey.  But then it happens.  The regular business of our business pulls us away from the idea.  We get caught in the daily reality of what we do.  The idea fought so hard for looses its momentum.  The troops that were once excited are now unsure and the idea once so full of promise is another distant memory.

This scenario is not as uncommon as you may think.

• TRAINING: This is a good idea right, I mean teaching our people to be better at what they do makes good sense.  Do you hear the Sirens calling?  Here is the standard model.  An organization teaches a course and that’s it.  The participants go back to their daily reality and maybe they apply the ideas maybe they don’t.  There is no connected strategy that reinforces the new knowledge, nothing to show the benefit of its application.  It’s like cotton candy, tasty when you are eating but devoid of any real impact.  The idea of training is a wise one, but it needs to feed a process where new knowledge is rewarded and participants are accountable for the application of the skills.

• RE-ORGANIZATION:  This is a biggy.  As the pace of the change increases we are drawn to the idea that reorganizing our structure will makes us more efficient and thus more profitable.  I am amazed at the number of my clients that shift from organizational platform to organizational platform like a Cirque Du Soleil performer.  Don’t get me wrong, I have seen this idea applied with great success as well as seen it crash and burn.  Re-organization takes boat loads of energy and a laser like focus to get all the systems related to the new way aligned.

The bottom line is that any idea needs a couple of elements to be successful:

COMMITMENT:  It is often very harmful to launch a new idea that lacks a firm commitment to implementation. This commitment is commonly found in one strong advocate who will give what is needed to create a new reality.   Cultures remember, that get a bad taste in their mouths for “another new idea” when the past ideas are still floundering.  I hear the countless stories of highlighted by; “Steve, no big deal we do this stuff all the time and nothing ever really happens.”  It makes my ears bleed!

TASKS & ACCOUNTABILITY:  Define the actual “what must be done” aspect of the idea and hold implementers accountable.

RESOURCES:  Keep in mind the level of commitment will dictate the resources necessary.  No new idea is without risk and resources drive an idea forward.

DON’T DO IT:  Believe me; some ideas are better simply not done if you are not ready to make it happen.  Making an idea happen takes hard work and a rugged determination.  I know this; I’m in the idea business!

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: Cop Out: Being in Austin, I am willing to sell out my integrity and see what I am sure is going to be a horrible movie (even though Kevin Smith wrote it) for the opportunity to go to the Alamo Draft House.

NetFlix Fans:  The Natural: This baseball movie (always the best sports theme) is so elegant and beautiful that it should hang in a museum.

TV: Tired of the Olympics yet?

BOOKS:  The 1^st Rule – Crais:  Robert Crais is one of my favorite authors and his character, Elvis Cole, is as good as it gets.  This book follows Cole’s partner Joe Pike in his second stand alone novel.  GOOD STUFF!

MUSIC: Tyrone Wells singing Sea Breeze.  Good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2rzET5JyHs

WEB SITES: Tired  of the studio vanilla movies?

www.indiefilms.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

This is the 50 year anniversary of the first US patent for a laser.  So here are some laser facts:

• 11 people have won Nobel Prizes for laser technologies.
• The world’s largest laser tag facility is in Belleville IL and its 14,000 sq. ft.
• In 2008 the Light Saber was named the world’s most popular film weapon.
• The average LaserDisc was about twice the diameter of a DVD.
• Laser related accidents have accounted for 12 deaths in the past 50 years.  All victims were scientists working in a lab.  Still no ray-gun!

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

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

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

IN OUR WORLD

A great week in my neck of the woods as all my client work was Dallas based!  No plane trip for me this week.

I am finally back to whatever passes for normal for me, leaving the damn stomach flu in the not so distant past.  Nothing makes you more grateful for your health than the memory of being sick.

Most of my work this week was focused on the creative process of developing new ideas and associated presentations for clients launching core strategies in March.  This is a patterned process for me.  Research, storyboards, development of a raw deck (nothing fancy), creation of a “master deck” and then the culling of the deck down to the visually journey I will use to introduce or reinforce the idea.

I also had the opportunity to work on teams with my local clients that span industries as varied as retail, education, manufacturing and entertainment.  Thank God for a fluid mind!

Next week its back on the road again.

By the way, final count on the number of movie lists I sent out this year – 371! 

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Nothing stops an idea dead in its tracks like fear.  As Paul said in the epic science fiction trilogy DUNE – “Fear is the mind killer”.

Fear is a core issue in any decision making model.  It dictates the way people approach choice.  Most decision making models center on judgment and choice.  How do you develop your needs model for making judgment and then how do you connect that judgment to making a choice, a decision.  If you have a fear based model that buries you in uncertainty, your ability to move forward is hampered at every opportunity.

If at the beginning of a choice you have an unrealistic goal that acts as your filter for your decision making model you are very likely to shy away from decisions.  How can you make a right choice when the goal is absurd?  “The customer is always right”, is one of my favorite dumbass goals.  It is so dishonest that to make decisions with it as your primary goal filter dooms you to failure.  Everyone knows that nothing and I mean nothing is “always” when people are involved.  How can one make a good decision when foundation is wrong?  It builds a fear based model.  Try this instead – “we work towards making our customers delighted.”  Now I can make a decision that works in a direction and provides latitude for my ideas.

So what can you do to limit your fear, to forge ahead in making decisions?  Here are a couple of ideas from my decision making model:

RATIONAL:  This is the process driven idea.  Heck, it was good enough for Plato and Benjamin Franklin who used a simple Pro’s and Con’s list.   There are three parts – Assess / Decide / Action.  Take it one step at a time.  I’m not talking about simple decisions like what to have for lunch or what parking place to take; I’m talking about those big things that keep you up at night.  Try this simple idea and see if it helps you see the best choice.

INTUITIVE: You are already familiar with this model.  You often refer to it as your “gut feeling”.  There is a ton of value in this aspect of decision making.  Think about it for a moment.  Your experiences, both good and bad frame how you “feel” about an issue.  You often go through this rolodex of your past in a lightning minute.  Stop, pause, and take a little time to listen to that “still small voice”, it more than often speaks the truth!

Try the “combo special” – build your rational model, think about it and then go with your gut feeling.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: Shutter Island: Believe it or not, I’m not a huge Scorsese fan, BUT this looks like a creepy good time.

NetFlix Fans:  Slap shot: A fantastic hockey movie staring a very athletic Paul Newman.  Funny and full of action.

TV: It is ALL ABOUT THE OLYMPICS!  I love the winter games and watching the downhill, moguls, short track speed skating, the half pipe and other nutso sports is as good as it gets.  BUT, can we limit the saturation of figure skating??

BOOKS:  The Power of Pause – Guilmartin:  This book is a perfect companion to the ideas on decision making.  It deals with the need to slow down in the decision making process.

MUSIC: I’m in an Austin frame of mind and here is a FANTASTIC solo, acoustic version of the greatness of Bob Schneider with 40 Dogs (Romeo and Juliet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xpY3vrdCZQ

WEB SITES: Want to figure out how to so something?  Check out this web site.

www.monkeysee.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

I know the news about the economy can knock you to your knees, BUT here are a few rays of sunshine that appear South of Normal, at least South of the “New Normal” (Tom Langseth):

• John Deere has raised its fiscal outlook for 2010 as demand for large farm equipment is on the rise.
• Whole Foods Markets raised its 2010 fiscal targets with same store sales (a key metric) up over 7%.
• Housing starts rose 2.8 % in January, the largest jump since July of 2009.
• The Empire State Index (measures New York regions manufacturing activity) rose to its highest level in 4 months according to the Federal Reserve Bank.  It beat all the forecasts.

So, enjoy a few rays of sunshine.

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

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

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

IN OUR WORLD

Remember the advertising adage; “What happens in Vegas, stay’s in Vegas.”  Well, I guess that doesn’t apply to the stomach flu.  I brought back the worst case of the stomach yukes in history!  I was in bed for three straight days.  Even as I type this missive I still have somewhat shaky legs!  I get sick about once every 10 years, so I guess I don’t have a lot to complain about, but DAMN!

I know the Eastern part of our country has been slapped silly by snow in the last few weeks, so I feel kind of humble when I mention this, BUT when you get 20 + hours of snow falling out of a Southwest sky, it’s pretty wild.  It looks like Aspen in the metroplex.  Our city is paralyzed by a dusting, so when you get 4” you just shut the door and hunker down.

I had the great pleasure of my work this week all being in town.  So I was able to drag my sorry sick butt around town instead of getting on a plane.

It was fantastic to renew an old relationship and to kick off a new one!

I am now well past 350 movie lists sent out and will pull the little notice next week.

THE ANNUAL TOP 10 AND BOTTOM 5 MOVIES OF 2009 LIST IS READY TO ROLL.  SEND ME A NOTE AND I WILL GET YOU A COPY

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Complexity is like a force of nature.  Think of gravity.  Gravity is a natural phenomenon by which objects of mass attract one another.  Complexity behaves like gravity.  Organizations are pulled to it.  Ideas are attracted to it.  It is seductive and companies often find themselves its victim.

In a series of recent meetings with a couple of clients I have witnessed this natural force attempt to take hold of two completely different strategic plans.

A company embarks on a new idea they are developing the core components that will provide the framework of the idea.  I watch and listen as layer upon layer of ideas make it into the plan until it is nearly bursting off the whiteboard.  We need to do this.  We need to do that.  If we do this, then we will need to do that.  Soon the discussion has veered away from the overriding goal and side discussions breakout over subsets of ideas.  A flipchart sheet is torn off and added to the wall of complexity.  Oh the humanity of it all.

This is not a unique story.  I see it time and time again.  Like gravity, complexity is also POWERFUL.  Think about how much energy it takes to break the hold of gravity.  Watch a jet plane take off and imagine the force it takes to move that much mass and to “break the surely bonds of earth”.

My value is often the hard fought disciplined method of thinking called THOUGHTFUL REDUCTION.  The ability to take critical thought to a process and discover what is and is not of impact to a plan, to an idea.  Here are a few simple steps to get you started.

• STOP:  Almost everyone can sense when something starts to spin out of control, but they simple don’t know what to do.  The answer – STOP. Simple stop the process.  Gather everyone’s thoughts and take a short trip down memory lane to rediscover the actual goal of the plan.
• BARRIERS:  Barriers are not always bad.  Create a barrier to the planning process.  You are all familiar with my barrier.  It’s the number 3.  Nothing gets planned with more than three parts. PERIOD.  Three is my “speed of light” number (nothing can go faster than 186,000 miles per second).

Get started with those two in your battle against the evil forces of complexity.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: From Paris with Love and the Lightning Thief. Illness knocked me out of the movie loop and I have a doubleheader on the agenda for this weekend.

NetFlix Fans:  North Dallas Forty: A friend sent me a FANTASTIC book, The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies.  I am going to give you the Top 10 during the next few weeks.  Here is their choice for # 10

TV: Being sick in bed this week I have actually had my fill of TV.  Believe it or not.  Oh, I still will watch all my favorites, but I cleared out my DVR backlog.  Try The Human Target.  It’s really cool.

BOOKS:  Y Size Your Business – Dorsey:  Lots of people write lots of stuff about the huge gaps that exist in workplace generations.  It’s interesting stuff.  There are about 80 million “Y’s” out there (folks born between 1980 – 1990).  Two key aspects of Dorsey’s definition is the search for learning opportunities and their need for challenges.

MUSIC: Here is someone new to me.  I really Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UWwTa5yKI

WEB SITES: Another way to get computer vids to your big screen.

http://www.boxee.tv/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

One of my favorite trends to watch is “tryvertise” , where part of the add campaign is the ability to try whatever is being marketed.  Think the sample aisle at Costco, but on a more focused level.

25 Degrees Above Celsius is a Singapore based idea that combines a bookstore that sells only cookbooks with a sample kitchen and a café.  They pick a book off the shelf and try a recipe then add it to the menu in the café.  The idea has hit pay dirt in Singapore and they will be brining the idea to the US in June.  Check them out at www.25degreec.com

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

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

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

IN OUR WORLD

Hello Everyone!  I am coming to you live from Las Vegas where I have had the HONOR of working with one of my favorite clients at their annual production meeting.  I have been involved in about 4 of these meetings over the years and each time I come away with this unique feeling that I have been party to something that not only allows my ideas to gain traction resulting in real and true results, but more importantly changes the world.  Yep, I mean changes the world.

I have made it a policy never to mention my clients by name due to the fact I am mostly involved at the highest strategic level and this connection brings a responsibility to very specific goals that impact the performance of the company.  Please bear with me as I am committed to this policy, so this particular anonymous company will have to remain nameless.

What do I mean by changing the world?  Though they are gathered to discuss strategy, to improve their skill sets, to closely examine sales processes and to reward performance, they also have made a firm commitment to leave every community they come to meet in, better for having hosted their meeting.  They design a team building event that impacts the greater community thus combining the opportunity to forge bonds that carry to their business while simultaneously making a place better for having been there.

Through the years I have been an active participant in planning, filming and producing a unique video each of these incredible community events.  We have built bikes for unprivileged kids who would have never known the freedom that mobility brings.  I have seen 260 mostly unskilled professionals build a playground in the devastated 8^th Ward of New Orleans.  I have just finished an experience that lingers with me as I tap these keys.

In an extraordinary result of countless hours of planning, of never taking no for an answer, of the tireless work on a unique individual I saw a company, raise $500,000 for the military Wounded Warrior Program, build and ship almost 200 individual soldier care packages to be sent to the war zone, build an athletic field on a military base for soldiers who have virtually no recreation facilities, move on a goal of getting children and adults to write 3,000 cards to our warriors fighting on the front lines which resulted in over 23,000 cards.  Finishing off with inviting soldiers to a free concert.

How is the world changed?  By small, impactful steps.  By steps taking by nameless human beings who ask for nothing in return.  By Americans.  What a blessing I have been a part of the grace of perfect strangers.

THE ANNUAL TOP 10 AND BOTTOM 5 MOVIES OF 2009 LIST IS READY TO ROLL.  SEND ME A NOTE AND I WILL GET YOU A COPY

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

It is often hard for people and organizations to appreciate the impact of 1.  One is a simple thing, a single digit, a thing that we see as a limitation.  I can’t have just one potato chip.  You can’t have just one cookie.  One step doesn’t get me anywhere.

It’s OK, I get it.  I understand.  It’s just to damn simple to take on a one step project.  It can’t be impactful.  It can’t be important.  It can’t matter.

Funny, we all believe the longest journey starts with one step.  Why do we find it so hard to find value in the pursuit of one powerful thing?

In our 2010 strategic attack plan for a number of our clients I have in fact, pushed the idea of one.  I refer to it as the OLA strategy or the “ONE LEVEL ABOVE” program.

I have written about this in the context of the Client Experience Map, but I want to isolate this idea for this part of THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW.

If you were to spend quality time identifying just one thing you could do that would move your model forward, which would change your model in eyes of not only your clients, but your team.  If you followed a path of thinking around the selection of this one item could you be sure that it was the right one thing.  Maybe you need some help some facilitation.  That’s OK.  Spend what you need to make sure you feel confident in the one thing.

This one thing should move your current reality up, forward towards your best.  Remember the Law of Abundance – More is not better and better is not best!  Move to best.

Thinking about one thing, one thing that everyone can focus on, one thing that moves the model that allows you to set a horizon that everyone can engage with can make all the difference in the world!

One if fact is not the loneliest number, it is the most impactful!

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: From Paris With Love looks like a reasonable shoot em up movie.  I loved The Edge of Darkness.  Best of the early 2010 season.

NetFlix Fans:  Mystery, Alaska: An old Russell Crowe movie that I just saw again and remembered how muck I liked it!

TV: Hey, I like TV, but my travel schedule often forces me to find gratification in the future, a future blessed by the god’s of TV in their gift of the DVR.  So when I get back, House, The Mentalist, and Burn Notice all await me.  Of course, the Super Bowl is the big ticket this week, but check the Nature Channel for reruns of The Planet Earth in hi-def!

BOOKS:  I, Sniper– Hunter:  If you are not a Bob Lee Swagger fan, shame on you!  Start at the beginning, with Point of Impact.  For us fans, this is the latest chapter which is bound to be filled with non stop action.

MUSIC: Just heard a cover band do this classic Police/Sting song and it reminded me of the mournful acoustic version that I LOVE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_FkwK24ZYY

WEB SITES: Funny and inappropriate at the same time.  A very funny combination.

http://failblog.org/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

Just back from Las Vegas, which may be South of Normal central!  Some observations:

• President Obama has the town in an uproar when he suggested (paraphrasing), “if you don’t have the money, and please don’t gamble.”  For some reason these were fighting words for this fair town.
• No matter what the time of day (I arrived at the airport at 5:30 AM) the line through security looks like the line at a U2 concert.  It is the only airport that when you are landing the flight crew warns you to be at the airport 2 hours early.  Rightly so!
• I work out very early in the AM and I am always amazed there are still players at the tables and slots.  Are they starting early or ending late?
• Smoking is still popular???????  What is the deal? It is one of the great truths.  Smoking will kill you earlier than planned.
• More is always better.  The buffets have enough food to feed any 3^rd world country and the muffins at the coffee place in the hotel were as big as footballs.

Just a couple of observations.

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

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