Here at That Branding Thing, there's a standing request for feedback of any and all kinds, but today I thought I'd make it a little more overt.
What would you like to see in this space? What topics within branding and ideation would you like to learn more about? What are the burning brand issues on your mind or in your office? What do you think works and doesn't work in branding? Where do you see it headed from here?
I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to post your thoughts in the "Comments" section, or email them directly to me. I'm at Matthew-AT-ThreeDeuce-DOT-com.
And, as always - thank you.
March 27, 2009
March 17, 2009
Greater Cincinnati Companies: It's Business Courier Awards Season
The Business Courier of Cincinnati is now accepting nominations for all of its award programs. These include Forty Under 40, CFO of the Year, Best Places to Work, Fast 55, and Health Care Heroes.
Each program offers significant free publicity to its entrants and winners. These kind of programs should be on your radar at all times, but in the current economic climate, positive press at no cost is really too good to pass up.
So think about whether you, your company, your clients and your colleagues would benefit from applying for one or more of these awards. Visit the Business Courier of Cincinnati at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com, or click here. Links to nominations can be found at the bottom-right-hand corner of that page in a light-blue box.
Each program offers significant free publicity to its entrants and winners. These kind of programs should be on your radar at all times, but in the current economic climate, positive press at no cost is really too good to pass up.
So think about whether you, your company, your clients and your colleagues would benefit from applying for one or more of these awards. Visit the Business Courier of Cincinnati at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com, or click here. Links to nominations can be found at the bottom-right-hand corner of that page in a light-blue box.
March 9, 2009
If IKEA ran GM
One exercise we sometimes use in ideation and brainstorming sessions is "brand-shifting," in which you consider the attributes and equities of another successful brand, and then apply those to your brand challenge. Knowing this, a friend recently sent me an email suggesting that the following would be the result if IKEA were to take over GM: 
March 6, 2009
Improv and Innovation
Fourteen people, ranging in age from 16 to 60ish, stand in a circle in a large room.
A ball is rapidly tossed across the circle. Our leader, Missy Whitis, instructs us to remember two things: Who threw us the ball, and who we threw it to next.
A second ball is introduced. This time, the pattern is reversed, so that two balls are moving simultaneously in opposite directions.
Part three: The circle is broken. We are told to wander about the room. The two balls are still flying, and we're still responsible for our personal throwers and throwees. A bit of chaos ensues, but it's remarkable how well the system works.
This is not some team-building exercise at a corporate off-site. It's day one of the Monday night "Improvisation for Adults" class at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Incidentally, if you're looking to stretch yourself, I enthusiastically endorse improv and acting classes. You'll be supporting your local arts community. You'll learn something new. And you'll meet people you would not have met otherwise. None of these can possibly be bad things.
I signed up for the improv class thinking that it would add a wrinkle to my public speaking. Maybe I'd find a new way to employ humor or to liven up the Q&A portion.
What I didn't expect were the number of parallels between the principles of improvisation and the principles of innovation.
So, direct from the world of improv, here are a few rules and reminders for your next brainstorming or ideation session:
Trust. When faced with a challenge, several minds are generally better than one. You're on a team for a reason. Trust others to do their thing.
That's one lesson of the ball-throwing exercise. Take care of your partner, and she will take care of you. And if she doesn't, what's the worst that can happen? The ball drops to the ground. Pick it up and continue.
When innovating, you can't throw your weight around or lean on titles. There's no statistical proof that the VP with twenty years of experience generates ideas that are any better – or worse – than those of the college intern who started this morning. Diversity in perceptions, experiences and thinking styles is what matters.
And trust the process. There are several schools of thought in ideation, but most are rooted in principles and real-world application. Though it may feel uncomfortable, the process is there for a reason. Let it work.
Go fast. If you've ever seen well-performed improv, you know the speed with which the players act and react. It can be nothing short of breathtaking. How do they do it? Most likely, it's because they've been trained to think quickly. Do that, and the unexpected can happen. Too much thinkin' nukes the funny.
For similar reasons, when brainstorming, speed is your ally. It mitigates two of the greatest enemies of new ideas: Perceived practicality and fear of failure. If you're moving fast, you don't have time to criticize or get scared. Save the evaluation for later. Your objective is quantity. Quality will take care of itself.
Fail. The imperative here is not "it's okay to fail." It is "you must fail." If you don't fail, you're not doing it right.
I've been involved in several hundred inventing sessions, with the total number of ideas created being in the hundreds of thousands. I'm pleased to report that plenty of those ideas – at least half, maybe more – were truly lousy. But that's okay, as long as they're big, bold and lousy. If you don't generate some of those, you can't generate ideas that are big, bold and pretty damn good.
In comedy, "safe and expected" doesn't get the laughs. In innovation, it defeats the purpose. "Same-old same-old" doesn't get the consumer's attention, so it doesn't get the sale.
So be fearless enough to live the paradox: Failure is, in fact, the path to greatest success.
A version of this post appeared in the March 6, 2009, edition of the Business Courier of Cincinnati.
Need assistance with your next brainstorming or ideation session? Please contact Matthew Fenton by phone at (513) 871-3100, by email at matthew-AT-threedeuce-DOT-com, or visit www.ThreeDeuce.com.
A ball is rapidly tossed across the circle. Our leader, Missy Whitis, instructs us to remember two things: Who threw us the ball, and who we threw it to next.
A second ball is introduced. This time, the pattern is reversed, so that two balls are moving simultaneously in opposite directions.
Part three: The circle is broken. We are told to wander about the room. The two balls are still flying, and we're still responsible for our personal throwers and throwees. A bit of chaos ensues, but it's remarkable how well the system works.
This is not some team-building exercise at a corporate off-site. It's day one of the Monday night "Improvisation for Adults" class at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Incidentally, if you're looking to stretch yourself, I enthusiastically endorse improv and acting classes. You'll be supporting your local arts community. You'll learn something new. And you'll meet people you would not have met otherwise. None of these can possibly be bad things.
I signed up for the improv class thinking that it would add a wrinkle to my public speaking. Maybe I'd find a new way to employ humor or to liven up the Q&A portion.
What I didn't expect were the number of parallels between the principles of improvisation and the principles of innovation.
So, direct from the world of improv, here are a few rules and reminders for your next brainstorming or ideation session:
Trust. When faced with a challenge, several minds are generally better than one. You're on a team for a reason. Trust others to do their thing.
That's one lesson of the ball-throwing exercise. Take care of your partner, and she will take care of you. And if she doesn't, what's the worst that can happen? The ball drops to the ground. Pick it up and continue.
When innovating, you can't throw your weight around or lean on titles. There's no statistical proof that the VP with twenty years of experience generates ideas that are any better – or worse – than those of the college intern who started this morning. Diversity in perceptions, experiences and thinking styles is what matters.
And trust the process. There are several schools of thought in ideation, but most are rooted in principles and real-world application. Though it may feel uncomfortable, the process is there for a reason. Let it work.
Go fast. If you've ever seen well-performed improv, you know the speed with which the players act and react. It can be nothing short of breathtaking. How do they do it? Most likely, it's because they've been trained to think quickly. Do that, and the unexpected can happen. Too much thinkin' nukes the funny.
For similar reasons, when brainstorming, speed is your ally. It mitigates two of the greatest enemies of new ideas: Perceived practicality and fear of failure. If you're moving fast, you don't have time to criticize or get scared. Save the evaluation for later. Your objective is quantity. Quality will take care of itself.
Fail. The imperative here is not "it's okay to fail." It is "you must fail." If you don't fail, you're not doing it right.
I've been involved in several hundred inventing sessions, with the total number of ideas created being in the hundreds of thousands. I'm pleased to report that plenty of those ideas – at least half, maybe more – were truly lousy. But that's okay, as long as they're big, bold and lousy. If you don't generate some of those, you can't generate ideas that are big, bold and pretty damn good.
In comedy, "safe and expected" doesn't get the laughs. In innovation, it defeats the purpose. "Same-old same-old" doesn't get the consumer's attention, so it doesn't get the sale.
So be fearless enough to live the paradox: Failure is, in fact, the path to greatest success.
A version of this post appeared in the March 6, 2009, edition of the Business Courier of Cincinnati.
Need assistance with your next brainstorming or ideation session? Please contact Matthew Fenton by phone at (513) 871-3100, by email at matthew-AT-threedeuce-DOT-com, or visit www.ThreeDeuce.com.
March 4, 2009
Is radical innovation for every company?
I just came across an interesting blog post by Stefan Lindegaard, entitled "Five Reasons Why Companies Should Forget About Radical Innovation."
I've never met Mr. Lindegaard. We share a few LinkedIn groups in common, and I've come to recognize his name as one who contributes to group discussions with substance and perspective. I understand that he makes his living in the innovation field, which makes his post all the more provocative.
There are quite a few innovation "gurus" these days who are waving their arms and all but shrieking from the rooftops: "Innovate or die!" The reality is that it's not that simple. Radical innovation is one of many strategic choices. It clearly has its merits and advantages. But, like any strategy, if you're not going to truly commit to it, you're probably better off not even getting started. That's the thrust of Mr. Lindegaard's post, and I respect his position.
I've long advocated a "portfolio" approach when it comes to innovation. This portfolio should include ideas for the short, medium and long-terms, with attendant degrees of executional difficulty and expected return. Depending on your company's innovation competence and tolerance for risk, you might tilt the portfolio in one direction or another. But trying to force a conservative organization to develop only "blue-sky" ideas is usually a recipe for failure.
I also share Mr. Lindegaard's point of view when it comes to branding. While I fully believe in the merits of branding done properly, I also recognize that some companies simply won't commit. It requires, among other pre-conditions, the right mindset, the right culture, and the right dedication of resources. If those conditions aren't in place, it's irresponsible for me to recommend branding as a solution.
There's an old saying: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Mr. Lindegaard presents its corollary: "Just because you should, doesn't mean you will." Thanks, Stefan, for opening the discussion.
I've never met Mr. Lindegaard. We share a few LinkedIn groups in common, and I've come to recognize his name as one who contributes to group discussions with substance and perspective. I understand that he makes his living in the innovation field, which makes his post all the more provocative.
There are quite a few innovation "gurus" these days who are waving their arms and all but shrieking from the rooftops: "Innovate or die!" The reality is that it's not that simple. Radical innovation is one of many strategic choices. It clearly has its merits and advantages. But, like any strategy, if you're not going to truly commit to it, you're probably better off not even getting started. That's the thrust of Mr. Lindegaard's post, and I respect his position.
I've long advocated a "portfolio" approach when it comes to innovation. This portfolio should include ideas for the short, medium and long-terms, with attendant degrees of executional difficulty and expected return. Depending on your company's innovation competence and tolerance for risk, you might tilt the portfolio in one direction or another. But trying to force a conservative organization to develop only "blue-sky" ideas is usually a recipe for failure.
I also share Mr. Lindegaard's point of view when it comes to branding. While I fully believe in the merits of branding done properly, I also recognize that some companies simply won't commit. It requires, among other pre-conditions, the right mindset, the right culture, and the right dedication of resources. If those conditions aren't in place, it's irresponsible for me to recommend branding as a solution.
There's an old saying: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Mr. Lindegaard presents its corollary: "Just because you should, doesn't mean you will." Thanks, Stefan, for opening the discussion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
