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Coaching-An Adapting Tool For Attaining Fulfillment In The Global Economy
At a time when the global economy is bringing innovation, new ideas and new opportunities into the marketplace, outsourcing and the elimination of white-collar jobs has left many of us feeling anxious and insecure about the future. It is...
The New Staffing: Survival Tactics That Work
If you've ever been in marketing, you know it's in your blood, and it never leaves. It's also innate to most successful business owners and managers; that constant monitoring of what's going on, with the eyes, ears, nose and throat of the consumer....
The Passive, Inwardly Focused Organization
In a recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) article the three authors (Neilson, Pasternack, and Van Nuys) described what they called the "Passive-Aggressive Organization." While we are all familiar with the concept of the passive-aggressive...
When Politics Prevent Innovation
When Politics Prevent Innovation Or… Still Fighting Battles and Losing Wars The objective is to beat the competition and make money. Everything a business organization does should be focused on that simple objective, with interpretation through...
Working as a "Knowledge Worker" in the Information Age
The old adages: "It's not what you know, but who you know" and "High Tech, High Touch" could be the mottos of knowledge workers in the 21st Century.
Never before in the history of the world has both networking and interpersonal communication...
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Creativity for Success
Creativity and innovation are important keys to success in today’s rapidly changing world. Process improvement, problem solving, recruiting, retaining and motivating employees, decision making, dealing with limited resources, satisfying customers, and rapidly changing technology are all examples of business realities that require creative solutions. Yet, innovative thinkers are often tough to find today.
Somewhere along the line, many adults have forgotten how to use their imagination to think and solve problems out of the box. Roger von Oech, in his book A Whack on the Side of the Head, recounts a teacher’s exercise in examining creativity. The teacher drew a dot on the chalkboard and asked a class of sophomores to identify it. They responded with the obvious: a chalk dot. She noted that the day before she had asked a group of kindergartners, and they had come up with numerous examples of what it might be: the top of a telephone pole, a squashed bug, an owl’s eye, a cigar butt, a rotten egg, and so on. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood many of us lose the ability to be creative and search for more than one right answer.
So how can we as adults regain and maintain our spirit of fun and creativity? Here are a few tips:
Be curious.
Practice developing your curiosity by asking questions to get a better understanding, or to see things from a different perspective. Some questions you might ask:
1. What are you taking for granted?
2. What are you assuming is impossible?
3. What if...
4. Why do we...
Celebrate your failures.
There are many inventions we view as essentials today that exist only because someone recognized their failure as an opportunity. Examine what can be learned from each "failure." It may be an opportunity to create a new product, improve
a process, or solve a problem. Look for ways to make this type of evaluation part of your normal practices so the entire workforce is encouraged to think more creatively!
Nurture your inner child.
Look for ways to become a kid again. Watch children at play and remember what things brought you joy as a kid. Consider what brings you joy today and take time out to explore your playful side. For example, fly a kite, build a model train, gaze at the clouds to identify the shapes you see, go for a walk in the woods and look at the plant and animal life, or simply daydream. Taking time away from the pressures of a tense situation can help free your mind so you’re ready to see things more clearly and creatively.
These are just a few of the ways you can learn to be more creative to achieve the success you deserve. Remember, it’s never too late to start. Good luck and have fun!
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About the Author
Kathleen J. Wheelihan is a professional speaker for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Kathleen has made presentations ranging from creativity to customer service and leadership to teambuilding. For information, call 800-886-2MAX or visit http://www.AchieveMax.com.
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| DTI - Welcome to the DTI's Innovation Home Page |
| The DTI is working to stimulate a significant increase in innovation throughout ... It covers Living Innovation, web streaming of a series of high profile ... |
| www.dti.gov.uk |
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| Innovation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| An innovation in this light occurs whether or not the act of innovating ... A convenient definition of innovation from an organizational perspective is ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| National Innovation Website |
| The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources has developed this website to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of innovation and ... |
| www.innovation.gov.au |
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| Innovation, creativity and brainstorming resources from ... |
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| Innovation Weblog - Trends, resources, viewpoints from Chuck Frey ... |
| The Innovation Weblog - Valuable trends, resources and viewpoints in innovation, creativity and brainstorming from Chuck Frey at InnovationTools. |
| www.innovationtools.com |
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| CORDIS: Innovation Portal: Home |
| This Innovation Portal is supported by DG ENTR of the European Commission, ... European Commission adopts new Communication on Innovation: on 13 September ... |
| cordis.europa.eu |
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| CORDIS: Promotion of Innovation: Home |
| This programme stands at the cross-roads of the Community's policies on Research, Innovation and SMEs. |
| cordis.europa.eu |
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| Innovation Network... leveraging innovation, creativity and ... |
| The Innovation Network is an association of companies and employees committed to innovation. The site features some interesting articles as well as some fun ... |
| www.thinksmart.com |
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| Business Innovation : Car Reviews, Online Gaming, and Product Branding |
| If your in need of great Online Gaming material, we carry up to the minute news and reviews for all of your favorite games and gaming systems. |
| www.businessweek.com |
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| Innovation - Life, Inspired | PBS |
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| www.pbs.org |
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| Innovation.org - Welcome |
| Impact of Innovation Saving & Improving Lives Controlling Healthcare Costs Strengthening ... Future of Innovation New Medicines in Development Next Wave of ... |
| www.innovation.org |
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| Innovation: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
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| Innovation Relay Centres - The World Largest Network for ... |
| Innovation Relay Centres giving advice on Innovation, Technology Transfer and Exploitation. Major European source for innovative technologies or new ... |
| irc.cordis.lu |
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| The Tech Museum of Innovation | Welcome |
| The Tech Museum of Innovation - Welcome! The Tech Museum inspires and educates the innovators of the future. |
| www.thetech.org |
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| Pages tagged with "innovation" on del.icio.us |
| CoDev 2007 - Co-Development for Business Growth: Open Innovation and Alternatives ... PDMA & IIR's 5th Annual Front End of Innovation ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| innovation |
| Publication highlighting the research activities of NUS. The site provides snippets of selected articles online, and provides a subscription form online. |
| www.innovationmagazine.com |
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| Canadian Innovation Centre |
| Services includes invention evaluation, technology due diligence, market research, and education programs. |
| www.innovationcentre.ca |
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| London INNOVATION :: Home |
| Maximise your business potential through innovation. Learn the secrets of successful business innovation in London. |
| www.london-innovation.org.uk |
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| Eric Von Hippel's Homepage |
| Downloadable Books. Democratizing Innovation (2005) ... The Sources of Innovation (1988). Free download of the complete book. Permission granted by Oxford ... |
| web.mit.edu |
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| Intel Innovation in Education |
| www.intel.com/education/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages |
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