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 1st 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?
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.
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