Gregg Fraley

Today’s post features Random Notes. Bits and pieces not quite full blog post worthy, but worth telling (hopefully). Random Note #1a. — Scott Anthony is at it again. The Innosight innovation maven has just released The Little Black Book of Innovation, how it works, how to do it. This is not a review — I’ve only gotten to page 53 — but I’m liking the tone. This is good stuff, and I’ll have more to say on this later, but am particularly looking forward to reading about the 28 day program he’s suggesting. Anthony wrote another innovation book that I reviewed awhile back The Innovator’s Guide to Growth. This new book would appear to be less academic and more practically oriented.

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The world is at least one third introverts. Some would say half the population. The people you work with, your family, your spouse, many of these people do not want to have to shout you down to be heard. Creativity has a lot to do with self-expression. If that is not happening with one third of a team there won’t be much productive work or innovation. Collaborative work means people need to be self-expressed in groups with a mix of introverts and extroverts (and as noted earlier this wee, with different creative styles). As Susan Cain has pointed out in Quiet, introverts are often drowned out. Secret Wish #11 is a wish for air time. This is a person, Julia,

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My last blog post, by far, was the most viral piece I’ve written in four years of blogging. Provocative titles and edgy content seem to win readers. And it would appear that creative style is a hot topic. If Steve Jobs Worked For You, You’d Probably Fire Him, is about a concept called Creative Style. Creative style can be measured, there are a couple of great assessments available. One is the KAI (Kirton Adaptor-Innovator Inventory) and the other is FourSight. Creative style is about how you think, how you solve problems. Steve Jobs was probably a high Innovator on the KAI. Innovator’s think “different”, while Adaptors think “better.” And listen carefully —both are creative. Edison was thought to be a

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There is a great deal being said and written about the late, great, Steve Jobs. He was a complex personality — and a remarkable leader. Folks often overlook the personality piece and focus on the leadership. After reading another article about his leadership style, it got me thinking, What if Steve Jobs Worked for you? Imagine if you will a young Steve Jobs, fresh out of not graduating from college, twenty something, energetic, but not expert. You might hire him because he’d probably interview well. Once onboard your company you give young Steve something lower-level to do. You might not see he works long hours because you’re not there at the same time he is. You might get upset that

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The buzz around Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The power of Introverts in a World That Just Can’t Stop Talking continues to build. Watching her speak here in London last week it’s clear she’s hit a cultural chord. As of today, #33 on the Amazon chart. Introverts clearly have a tough time making themselves heard. She’s also quite right that extroverts tend to dominate the group processes we see in various organizations. Cain emphasizes solitary work and reflection, and no doubt, there is not enough of either. I’m not sure she understands that with proper training and facilitation, and just good listening skills, a lot of the challenges she identifies for introverts can be overcome. The value of group work and collaborative

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Do you remember the scene in Mary Poppins where they sang the song “I love to laugh?” It was Ed Wynn, a Disney film stalwart and old vaudevillian who played Uncle Albert. When Uncle Albert laughed he rose into the air. Laughter does make us lighter, and being lighter changes our thinking. There is a real value to “going goofy” if you want to shift perspective, if you wish for heightened creativity. Goofiness is an applied creativity tool, and make no mistake, it’s serious business. The subject of my drawing looked vaguely liked Ed Wynn. Like Wynn, he had a wry smile, almost smug, on his face as we rode the train into London. His secret wish is a projection

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I had the pleasure last week of hearing the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. For those of you whose “woo” detection meter has just started clicking, well, hang in there, I think you’ll see the business relevance in a moment. The experience of meditating with 3000 people at Royal Festival Hall was refreshing and energizing. The focus, even before the man spoke, was on breathing. The guided meditation we all did together had us simply being mindful of the breath going in and out. When you do this, it’s actually difficult to not be “in the moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh’s comments were amazingly simple. And yet, the elegance of his poetic and wise words almost masked how deeply practical

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It comes like clockwork, once a week, an HTML email letting me know about the latest edition of Innovation Tools.  As I was thinking about what to post today related to innovation and reading Innovation Tools at the same time, I got one of those lovely “aha” moments (or maybe it was just an obvious but good idea hitting me over the head with a sledge hammer). Everyone should know about Innovation Tools. It’s probably the largest ezine/portal related to business innovation. Just as important, it’s a site you can trust has no hidden agenda. If you haven’t checked it out yet, and you are at all in the creativity and innovation space, either as a supplier or on the

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One of those wacky underlying myths about creativity is that it’s impractical. I don’t know how it got started. Perhaps it stems from that other myth, that creativity is all about art, and of course, art is impractical (and yet another myth). Some say they don’t have time for a “process.” I suspect that the expression of divergent ideas related to a problem might feel impractical, might feel like a waste of time. But it’s not. Even on garden variety complex challenges, taking a bit of time to jam a short list of ideas and selecting the most promising candidate, ultimately saves a great deal of time. Creative thinking is actually a powerful time saver and highly practical for efficient

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Andy Warhol’s famous quote from 1968, that everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes has come true hasn’t it? I just watched a YouTube of a 12 year old dancing to the Maverick’s “Dance the Night Away” — 38,000 views and counting (authentic if nothing else). The democratization of the media has happened, for better or worse. However, if you’ve not quite gotten your 15 minutes yet, I wouldn’t worry so much about it. A secret wish for fame may mask some other need. Peel back that onion before you attempt to break the world’s record for eating ostrich omelettes. Because… Creativity does not require fame. Innovation does not require fame. Full self-expression, in any of its many forms,

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