Creative Problem Solving (CPS)

    Innovation is for All Employees

    Operations Can Make or Break Growth Projects

    Enhance Acceptance of New Innovation With Training

    Innovation teams often do their work away from the day to day action of the company. In bigger organizations they may not even be located in the same office, plant, or even city.

    Operational employees often don’t even see those fun looking offices with ping pong tables and walls full of white boards.

    If they do see the ping pong tables — they might resent them.

    Innovation employees are trained in innovation theory and skills, even if it’s been done informally. They are true believers and do their best to come up with new ideas. Ideas that become projects, that evolve into the new services, products, methods, or processes that spell real world innovation. These teams have an eye on future growth.

    It’s not this culture that needs to be more innovative — they’re already there.

    Operational Culture is Powerful

    New innovations fail, sometimes, because the “new thing” is not seen as helpful by everyone else. Operational cultures are powerful. In many ways this is the core corporate culture. The organization evolves from an entrepreneurial state into a production state. It needs to, that’s how profits are made.

    To many ops employees, even management, new ideas are seen as an intrusion. An intrusion that prevents them from doing what they believe is their real job — cranking out the existing widget. Keeping the existing train running on time. From this perspective, innovation is looked at as off-mission and not helpful to production or profit.

    Operational employees are rewarded for not making mistakes and perfecting the status quo. They’re rewarded for not trying things which disrupt operations. So, asking them to try something new goes against all their training and incentives. It goes against their culture. The exception is an incremental innovation which clearly, and at low risk, helps them crank out widgets faster and more error free.

    But an organization needs a balance of incremental and disruptive innovation. Incremental is good but over time it’s not enough.

    How might you shift operational culture to be more helpful to innovation?

    Training, Incentives and Recognition Balance Culture

    So, what’s the answer? Three things!

    1. Training. Awareness of Innovation Training. People need to understand that their long term future depends on continuous innovation.
    2. Incentives. Incentives for aiding the effort sends the right message.
    3. Recognition. When a contribution, large or small, for implementing a new innovation happens it needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and rewarded.

    Innovation Awareness Training can start with a 90 minute workshop. Done in-person or virtually.

    Provide Insight to Operational Employees & Answer These Questions:

    • Why do we need innovation?
    • Why we need a mix of types of innovation?
    • How does innovation work? What does that team do? How do they do it?
    • How can I contribute even if it’s not my daily job?
    • What’s in it for me? What’s in it for us?
    • How might we actively assist innovation starting now?

    Gregg Fraley Innovation provides this type of Innovation Awareness Training. Get in touch to schedule training. Shift your operations people to a more helpful perspective, align your culture, and grow through Innovation.

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    Wish Wildly With Abandon

    Blue Sky Visioning is Under-utilized Improve Personal or Professional Innovation Roadmaps “Be careful what you wish for” is a cliché you hear now and then. It occurs to me that innovation teams, often, don’t wish imaginatively enough. This is also true for individuals seeking new and interesting projects for their lives. If you want to innovate, solve a big problem, or make a positive change in a business or your life — it starts with wildly imaginative wishing. Some term it Visioning. How can you get what you desire if you don’t have an exciting vision for a highly desired outcome? Wildly Imaginative Wishing Take Practice Don’t obey the cliche and wish carefully. Wish With Abandon. This is not as

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    The 10 Commandments of Effective Brainstorming

    The Sins That Ruin Idea Generation Redefine Brainstorming If You Want Results   It’s okay to hate Brainstorming. I’ve heard it called BrainWasting, BullStorming, BullShifting, or words I won’t use here. Perhaps the most damning comment is simply “why did we bother?” Well, you bother because you need ideas. I can get you there, see below.  But first…  There have been many studies of brainstorming and articles written. Most (but not all) say it’s a waste of time. Many of these studies start with an outdated notion of what brainstorming is, and usually don’t study real working teams. How you define it (and conduct it) makes a difference. As a person whose facilitated over 1,000 sessions I can tell you

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    Fractional Chief Innovation Officer (CINO)

    A Practical Solution for Medium Sized Companies to Grow The 80/20 Solution for the MisFortune 10,000 The Fortune 1,000 work innovation process like mad. Many have fine-tuned frameworks with a high level of sophistication. That lowers risk. However, elaborate innovation frameworks slow things down. This mild paralysis is an opening for small and medium sized companies. They can grow by beating bigger players to the punch. But the “MisFortune 10,000” tend to miss this opportunity. Time to consider a Fractional Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) to load up that innovation punch. Here’s why. Speed and momentum matter in innovation, even more so to smaller firms. Leverage the innate agility. The best way to ramp up and grow quickly, beyond having a

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    Announcing Momentum Creative Problem Solving (MCPS)

    A highly creative new method for solving difficult problems Accelerate the Momentum of Work and Life Projects With Focused Creativity Improvisation works for problem solving AND comedy. MCPS Training Available on Wednesday, April 28th, 1 to 4:30 Eastern Three Oaks, Michigan, Wednesday April 21st, an announcement on International Creativity and Innovation Day Momentum Creative Problem Solving (MCPS) is a powerful new method for solving difficult problems. If you are stuck, fearful or intimidated with a challenge — or delighted with a messy and perplexing opportunity — this is the process to use. More focused creativity means more Momentum MCPS leverages creativity in a dynamic balance with thoughtful analysis. MCPS is a three-phase structured process of exploration, ideas, and action. If

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    Tune-In To Taster Tools On Thursday

    Free Weekly Webinar of Facilitation Tools with Gregg Fraley Every Thursday at 2 pm EST, Master Facilitator Gregg Fraley demonstrates a facilitation tool online. The weekly sessions are FREE. Sessions begin on Thursday March 18th. The 30 minute weekly webinar features demonstrations of various facilitation tools for: strategy, challenge clarification, idea generation (aka brainstorming), problem framing, idea selection, innovation projects, and idea development, etc. Thinking Differently Takes Tools At some point everybody needs to think differently. It might be a really thorny, hairy, awful, complex problem. It might be a juicy opportunity you don’t know how to seize. When you ask your mind to think differently, what happens? Does it come easily? Do new thoughts and ideas spring forth? Or,

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    How to Be Brilliant at Innovation

    Kick Start Ideas That Lead to Growth Accelerate Your Career Dodge the Pitfalls & Establish an Innovation Cycle Three Hour Virtual Training, February 5th, led by Innovation Master Trainer Gregg Fraley Being Brilliant at Innovation is within your grasp, but, it’s a minefield out there. There are more pitfalls in an innovation initiative than the moon has craters. Getting started is challenging because there is a great deal of conflicting advice in the form of books, consultancies, methods, and anecdotal stories. Does one need to take a Stanford course or read 35 books about innovation to get started? No, but, you do need good training in the fundamentals. In fact, you (and your organization) can be brilliant and effective at

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    Innovation Piano Lessons

    Scaffolding is THE Key to Learning AND Innovation Learn to Play Piano in Days Control Shift Piano to Launch January 27th Steven Jenkins and I have something in common. We’re both frustrated piano players. I took lessons as an adult for several years and never achieved fluency. Traditional lessons teach music theory. I can read music but I’m so slow I can’t really keep a song flowing without practicing for months. Not much fun. I didn’t have the time or patience to continue; instead I took to singing at piano bars. Steven, on the other hand, took his frustration and innovated. He decided to invent a way to learn piano, and play songs, faster. He’s created a system (Control Shift

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    Get More Creativity Now

    Creativity is a Choice and a Habit Join the Creative Flow Challenge Starts Jan. 11th — 18 Days to Creative Power Learn How to Apply Creativity to All Your Projects Yes, you can improve your creativity. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re creative or not. It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw, write poems, paint lovely pictures, play guitar like Eric Clapton, sing like Joni Mitchell, or improv like Robin Williams. You have more creative power than you know, Click through for details on The Creative Flow Challenge. You can improve your creativity, through attitude, tools, methods, and daily practice. Experienced “creatives” can up their game. Those who believe they aren’t creative at all might just transform their lives

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    Creative Flow Challenge

    18 Day Challenge Builds Creativity Create An Amazing 2021 Register now for a transformative experience The Creative Flow Challenge is an 18 day adventure in personal self-expression. The benefits of better access to your creativity AND consistent creative effectiveness are achievable. You’ll create daily, inspired by prompts to get you into flow. Don’t wait for lightning to strike. Join the challenge. Learn how to light your own candle. The challenge starts December 14th and goes through December 31. It requires at least a half hour of daily creative work. Every Day during the challenge. Register now. Benefits of the Creative Flow Challenge Strengthen your belief in, and access to, your creative power Gain fluidity in generating better ideas Get perspective

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