It’s been a good year for Jack’s Notebook. I’ve received about a dozen reviews on Amazon, all five stars with the exception of one four star. I got an email recently saying that it looked unrealistic and that it wasn’t kosher to have all your friends do reviews. I do know about half my reviewers, or at least have met them. The other half were unsolicited, so I’m not sure what to do to look better — encourage a few negative reviews? See: Jack’s Notebook I heard recently from a couple of non-reviewing readers who’ve been inspired to do specific things because of Jack’s Notebook. One started a chapter of the American Creativity Association in Greenville, North Carolina. Another asked

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23 Creative Gift Ideas © 2007 Gregg Fraley It’s a challenge we face every year — what to do about gifts for Christmas. It’s daunting, its complex, and something we find it hard being inventive about. Panic, procrastination, and yes, fear, get in the way of creative thinking. Some people give up entirely! Don’t buy something awful just to cross someone off your list; there is no heart or creativity in that. Here’s an approach and some creative ideas to address the Christmas Challenge. It’s not about money, it’s about creative thinking! Many of these suggestions will work for even the most Scroogian of budgets. First, get out of panic mode. Decide to think creatively. Start by writing down some

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Anyone whose taken brainstorming training knows you don’t critique ideas as-you-go, you “defer judgment.” This allows for a flow of ideas to emerge. A few years ago Sid Parnes went a step further when giving a talk to a group at the Creative Problem Solving Institute. He said to be more creative, you need to defer judgment — as a way of life. It made sense to me at the time, I thought, getting into the habit of it would make you a better ideator in times of divergence. I still think this is true, but here’s a new insight: Deferral of judgment has a deeper impact. It unlocks your mind and allows for more intuitive thought. This occurred to

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I live in a new country home in Michigan. I have 10 acres of mature trees and I’ve made a game out of identifying them. I’m not bad — I can get 9 out of 10, but one tall slender tree in a thicket near the house was throwing me. I went through the books and based on the leaves, bark, etc. I came up with a Tupelo. Well, I was wrong. My arborist Chris came by and I pointed out my Tupelo. He smiled and said, “creative identification” which was political correct speak for mistake! Chris told me it was actually an Apple tree. He took a long look upwards and pointed his finger. I looked up and saw

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I’ve coined a new term today — CAM, an acronym for Consumer Anger Motivates. If the CAM Factor is high, you buy something else! Let me explain… Everybody has consumer nightmare stories. Told afterwards they are often pretty funny. The old adage of “big problems make good stories” does apply. It’s not too funny when it’s happening though! I’ve suffered through a horrendous customer service experience with AT&T in the last few days, including several very frustrating phone calls, long delays on hold, hang-ups by the automated system, multiple transfers within the organization, frustrating attempts to do it myself on the web, and after all that — still not the desired result. A comedy of errors and it really made

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1. Always have a business card. Even when you are out of work having a card is the cheapest and easiest way to advertise yourself and have people contact you. If you are computer savvy, then make your own. Use the “clean edge” stock Avery makes, you can buy at Office Depot (or Staples etc.) Change your card as often as you want. Don’t think of a business card as a static thing, it’s more like a little billboard where you can personalize a message about yourself. And give them to everybody you see. Put them on bulletin boards. Carry cards everywhere you go and don’t miss a chance to give it to somebody. 2. Go to every public event,

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I don’t mean to be overly provocative with my title. I do mean to raise the question — What is the Innovation culture, if any, of my beloved hometown of Cincinnati? Let me say how much I love Cincy to start with here. I don’t think there is a more beautiful city in the Midwest, and it’s hard to beat Cincinnatians for being friendly. I spent many good years living in Cincinnati and I often wish to return to Mooney Avenue in Hyde Park and spend some time reading novels under a giant oak tree. But I digress, this is not a love letter, it’s about an honest look at the state of innovation in Cincy. I return to my

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I spent the last week in Sestri Levante, Italy at the fifth annual CREA conference. I’ve only missed one CREA — and the reason is because it’s a remarkable conference. Here’s what’s remarkable about CREA: * Attending are a diverse international group of creativity and/or innovation practitioners, facilitators, and motivated-to-learn participants. The participants are people from many different countries, 23 in all this year. Some are from big corporations, but there are entrepreneur’s, consultants, and governmental types as well. * People talk — there are a lot of friendships made at CREA, and a lot of informal business being done. It would be hard to imagine a better place to find the perfect creativity or innovation consultant for yourself or

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It occurred to me that I don’t often share my very different thinking and frankly wacky ideas. I have a lot of ideas. I get paid to have them for my clients and because they are in the corporate for-profit context I’m not able to talk about them. However, I have ideas about a lot of things, products, the environment, government, services that just come to me from out of the blue (and observations). Here are a few I’ve been thinking about lately in no particular order. Feel free to send me builds — that’s what blogs are for. 1. Create a Great American Car I heard Bill O’Rielly on the radio a couple days ago and he was talking

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The recent flap over the offensive language Ann Coulter used in a speech to a Republican group (specifically the Conservative Political Action Conference or CPAC) highlights once again just how goofed up the world of news and reporting in the media is. I think the media has got her story wrong from the get go. The problem is they actually take her seriously, that’s the mistake. I must admit, I used to get pretty wound up about the obnoxious things this woman says. She’s so black and white, so extreme, so mis-informed, that I struggled to deal with her, she was just that offensive. When I listen to John McCain or Mitt Romney I may not agree with all they

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