Freshness Volume I: Stimulus
Change is constant.
We have been experiencing some changes where I work lately. With changes in colleagues, management and process it’s easy to get scared. It’s easy to want to quit, to walk away, to go out on your own or to search for other opportunities. But it also got me thinking. Change brings freshness. Change brings opportunity.
There is a really great book called, Sticky Wisdom: How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work. I’m not going to ask you to buy it. I’m not going to ask you to read it. But I am going to share little pieces in hopes that freshness is more contagious than swine flu, for your sake and for mine.
Why does freshness matter?
Most of us are so wrapped up in our daily schedules that we don’t stop and question the quality or uniqueness of our ideas. Think about this the next time you putting on the finishing touches to a project.
“Our experience tells us that organizations don’t ask themselves this question because of the awesome implications of the answer. Shocking, isn’t it, when we are relying on these very ideas to deliver growth in a competitive environment?” – ?WhatIf!
The first law of creativity: The quality and uniqueness of stimulus in has a direct impact on the quality and uniqueness of ideas out. You might think: I’m a developer or I’m a manger so this doesn’t matter to me. Are you a problem solver? Yes. Creativity matters. Why do you think Google allows their employees to spend 20% of their time on there own projects? Freshness.
Creating Freshness
?WhatIf! gives a list of 10 pattern breaking ideas to keep in the freshness cupboard.
- Take a new form of transportation to work next week.
- Read a magazine or newspaper, listen to a radio station or watch a TV show that you would not normally.
- Plan a monthly lunch with people form other parts of the business you don’t normally consult. Chat to them about an issue they are working on to get their perspective on issues you are working on.
- Get out of your normal environment for at least half a day a week. At least 70% of what we think is the result of what’s around us.
- Ask your family (especially kids) to help solve a problem you’re working on.
- Allocate twice as much time as you normally would to solving a problem. Make sure you have at least three solutions before you choose one.
- Block out ‘freshness time’ for you and your team once a month. Go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go together and do an activity you wouldn’t normally do.
- Take a walk in the park during office hours. Change the pace of your thinking. Take time to ponder.
- Listen to the music charts. (Do you know what’s the number one at the moment?)
- Reinvent your job role at least once a year.
Opportunity is knocking. Are you listening?
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Isn’t it Ironic? Right as I am writing to you about freshness, flexibility and innovation, I’m told not to. “Rules are for people who aren’t willing to invent their own.” - Chuck Yeager, First Man to Break the Sound Barrier
*This error came up when I was posting this on our internal blog. Funny.
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Tagged do something, duo consulting, freshness, sticky wisdom
Jun 21, 2009
Problem Solved » What did you learn today?
[...] every day for a week. Record it, post it, share it if you want to. Just take note. Knowledge brings freshness. Freshness brings change. And change brings [...]