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

IN OUR WORLD

I am coming to you live from beautiful Minneapolis where I am getting some relief from the intense Dallas heat!

I am starting a project around the Repeatable Successful Acts platform and am so honored to launch my ideas to a new audience.

I am really excited to announce Darren Horwitz of Imprint PR as the newest member of the Creative Ventures team!  Darren will be responsible for all my PR and media relations work!  We kick off this new strategy July 1!

Next week I get to work with new clients in Dallas, as well as moving closer to a couple of big projects that have been hanging around in the pipeline.

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

You may not know this, but there is a “HAPPINESS” movement going on in the world.  I mean a real, focused, strategic and substantive amount of attention being placed on how happiness is becoming a measurable amount of business capital.

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of my friends at Zappos and Chip Cowley, the CEO of Joie de Vivre hotels are two great examples of this new focus on happiness and the economic impact it can have to your bottom line.

Tony’s new book Delivering Happiness, chronicles the impact a small amount of focus can have on how the people feel not only about working for your company, but about how the transference of that “good feeling” impacts the people that buy your product or service.  Happiness is highly damn contagious!

Chip goes even farther and his studies into happiness have taken him through every housekeeper who toils in the cleanliness of his hotel rooms to the king of the small Himalayan country of Bhutan, where they measure happiness.  He has found that the formula of:

HAPPINESS =    Wanting what you have

Having what you want

seems to work.

Chip believes the problem of giving happiness value is our problem in measuring it.  Our obsession with measurement, a throw back to our industrial revolution roots, limits both our desire to think about happiness and our focus on making it a business fundamental.  Yet we intuitively know that happy people make for happy customers and nothing beats happy customers for the bottom line of profit.

There are currently over 40 countries studying happiness, looking to find the right fit for a companion to Gross National Product (GNP), a Gross National Happiness or GNH.

My strategy of Attack The Second Level (a result of the Repeatable Successful Acts platform) shows the importance of not only leaders being attuned to the culture you have created, but all of the support staff as well.

So you choose, miserable or happy?  The key is you can make either a reality!

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    Knight and Day:  Time for a little spy fun!

NetFlix Fans:  This Is It: This is the fantastic Michael Jackson documentary about the preparation for his HUGE international concert series he was rehearsing for prior to his death.  An explosion in creativity, you get to watch the making of a concert that was going to be bigger than life!

TV: Wimbledon has been full of drama, especially with the Herculean match between Isner and Mahut.  The World Cup has provided drama in its own way, though getting there is kind of a beating.  You watch 90 minutes of kicking the ball around the field to catch a glimpse of a goal attempt.

BOOKS:  The Real Enjoyment of Living – By Schachter.  This rather obscure little book, published in 1954, is on the reading list of the new Happiness movement leaders.

MUSIC: One of the spectacular guitarists in the world today, Pedro Javier Gonzalez!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKN9c1llqhc

WEB SITES: A daily dose of good news.

http://gimundo.com/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

It is almost time for the epic ComicCon (http://www.comic-con.org/cci/ ) convention in San Diego where everything comic and movie gathers for a week of geekdom heaven!  I have always dreamed of going, but have not yet made it.  Here are a few comic book facts to entertain your South of Normal reading habits!

• Typical price of a comic book is about $3.99.
• Comics and their cousin, the graphic novels have increase 20% in sales since 2005.
• Action Comics #1 – the introduction of Superman, sold for $1.5 million in March!
• Michigan State has the largest catalogued collection of comic books in the world.
• The average age for comic book readers is between 25 and 28.

Maybe next year.

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

I’m back from my 4^th trip to Orlando in the last 6 weeks.  I have become addicted to the orange/cranberry scones at the little bakery near the American Airlines gate.

This week I also had the honor of presenting our latest strategic platform; FRAMING, seeing the ever bigger picture, to a wonderful group over a spectacular lunch!  The result was adding 60 + new people to my mailing list and developing a number of new business opportunities.

I have so many projects both on the table and in the pipeline that it makes my head spin.  I am so graced!

Next week I am off to Minneapolis to present new sales strategies based on the Repeatable Successful Acts platform.

I just finished three new podcasts around the RSA work and will have them posted, one at a time, in next three upcoming newsletters.

Happy Fathers day to all you dad’s out there!

If you are not on my newsletter mailing list and want to get it every month, drop me a note at steve@creativeventures.com .

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

I let you know that I have just completed three new podcasts around the Repeatable Successful Acts platform and thought I would give you a quick few points on why you should be doing a few podcasts:

• Open Doors:  A podcast is a conversational tool, a way to deliver information and news in a natural manner.  Podcasts are about talking.  They allow you to turn the message into an interview, providing a platform to exchange ideas.
• Expand the Knowledge Base of Your Team and Your Clients:  Think about a new delivery tool that expands the knowledge base of both your team and your clients.  A podcast is a tool for spreading information.
• Get Noticed:  Using podcasts will get you noticed.  By adding just a small amount of post production touches, as simple as music, will make a big impact.
• People Listen:  Podcasts, when kept short (5-10 minutes) are engaging and people listen.

Now for the next best part – THEY ARE CHEAP.  There are so many ways to record and post podcasts I could do an entire newsletter as a “how to.”

Do a little homework and you will find the right fit.

http://radio.about.com/od/createyourownpodcast/ss/How-to-Create-Your-Own-Podcast-Make-Your-Own-Talk-Show-Music-Program-or-Audio-Stream.htm

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    The Karate Kid:  This was a FANTASTIC remake and worthy of your movie viewing time.

NetFlix Fans:  Pirate Radio: This little movie got by me, BUT I can not recommend this wonderful film enough.  One of the best movies I have seen in a long time!!!

TV: Let me make just two statements – The US Open at Pebble Beach and the start of Wimbledon.  Thank you, oh thank you DVR!!!

BOOKS:  The Power of Social Networking – By Hunt.  The idea is to create demand, not just buzz.  Define your social community broadly, to ensure you snag the beginner, intermediate and expert.  Respond to all feedback.  It creates your reputation.  Make small, impactful and continuous improvements.  Make sure our strategy gets you feedback.

MUSIC: As you all know I am a huge music fan and I love when my readers turn me on to a band I’m not familiar with.  Such was my introduction to Elizabeth and the Catapult.  Here is a great tune!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhTyw6_9Rpo

WEB SITES: For Fathers Day.

http://artofmanliness.com/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

With consumers exhibiting an ever-increasing lust for instant gratification, it was only a matter of time before nowism was applied to online dating. Enter New York-based start-up Urban Signals, a location-based mobile application that enables immediate in-person connections between singles.

Launched in January, the Urban Signals app works by broadcasting the location of users based on GPS signals, which enables members to locate nearby singles and meet up instantaneously if they desire. Similar to online dating, each user creates a profile and sets their ideal partner preferences. Whenever their radar is switched on, they are shown the location, mood and status of fellow members of interest within their specified radius. “Signals” are exchanged between users to make contact. The app is free to download from Apple’s iTunes store. New users are given a one month trial, after which the ‘Unlimited Signals’ pack can be purchased for USD 4.99 per month.

With Urban Signals taking care of spontaneous love/lust connections, where else might consumers be interested in a similar service for real-time people connecting of another kind? Perhaps parents seeking company for impromptu play dates, tennis players seeking partners for spur-of-the-moment matches… The possibilities are endless. (Related: Online dating, Facebook style — Dating via Twitter — Online speed dating.)

Website: www.urbansignals.net
Contact: feedback@urbansignals.net

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 short work week, even for me as I actually did NO work on Memorial Day!  First time in recent memory.

I add two new clients this week.  It’s really exciting and not that common when I find a prospect that makes it through my filter and we develop a joint level of excitement about the proposed projects!  Makes me way JAZZED.  Both will take until the fall to get ready and kick off in September and October.

I have spent a huge amount of time this week on research and design for a project that has resulted from a very successful PERSONAL BRANDING project for a large sales force.  Having finished the launch in half of their key offices the client is already seeing new behaviors that are starting to show results.  I am amazed at the level of accountability the sales force is being held to with regard to the new personal branding elements of their sales process.  The traction of an idea is directly related to the level of accountability that the practitioner is held to.  To gain even faster and more specific traction, involve those impacted in the development of the idea.  I am also creating a new platform presentation on this very different and powerful view of the impact of a strong personal branding strategy for sales forces everywhere.

Next week I am back to Orlando where the Repeatable Successful Acts platform again takes center stage.

Also, my youngest son, Colin, is due back from his year in Spain.  It will be a big welcome home celebration.

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Don’t you understand I already have a plan?  I’m waiting for my real life to begin.

Colin Hay

One of the great road blocks to getting things done is  what I call – The Right Wait.  This is the belief that everything must be in place before you can begin anything.  Think of this along the lines of The Myth of 100% that I have written and spoken about in the past.  If you wait in the wonderland of everything has to be just right, you will delay or never start a project.

What often causes this fear of starting (most commonly the fear that the idea will fail) is the individualization of the risk.  One person shoulders the responsibility which rapidly becomes the burden.

It becomes a PUSH project.  One person is pushing the idea.  People respond to pushes just like they respond to being pushed.  People have a tendency to resist or even push back.  The more resistance and backward pressure, the less likely you are to move the idea forward and the more likely you are to retreat to look for The Right Wait.  This is also the home of “buy in”, or I want your engagement in an idea you had nothing to do with.

Here is a quick idea.  Change the PUSH to a PULL.  Look for opportunities early on in the idea launch to involve people.  The best idea is to involve people in the impact zone of the idea.  By pulling ideas, both positive and critical at the beginning you gain traction.  The PULL strategy even works when an idea stalls and needs some forward motion.

The better your PULL strategy the more likely you are to start an idea and make adjustments (all ideas need adjustments) as you move forward.

There seldom is a RIGHT WAIT.  Ideas need motion.  Give it to them!

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    Killers:  Another afternoon of mindless entertainment.

NetFlix Fans:  The Limits of Control: This is one of those movies I started to watch late one night and become mesmerized by it’s slow pace and virtual lack of dialog.  It centers on a courier, sent on a mysterious mission in Spain.  Weird, but I could not turn it off.

TV: The summer run of shows on the USA Network has begun, YEA!  This brings the ousted spy show Burn Notice and the personalized doctor show Royal Pains back to Thursday nights.  The NBA finals also reunite two old and bitter rivals as the LA Lakers take on their arch nemesis the Boston Celtics.

BOOKS:  The Wisdom of Bee’s – By O’Malley.  An interesting take on looking at business based on how bee’s organize and operate.  Bees look wide and deep, meaning they think long term.  When flowers are thin, they don’t downsize, they look for new sources.

MUSIC: Some years back my friend Wayne introduced me to the solo career of Colin Hay (perhaps remembered from Men at Work fame).  Since then I have consumed as many of his songs as possible.  Full of wisdom and wonderful melodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCUvrbybtIA&feature=related

WEB SITES: A MUST BOOKMARK.

http://www.stoyko.net/fugitiveknowledge/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

There is a new ride at the insane Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas.  I guess the three roller coaster rides on the top of the 1,149 foot tower of a hotel didn’t provide enough of an adrenaline rush, so they added the SKYJUMP.

You basically jump off the 108^th floor with a harness on and do a 14 second free fall at a rate of drop of 60 ft. per second.  This is the highest controlled fall experience in the world!  Unlike a bungee chord jump where the end launches you back up, this ends in a soft controlled landing (or is supposed to anyway).

It is a “solo” experience and will set you back $100.  BUT, here is the deal, if one time didn’t do it for you, you can get a second jump for a package rate of $150!

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

I have one of those jobs where every week is an adventure.  This is enough to drive you crazy and hopeful at the same time!

Everyday features conference calls, meetings and idea sessions around possible projects for a variety of clients.  This always challenges my thinking when shifting from, financial services to insurance to health benefits, to consulting firms to manufacturing.
Dominating the project landscape is the Repeatable Successful Acts platform and the new strategies that result from those power behaviors of million $$ producers.

I had a great meeting with a public relations specialist regarding extending my sphere of influence and helping me place my ideas.

The bad news is my productivity has been greatly slowed by a severe right wrist injury that makes typing, designing and writing a real challenge.

Off to Austin, my favorite city in Texas!

Have a great holiday weekend!!!!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Got a phone call yesterday from a client wondering what they could do that would be quick and simple (not complicated) to give their sales approach a quick face lift.  First, there is hardly ever anything that is a quick fix, unless you have duct tape.  So I gave him the following suggestions:

• Be More Curious – Be genuine in your approach to the connections you make with your clients.  Find out about THEM.  Discover their likes and dislikes, delve into their needs and desired outcomes.  Now add that approach to expanding your knowledge base.  Subscribe to email business magazines and updates to expand your knowledge of what’s going on.
• Develop a Series of Open Ended Questions -  The better you become a developing the ability to structure open ended questions to your clients the better you are at getting their story.  To start your open question tool box, start with the classic – “Tell me about . . . . “  The open ended question is the foundation of curiosity.
• Be Engaged – Let your client know you are all about them.  Ask them; “is it OK if I take notes?”  It tells your client that you care about the information and involves them in a very subtle way, that you are engaged.

Sounds simple, right?  The idea is to take impactful, strategic steps that won’t complete shift your existing sales efforts.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    Prince of Persia:  Looks like a fun way to spend a hot summer afternoon in Austin with my family.

NetFlix Fans:  The Road: This is an outstanding film with a phenomenal performance by Viggo Mortensen.  WARNING:  it is very dark and bleak.

TV: We are in the nether season of TV.  Winter shows have all bid us good bye and summer show’s (especially the great programming of the USA Network) have not started.  Only the French Open and Justified keep my interest!

BOOKS:  Innovation X  – By Richardson.  This is a great read.  It deals with complexity that seems to grip the innovation process.  If organizations are so focused on innovation, why do they get so few impactful results?

MUSIC: I slipped back to my Counting Crows listening binge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKErocP7EH0

WEB SITES: Love this movie / comic book / fantasy site.

http://www.heatvisionblog.com/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

Loved this story:

The milk producers are in a froth over the use of the term “milk”.  Got milk?  Not if it’s something you grabbed from the dairy (the term is “dairy) case and it says; Soy Milk or Almond Milk or Rice Milk.  The dairy crowed is pissed off about the use of the term “milk” for these products.

The cow folks have headed to the good old US Congress to get the term milk taken off those other products.

Hey, the soy milk market is approaching a $1 billion, so this is a big deal.

The final test, get up in front of a Congressional Hearing and milk a soy bean or an almond.  I think you have to have mammary glands to produce milk and though I am not an expert, I have never seen those on a soy bean!

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

This was a week in town for me.  Lots going on and lucky for me, all of it local.

• One Level Above (OLA):  I had my first follow up meeting after the launch of an OLA strategy for a client.  The key to the impact of a strategy that moves an existing reality one level above is a firm application plan at the very beginning.  It creates traction. Traction leads to impact!
• Podcast’s: I had the honor of recording three podcasts on my Repeatable Successful Acts platform for a client.  After editing I will get copies and have them posted in my June newsletter.  The RSA platform continues to gain traction.
• Attack The Second Level:  This strategy sprang from one of the RSA’s.  It has multiple applications.  This application involved a new training platform I designed for support staff.  Many companies miss the opportunity to focus serious training for one of the most critical foundation points to success – support staff.  The result was fantastic!

Add those client activities to the continued work on the new web site, meetings regarding a couple of proposed projects,  and the week flew by!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

The battle for simplicity is a never ending war.  We seem to be constantly drawn into a desire for complication.  It hits us every where.  We are bombarded with so many choices in everything from the 285 choices of cookies at Wal-Mart to the 15,000 mutual funds available for your investment options.  These myriad choices create a real and ever present challenge to our decision making models and decision making plays a huge role in our ability to plan.

The IBM Global CEO Study, involving 1,541 CEO’s has just been published with some interesting results.

• 8 out of 10 CEO’s believe their companies are growing more complex despite their efforts to keep things simple.
• 51% feel they are not equipped to deal with complexities.
• Complexity has become the largest leadership challenge identified in the 8 years since the launch of the Study.

The ability to simplify comes from how you think.  How you think impacts how you behave.  At Creative Ventures we follow a method of thinking called “thoughtful reduction”.  It comes from the design world and John Maeda.  It allows you to attack problems, systems, processes with a rugged determination to keep it simple.  We created the Power of 3 where we fight the thinking battle to all projects, systems, programs and platforms to no more than 3 parts.  This Power of 3 is the engine that drives ALL of my work.

Here is an example.  This week I met with a client regarding an aggressive internet strategy.  They had filled two white boards with their ideas and a draft of the plan.  I was invited to participate.  After some rather lengthy discussion the strategy had one focal point – CONNECTIONS.  The connections had two impact points, their sphere of influence and their information.  It really was as simple as that.

A few starting points:

• Slow Down.  Speed stops simplification cold in its tracks.  Remember, speed should never outweigh thought.
• Layers.  It takes multiple models to get to the most simple.  Think of it as playing with the idea.

The ability to simplify will become a defining strength in a world of chaotic change.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: Not much out there.  McGruber is probably not going to get my movie dollar!

NetFlix Fans:  Outlander: A little, obscure sci-fi movie.  Surprisingly entertaining.

TV: The season finale for House MD was a good an episode of television as I have seen in years.  Yes, I am prejudice as I am a House fanatic, but many in my “House Circle of Friends” agreed.  Catch it on Hulu.

BOOKS:  Work Place Flexibility  – By Christian/Schneider.  What is the number one strategy for finding and keeping talent?  Create a work place with a foundation of flexibility.

MUSIC: The Damon Castillo Band.  Really good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3JEJAnpZwM

WEB SITES: Way cool site.

www.futurity.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

How about some pizza facts:

• There are over 69,000 pizzerias in the US.
• 3 billion pizzas are consumed every year.
• 94% of the US population eats pizza, while only 64% of the US population voted in the last US presidential elections.
• Americans eat 100 acres of pizza a day.
• Iowa is the # 1 pizza eating state in the US, while Mississippi ranks 50^th.

Man, I love me some pizza!

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

I started this blog while in Orlando and am finishing it in Ft. Worth.  That’s the type of week it has been.  Here it is in a nutshell:

• On Monday I launched a One Level Above (OLA) strategy for three different divisions of a client.  The entire impact platform is designed around taking the existing performance and doing ONE THING that raises the bar on their performance standards.  This OLA strategy sounds easy, right, do just one thing.  The problem is that this one thing carries total accountability.  When you have gone through the process that results in the right choice, it takes total commitment to show impact.
• Off to Orlando where I introduced the Repeatable Successful Acts with a hard stress on planning.  The power behavior of planning is a game changer in any sales process.  I then did a workshop that drilled the idea down to two other RSA’s – Bang Your Drum and Attack the Second Level.
• Jumped off the plane from Orlando and ran over to Ft. Worth where I had the absolute honor of delivering the keynote address to the annual Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Organization – HOBY.  The world’s largest teen leadership organization.  We often hear that the young kids in the country are slipping.  WRONG!  We have more dedicated bright young leaders than any country in the world.

Next week all my work will keep me in Dallas!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Lets visit a little about an often missed opportunity, that of MOMENTUM.  In the physical world, momentum is defined in Newton’s 2^nd Law:

Force, applied to a body produces a proportional acceleration or F=ma.

Though this definition has held its ground for a long time, I am instead talking about an intangible form of momentum.  The kind you can recognize but that does not necessarily carry a well defined formula.  It is the energy of success.

You see it in sports all the time.  A team goes on a scoring tear and no matter what the other team does it just can’t seem to stem the flow.  So, a coach calls time out.  The purpose, to regroup and hopefully cool off the other teams momentum.  You can’t see this type of momentum and no formula can really define it, but it is as clear to anyone watching as is a bowling ball rocketing down a lane on a momentum collision course with the pins.

This type of momentum is visible in business all the time and is often ignored which leaves a phenomenal amount of potential on the table.  We know we created it at the end of an event.  The event can be a meeting or a conference or even a successful client call.  We know we hit a home run and often bask in the glow of the moment.  Though I highly recommend “basking in the glow” I also know that the good energy that was just created is fleeting.

So let me recommend a couple of methods to extend your momentum:

• The Three Part Drip:  This is all about capturing momentum.  It is a PLANNED activity that reconnects participants in any good activity back to those moments of the highest energy.  Think about producing a 3 part process that highlights the most important moments of the event.  Now this does not have to be a conference, it could be a great one on one meeting or a major purchase made by a client.  It is any event that created a high positive return.  Now capture three key aspects and deliver them in a memorable fashion.  Create a custom HTML template that looks different from anything they have seen before.  Use video clips from a major meeting (WHAT!  You didn’t fork over the money to have some of the meeting filmed?  Contact me about the power of “rich media”.).  Send out a specific newsletter about the event.  Extend this “drip” idea to one per week for 3 consecutive weeks.  A great way to capture some of your GOOD momentum.
• The Handwritten Note:  You have all heard me preach about this forever.  When you have a great meeting, let the other guy know it.  Capture the goodwill through the most simple but powerful act you can muster, SEND THEM A HANDWRITTEN NOTE!  It is a guaranteed momentum grabber.

Emotion energy creates momentum.  Don’t let it get away!

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: It’s BLOCKBUSTER TIME!  Here is the next big summer release – Robin Hood.  I love the combination of Crowe and Scott and can’t wait to see it.  By the way Iron Man 2 ROCKED!

NetFlix Fans:  Edge of Darkness: This movie is destined to make my Best of List for 2010.  It was smart and exciting with a great story and wonderful acting.

TV: Fox announced it will renew two of my favorite shows – Lie to Me and The Human Target for next season.  ABC announced a new cop procedural show for next season called The Whole Truth.  It has a neat twist as the perspective will change during the show making it a challenge each week to figure out who did it.

BOOKS:  Get Rid of Performance Review – By Culbert/Rout.  This book immediately struck home with me as I think the way performance reviews are done is comical and of little value.  In fact, I think they are wasteful of opportunity.  The authors think you should change the focus from areas that need improvement and look at what the employee does well and work to make them better at their strengths.  A good read.

MUSIC: I have been listening to the new Dave Matthews live from Las Vegas CD non-stop and thought I would share the feel of the music with this live version of Lie In Our Graves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEaz5DPmoaY

WEB SITES: Worlds leading Q&A site.

www.answers.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

I just read an article by a person who is up in arms and shouting from his soapbox about the death of English as the language of our country.  It made me think that the fellow is a little angry and not really thinking very straight, which has become a common malady in the world.  He was upset about billboards being and certain state electoral ballots being in Spanish.  These micro language comparisons are based on a micro view of the world.  Here are the facts:

• In about 2 months India will become the largest English speaking country on the planet.
• In about 6 months China will surpass India and take the lead in English chatting folks.
• The US will sink to third place in the native tongue rankings.

In both India and China this is not as big an overthrow as you might think.  When you have billions of people, a small percentage of English speaking people are a HUGE number.

This is good news for the good old US of A as it means that English IS the planetary language.  English is the linguistic operating system of the world.  So stop you South of Normal ranting about a miniscule impact of Spanish on our language system and rejoice in us winning the language sweepstakes.

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

Great week of actually getting things done!  I’m not talking about discussing a project or thinking about a project, I’m talking about DOING!

• LAUNCHING AN OLA PROJECT:  One of the Repeatable Successful Acts that has spawned its own strategic platform is the “I Deliver to One Level Above Expectations or what has become known in the Creative Ventures universe as OLA Strategies.  I have a number of clients in the design phase of this strategy, but this week I actually LAUNCHED, or STARTED one for a Houston based client!
• BUDGET TO ACTION:  On another project I had a client say; “here is the budget, make it happen.”  I finished the design and implementation plan based on the budget I was given and BANG – the project got the green light!
• HOBY KEYNOTE:  I have the distinct honor of getting to deliver a keynote presentation (way cool multimedia visual journey) to a large group of teenage leaders. The Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership is an international organization helping guide and teach the principles of leadership. Designing and producing impactful content for bright young minds is a HUGE challenge, but I am way jazzed with the finished program and can’t wait until next Friday for the chance to share ideas.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t finish all my stuff and a daunting task of two articles awaits my writing schedule, but it was great to get a hunk of stuff DONE!

Next week I am back to Orlando!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

The idea of IMPACT is a constantly changing concept.  What defines an action that creates influence, which moves an organization measurably forward?  In these days of speed and change, impact is more important than ever.

A good filter for defining impact starts with the clarity of objective.  You need to be able to define the effect the idea or project will have.  To put impact to the ultimate test, define it in a single sentence.  This idea of ultimate simplification will result in an exercise the “thoughtfully reducing” the program on the table to its essential elements.

Next, SEE the idea, visualize the process and watch the impact crystallize before your very eyes.  What does that mean?  Draw out the idea.  Create a picture map.  Seeing is EVERYTHING.  Use a whiteboard or flipchart.  If you don’t have either of those resources, GO GET THEM NOW!  I am always amazed when I go into a conference room without a whiteboard or flipchart.  Hell, you should cover every empty wall space in your offices with Plexiglas and turn them all into whiteboards!  You don’t have to be Picasso.  I’m not talking about sketches that will be in the Museum of Modern Art.  Write down ideas, use arrows to connect them, make lists.  Make things visual.

These two steps;

1. Make your impact statement ONE sentence.
2. Visualize the idea

These simple steps will create a road to IMPACT.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: And so begins the blockbuster movie season with Iron Man 2.

NetFlix Fans:  Bottle Shock: At a business dinner the conversation turned to movies and someone at the table asked me if I like little movies as well as blockbusters.  As an example I gave him this recommendation.

TV: USA Network does such an outstanding job with the creation of unique and wonderful shows.  In fact, they are partially responsible for the shift to two TV seasons with their summer show line up.  Try both Burn Notice and Royal Pains.  Their new series, Covert Affairs is getting lots of buzz.

BOOKS:  Blood Oath – Farnsworth:  Here is a fictional recommendation from a brand new author.  A combination of mystical – secret agent stuff.  I loved it.

MUSIC: I hate using the “official video” for any of my music postings, but I love this song by Vampire Weekend!

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

WEB SITES: Cool web site and a great bookmark!

http://trueslant.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

I love the “milk wars” going on.  The milk producers and bastions of the dairy industry are pissed off about the use of the term “milk” on all kinds of things that are not really milk.  They say milk is a liquid produced from the mammary glands of mammals.  Hey, I understand.  If that’s the case how can you have Almond Milk, Soy Milk or Rice Milk?  The dairy gang wants congress to stop those guys from bastardizing milk.  I think the ultimate test is simple.  Get up their and milk a soy bean!

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

Coming to you live from sunny Orlando FL, where I am moving my Repeatable Successful Acts sales platform through an organization.  This is round two and it has been unbelievably successful!  The impact of doing a few simple things can be staggering.  The success of this platform evolves around choice, simplicity and proven effectiveness.

• There are over 20 Repeatable Successful Acts in the program.  They are the power behaviors of million dollar producers.  You can pick and choose the RSA’s that make the most sense to your existing sales platform, to your sales training or to your personal style.
• Each RSA is elegantly simple.  They don’t take huge leaps in behavior or large hunks of time to implement.
• RSA’s are not theoretical.  They are “in-play” with over 125 top producers from 5 different industries!

I also received one of my favorite types of projects.  A client sent me the results of an internal project and wants me to simplify the report and create a visual journey that can be taken on an extensive road show by the company.  FANTASTIC opportunity for a client to see the process of “thoughtful reduction” in action.

This is also a chance for me to introduce “FRAMING” – the ability to expand your reference points to create a new perspective.

The new web site is now in the design phase and I am jazzed about John’s new ideas and can’t wait for the prototyping process to begin.

I have just created three new exercises that will become part of a number of my educational programs.  Each one teaches an aspect of thinking, collaboration and creativity.  There is no reason that learn should be devoid of fun.

Next week off to Houston!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Above I told you about a new project of simplification and visual connection.  I apply a discipline of thinking called; thoughtful reduction.  This form of thinking is all about a few principles that need to be followed with a rugged determination.  These principles might shift and change with the project, but their core impact always remains the same:

• ABSOLUTE NEED:  What content can be defined as absolute to the project?  This is an acquired way of thinking and usually involves a couple of session of storyboarding, separated by some time and then a final shot at the goal.
• PRIORITY:  From the absolute need comes the structure of the story.  Think about beginning, middle and end.
• PROTOTYPE:  This is the process of creation.  It involves more than one solution and the ability to weigh ideas and take the perspective of the recipient.

Those are the three ways thoughtful reduction will be applied to the new project.

At the end of the process, you will have a startlingly simple, powerful and elegant journey that will take the idea to the highest level of engagement.

For more information on thoughtful reduction or if you are interested in learning this thinking discipline drop me a note at steve@creativeventures.com

Next to our communication classes, our thinking programs are the most popular.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: Nothing to on the release calendar to draw me to the movies.

NetFlix Fans:  Encounters at the End of the World: Great documentary on Antarctica.

TV: NBA Playoffs make the sport finally interesting.  Also, make sure you are watching JUSTIFIED on the FX Network.  It’s my favorite new show.

BOOKS:  The Reactor Factor – Sue:  A really good read about the simple premise – you own your job and your actions dictate your future.  Don’t give into a total emotional response to something.  THINK!

MUSIC: Bruce Cockburn has been one of my favorite singer/songwriters since I first heard him 20 years ago.  The first video is only 2 minutes and shows why many consider him one of the greatest guitarists of our time.  The second is a great song – The Last Night of the World.  Who would you want to be sipping Champagne with?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK64qc-Mbts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02TUsZzF6es&feature=related

WEB SITES: This web site is a MUST BOOKMARK!

www.tonic.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

I am often asked; what are some things I can do to learn how to restructure my way of thinking about things?”  I am in a thinking rut.

Here is a little South of Normal exercise to get you to think about simplification:

Think about the “theme” of something.  This is the general meaning of anything.  A theme defines a direction.

Take your 5 all time favorite movies.  The goal is for you to define the theme of each movie in ONE SINGLE SENTENCE.  Create a clear, coherent sentence that expresses the story’s true meaning.

This simple exercise is a foundation for understanding the idea of thoughtful reduction.  Those of you have taken my class, will recognize the exercise.

Give it a try.  Its way more difficult than it sounds!

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

Ahhh, I had a full week at home.  Hard to remember when that happened last.  I’ll bet the folks at American Airlines were wondering where the hell I was.

This week gave me a huge chance to get caught up on projects that are currently active and provided me with a great opportunity to work on a couple of ideas that I have been playing with.

• RICH MEDIA:  Colton and I are putting the finishing touches on the 5 news videos we recently shot.  The idea of doing mini-videos, no more than 3 minutes long, for a product, idea or new program is going to be huge with my clients.  It is simple, inexpensive and has a completely free distribution system – the internet!
• NEW WEB SITE:  All the content is done.  On Monday John and I will start on the beta design.  It will be ready to launch by the beginning of the 3^rd quarter.
• NEW PROGRAMS:  I am in the process of translating the strategic platform on Personal Branding into a 1 to 1 ½ hour multimedia presentation.  The new TRENDS program is completed and I have performed it a couple of times already.  Let me know if you want any additional information on them.
• EDUCATION UPDATES:  I just finished a revision of my Presentation Skills Workshop.  I have added new exercises designed to help participants gain the skills necessary to advance their ability to create traction for their ideas.

Next week I am off to Orlando to work with the Repeatable Successful Acts platform.

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

I thought I would scatter shoot on some of the things I thought were interesting in the recent news:

• APPLE: I wish I could stop writing about these guys, but they keep performing like Hercules.  The first quarter financial results are enough to make your head spin:
  • Sales surged 131%!
  • Profit rose 90%.
  • 49% increase in sales.
  • They had the best non-holiday quarter ever.
  • None of this counts the iPad impact
  • Yes, I must disclose – I am a share holder, but holy geez, even if I wasn’t it is still mind blowing!

• OUCH: Well, despite our technological wizardry, it turns out we are still at the whim of Mother Earth.  The Iceland volcano (I will not even attempt to spell the town as I have no idea where some of the accent symbols are on my keyboard) has grounded air travel in Europe causing the airline industry to take a $1.4 billion hit.  I liked the one reporter who asked; “when will it stop erupting?”  The guy said; “why don’t you go up there and stick your head in and let me know what you think.”

• QUICK HITS: Yahoo’s 1^st quarter earnings only tripled, sorry.  It was the first upward movement for them in a year!  Harley Davidson shares were up 7%.  IBM beat the heck out of Wall Street analyst’s projections.  Coke’s 1^st quarter earnings were up from a year ago thanks to over sea’s growth.

• PAYBACK TIME: GM paid back the money it borrowed from both the US and Canada, plus the vig.  It added up to about $8.1 billion.  Then they invested back capital at its facilities in Detroit and Kansas City.  Remember those pundits who said we would never see a dime of the money back?  Ooops, I think I may have been one of them.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    The Losers.  Can it be true?  Two comic based action movies in a row.

NetFlix Fans:  Box of Moon Light: This is one of those tiny little movies that most people have never heard of.  You will love it!  It is wonderfully odd and quirky.

TV: I am going to miss the Sunday night airings of LIFE.  It was a spectacular visual journey!

BOOKS:  The 5 Rules of Leadership – Ulrich:  This is an interesting book that uses exhaustive survey study to condense a leadership model into 5 areas; Strategy, Execution, Talent Management, Human Capital Development and Personal Proficiency.

MUSIC: Here is Canadian singer/songwriter Matt Mays live on the great music station Q.  Sorry about the SW Airlines commercial, but YouTube needs to make some money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZkjd3TLIRc

WEB SITES: Really good stuff!

www.dailybeast.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

I originally wrote something really smart about simplification in this space, but then saw this video posted on FaceBook and thought, aw, to hell with the smart stuff!

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/04/intoxicated_coachella_attendee.html

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

I am coming to you from beautiful Southern California where spring is really here.

It has been a great week full of all kinds of stuff:

• 2010 Web Site:  Finally finished writing all the new content.  So now we move on to design.  I hope to have it launched by the end of the second quarter.  It will feature new topics, an elegantly simple navigation, and a minimalist design with new videos.
• Teacher Education:  I had the honor of presenting my program on how thinking impacts team performance to a room FULL of teachers.  It was a fantastic opportunity to challenge the way they “frame” their understanding.  It must have made an impact as I had an email box filled with requests to get on my mailing list!
• Personal Branding:  My HUGE personal branding project hit the ground running this week as we get in the idea dissemination phase of the new strategy.  It starts in LA.
• Taxes – YUCK – Spent a day on the good old dues we pay to our dear old Uncle Sam

Next week I will be in Boston for the continued launch of the Personal Branding project as well as work on new client video projects.

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

How important is planning?  How important is properly aligned training?  How important is it to fit both planning and training into a sustainable culture?  Here is a little story to help you understand the push for the right answers to the previous questions:

It is a bright and sunny morning and I arrive at the store at around 8:00 AM even though I know the store won’t open until 9:00 AM (an hour earlier than usual).  Guess what?  I’m not the only person who decided to arrive early.  In fact, there’s a casual line formed.

Employees of the company are handing out Dunkin Donuts to everyone who wants one.  Ahhh, the donut, natures perfect breakfast food.  I take one and thank the cheerful staffer (who surprisingly is about 40ish).  I engage other folks lined up and we engage in casual banter and repartee.

The doors open to thunderous applause and plain old hooting and hollerin from the gathered throng.

A well trained employee comes out to greet us and give us a simple play by play of how the morning will fold out.

When it was my turn to enter the store a well trained and prepared young sales person took me into the store and individually guided me around with the sole purpose of making my sales experience something special.

In 20 minutes I was done and as I exited the store I was greeted by cheers and high fives from those still waiting for their chance to spend money.

You have probably guessed that was the experience at an Apple Store for the release of the new iPad.

Think about it for a moment.  Each of the encounters was well planned and they had trained their staff to follow a simple sales and interaction process.  It IS THE APPLE CULTURE.

So, can you create a client experience like that?  The great news is that you don’t have to!  You have to be able to take your DEFINED client experience and figure out how to take it ONE LEVEL ABOVE your current performance.

If you are interested in a strategy that moves your culture forward in ON STEP actions let me know.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES:    Kick Ass.  It’s based on a famous graphic novel.

NetFlix Fans:  Duplicity: I am a huge Clive Owen fan and missed this when it was at the movies.

TV: Nothing new here but I continue to marvel at the Sunday night running of the LIFE series on The Discovery network.  The diversity of life on our Pale Blue Dot is unbelievable.  I am still a big fan of The Human Target (Wednesdays on Fox) and Justified (Tuesday nights on FX).  Both of these have become must see’s in addition to House MD and The Mentalist.

BOOKS:  Selling Change – 101 Secrets for Growing Sales by Leading Change

An interesting book that has some gems buried in the 101 ideas (way too many).  Think of sales professionals as coaches or counselors to assist the buyer in a different manner.  Think about finding opportunities to do your sales presentations to a group of clients.  This can create advocates to your product or services.

MUSIC: Joe Strummer’s killer cover of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.  I spend more time on this one section of my blog than any other.  I listen to song after song trying to find something that means something.  Thanks for the kind comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F10tP5HIpaA&feature=related

WEB SITES: Bookmark this site NOW!

http://www.daylife.com/

SOUTH OF NORMAL

This week I had the honor of working with a great group of Jr. High teachers.  I arrived early for the set up and audio visual run through.  They weren’t quite ready for me so I sat in the office waiting.  It was there that I heard a conversation that makes the South of Normal for the week:

• Parent to the receptionist:  “Miss?  Can you please confirm that the school will be observing a full day of silence this Friday as part of the Gay and Lesbian Day of Silence Program?”
• Receptionist to parent – after a rather long silence and three headed monster look at the parent – “Mam, I have heard nothing about it.  I believe that if we would be involved I would have heard.”
• Parent:  “I read it in an email.”
• Receptionist – “From whom?”
• Parent:  “Someone from the school.”
• Receptionist – “Let me check.”  She then calls someone.  I can hear the person laughing as the situation is explained.  In fact, I myself am laughing.
• Parent:  “It’s NOT FUNNY.”  I’m thinking, sure it is.
• Receptionist – “We are not observing a school wide, teacher and student, day of silence on Friday.  A full school wide day of silence would make it difficult for us to teach.”
• Parent:  “thank you.”

When she left I looked at the receptionist and I said; “that was a kind of south of normal question, to which, without a beat she answered – “this central casting for South of Normal!”

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

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