Check out my quick video at Lotta Guru

Hey - I recently visited with Shawn Hunter, of Lotta Guru, at his SkillSoft studio and did a 97-second fun little video on becoming a better leader. Check it out!

Practice your idea muscles!

This video has no reference or content related to Britney Spears or Doctor Phil

An inside look at an improviser's mind

Sometimes ideas are like a bunch of blue balls. Click below and see if you can follow one ball (idea) throughout its entire journey?

http://blueballs2.ytmnd.com/


Happy Holidays!

Please send us your comments and continue to send new examples of Innovation Killers and solutions.Keep laughing!

Sweeney

www.speedoflaughter.com

Where do Truly Great Ideas Come From?

Innovation Killer #11

I traveled to my cabin to spend some time writing and get some fresh air outside cutting some firewood and walking in the woods. The weather was to be quite spring like. Yesterday it was 45 and sunny. Last night it started snowing at 1 am and has not stopped. We have 10 inches on the ground and the wind is whipping! Did I mention it is April 3rd? I drove 35 miles into town to pick up some supplies and the whole town of Duluth was shut down or at a snails pace. It was definitely a, snow day!!! It instantly brought me back to grade school and the wonderful phenomenon that is the SNOW DAY!! No school, a free day to play, a completely different point of view, a blessed interruption of the norm!

Innovation Killer #11

“When something that is completely unexpected happens, I tend to assume the worst and migrate to the perception that this unexpected event must be a negative thing”

10 ways to combat an overcome this Innovation Killer :( forever referred to as “Snow Day Thinking”)

1) Make a list of all of the things that you no longer have to do and the time saving associated with this new liberation.

2) Remember that there are times when you spend hours and tons of effort to “get out of a rut” or “would die for something different” well, here it is!

3) Ask someone else on the team is you can help them. It will make you feel great and they may have it worse then you because of this unexpected event. When I was a teenager, we would take the big farm truck into town to pull people out of snow banks, if they were grateful, we did it for free, if they were jerks we would ask for cash!

4) Write down 10 new ideas about the current project you are working on. This unexpected change will fuel a new perspective and you may stumble on some new cool ideas just cuz you are a bit off balance.

5) Remember what my mother would always say, “if people could predict the future and rely on knowing exactly what would happen next, Jackie would have never married JFK and then where would we be?” None of us ever know what she meant by that.

6) List three wonderful things that have happened to you in the past year that were a result of a complete and unexpected changing of events.

7) Tie a bungee cord around your wrist and hold the other end near your left ear. Pull your hand back, then unflex your muscles, and let your hand hit you in the face. While you are doing this, keep saying aloud “why are you hitting yourself?, why are you hitting yourself?” sometime this helps end negative thoughts.

8) Notice how when you are in a casual and accepting frame of mind you often stumble on great serendipity and results because of unexpected changes, like the out of the way café that you found because of a detour, or the wonderful gift you received from a friend that was complete surprise.

9) Examine if the circumstances of this new event has benefits to other projects you are working on or a project that someone else is working on. Perhaps a residual or bi product benefit is hiding right behind your perception that there is “nothing good about this.”

10) Insulate yourself from any unexpected events or changes. Create a life that is completely predictable and in which you do the same things day after day after day without the burden of variety or surprise. There are several of these environments available including being a resident of Leavenworth, San Quentin or as an employee of Disney.

Please send us your comments and continue to send new examples of Innovation Killers and solutions.

Keep laughing!

Sweeney