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April 18, 2010 By

Turn a Creative Spark into a Bonfire: Part 1

Strike a Match

Photo by laszlo-photo

What do you do when you have a new idea, want to share it, but hate that “Really? Another idea that you’ll never follow through on? Not again!” response from people you’ve shared ideas with before? This is the first of a three part series on turning your creative spark into a bonfire. After following this first step, you will know exactly how to nourish your fledgling ideas so they will grow into a brilliant solution, product, or blog post instead of allowing them to be sent to an early grave where they’ll come back to haunt you as regret or guilt for not acting on them.

The Scenario

Let’s imagine that you have just read a book, heard a lecture, or seen a billboard that sparked a new way of thinking. Now you have a new idea that you are all enthusiastic about. What now?

Should you talk about it to some of your closest friends and family and share your enthusiasm?

Or should you keep it to yourself for a while, mull it over, develop it into maturity before you discuss it with anyone?

Yes.

The truth is that both reflection and sharing are important to helping your idea blossom, and your preferences will influence which comes most naturally to you. If your personality type is outgoing and flexible,you will probably have lots of ideas and share them with most everyone you know. That’s great when you have a friend who is similar to you (like a retriever or another otter), but when you encounter the people who are reserved and structured (and there are a LOT of them) your new creative spark can be quickly smothered by their wet blanket reception or squashed by their heavy expectations.

When you are building a real fire, you start with a match and some newspaper to get a flame going. Your match is your burning desire to create that killer blog post, be known at work for developing brilliant solutions, or develop the product that changes people’s lives. Your newspaper is a daily feed of fresh ideas.

Here are the three steps to subscribing to your own “Muse News”:

1) Capture the Ideas

If you don’t catch the ideas your muse sends to you and put them somewhere for safekeeping, she will quit tossing them to you and start throwing them to someone else. Find a way to record your thoughts so you can come back to them later.

I use either yellow sticky notes or Dragon Dictation on my iPhone or iPad, depending on where I am. LaVonne Ellis at completeflake.com suggests some more great tools to help you do this. If you are a blogger, you can also save a draft post with the main points of your thought (Don’t forget to draft the main points you will make, because you can easily compile a list of draft themes and later have no idea what you intended to say about any of the themes. Not that I have much experience with this problem.[blush]).

You don’t have to write a complete post, and sometimes it helps to not even use a computer. Your thoughts might come more easily if you make a quick mind map on a blank sheet of paper to get yourself started. This series of posts was created that way.

The important thing is to capture those ideas so you can go back to them later. Once you’ve done that, you can get on with your day (or your shower, or your drive, or whatever you were doing when the idea came to you).

2) Give yourself permission to entertain the idea and get wildly excited, but put it down at any time

Once you have it, nurture that little flame. See if there are any other ideas you’ve captured in the past that link to this one. How do they relate? Together, do they start to make a process? If so, where do they lead?

If not, how might this idea apply to a problem that someone has? Could it be part of a solution for someone? If so, who and what else would they need to solve the problem?

Is this something you can follow through on now? Can you use it to make a product in a weekend, create a website in three days, or help your work team become brilliant? If so, take action on it!

What other thoughts are related to this one? If you can’t think of any more good ideas to bring into the mix, challenge yourself to come up with 10 bad ideas. I bet one of them will end up helping. (And you are recording those bad ideas too as part of step one, right?)

If your idea starts to wither away and your enthusiasm wanes, give yourself permission to drop it. The joy of having lots of fresh ideas and capturing them for future reference is that you can abandon any that don’t cry out for action right now. Later on, you might find that another idea down the road relates to it and you’ll be happy to recorded it.

3) Share it with your kindling friends

If you take the flame you’ve created and wave it around to all your friends and neighbors, the harsh winds of criticism will snuff it out almost instantly and you’ll be left holding nothing but ash. Instead, use the friends and family who are similar to you as idea “kindling” and save the sharing with the structured folks for after you have a hearty fire going.

Who are your kindling friends? Those who encourage you to talk more about your idea and join in your enthusiasm. Those who ask questions that help you expand your thoughts. Those who contribute their own ideas to help yours grow healthy and strong. These are the people you want to go to first.

This doesn’t mean you ignore your more robust “log” type of friends. You will need them later on to help your small fire grow into a raging inferno. We will cover that in step three of this series. For now, though, nurturing your flame means sharing it with a limited audience.

Today’s Strength Building Challenge

If you liked these ideas, here are your action steps to start engaging your strengths:

  • Choose one system for capturing ideas. Commit to one week of carrying a digital voice recorder around, writing ideas on little yellow stickies, or making mind maps. If this week’s solution doesn’t work out very well, choose another one next week (and don’t forget to transfer this week’s ideas to the new system!).
  • Connect the dots. When you get a new idea to add to the collection, see if it can buddy up with an idea that you’ve captured earlier. If so, see if having the two parts together can form a new process, product or solution that you can share to solve a problem.
  • Identify your kindling friends. Which of your friends leaves you feeling happy and energetic whenever you go to them with a new idea? Or, identify them with these 5 steps to guessing a personality type. Make a list of these friends and stick it on your bathroom mirror, your car’s dashboard, or your computer monitor. Those are your “go to” people to share your fledgling ideas with this week.

The next post in this series will help grow your ideas from new flames to crackling, energetic fires to fuel your passionate life.

Filed Under: Developing Strengths, Ideas
March 21, 2010 By

Is the Work You Love Already in the Job You Have?

jumping with joy

Photo by bingramos


Do you have a good job and a decent salary, but feel dissatisfied and in need of a career change? Do you dream of breaking out of your current job to do the work you love? Do you already have a sideline business – or desperately want to start one? If so, this will soon be your website of choice for ideas, tools and action plans to help you find the work you love while still supporting yourself in the job you have.

Why I Started this Site

I had a conversation with a coworker this week that helped me fine tune my ideas for this website into a laser beam directed at those of you who say “Yes” to the questions above. I started this blog because I had been going through the above dilemmas. To some degree, I still am. I’ve made some headway and I wanted to share what I’ve learned with others about career change, finding your strengths, and doing work you love. That’s what started this, that’s the core reason.

What I found was a lot of information about how to quit your job and become successful doing something else. A few people make an instant career change and find success. Some do it and fail, and it destroys their hope to the point that they don’t ever dare to try again. Many more people never try at all, because they have an all or nothing mentality. They believe something like, “I want to do [my passion] but I can’t give up my job because [it pays the bills, my spouse would kill me, my parents would disown me, etc, etc, etc].” Some people discover that the work they love was theirs for the taking all along, even in the job they already have.

This blog is for everyone who wants to make a change, and it will talk you through how to transition – in big ways, in little incremental ways, in ways that work for you.

My Goal

I want to help you find your strengths, develop your talents, and communicate what you bring to the table that makes you unique. For some, that’s a long process and it needs to happen gradually. That’s okay – there are many people that are going down the same path. Others already know the career change for them, they just need someone to cheer them to victory. Some don’t have any idea where to start, which is where I was not too long ago.

It’s so important for you to find your spark, your motivation, your joy. Life is too short to feel depressed, anxious, and drained all the time. Or worse, to not know how you feel – a topic I plan to address this week. Hopefully, you will find some parts of this site that speak to you, inspire you, or make you think.

When I was going through it, I wasn’t sure where to start and I muddled my way through. Doing it that way takes longer. It’s a tougher fight. I needed to read or listen or talk with someone who had been there and could tell me what they learned and how. Not to be the master, the guru, the director of my life – but to be my friend through the process and share what they learned.

If I can do that for one person through this site, it will be worth it.

Your Turn

How can I help? Let me know in the comments.

Filed Under: Developing Strengths, Ideas
March 18, 2010 By

Are You the Boss People Hate?

grumpy person

Photo by photomishdan

What do your people say about you? Do they tell others how motivational you are? How you care about them, not just the bottom line? How you challenge them to do their best in their areas of strength?

No? What do you think they are saying about you, then? Hopefully, none of the following:

“My boss praises in private and criticizes in public.”

The first rule they teach in management training should be: Praise in public and critique in private. When you were new to management, they should have drilled it into you until you were mumbling it in your sleep.

Do you want your people to be creative? Take initiative? Act boldly? Then STOP embarrassing them in public by telling them what you think they did wrong in front of their peers (or worse, their direct reports)! First, you could be wrong – your opinion could be just that, and not fact. Second, that tentative suggestion that was way our of the box could have morphed into an award winning initiative with a little encouragement or praise for the part that was right. Third, if your people don’t admire your leadership style they will never learn from you. They won’t want to.

Instead, save the critique for when the two of you are alone. Didn’t we all watch “Bambi”? Remember Thumper’s rule: If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” This one is simple. Perhaps not easy, but simple.

“My boss puts down every new suggestion I make.”

It’s far easier to edit a draft then to start something yourself. It’s second nature to point out how to improve an idea, make the plan better, implement it more effectively. The only problem is that if you jump to give “constructive criticism” for each new idea, your people will stop bringing them to you.

Instead, ask questions. You can express your doubts and introduce ideas just as easily by asking open ended questions. Open ended questions begin with who, what, when, where, how or why.

  • Who do you think would benefit the most from this?
  • What impacts do you think this would have on people or processes down the road?
  • When do you think we’d realize a gain from this?
  • Where do you see this working the best?
  • How do you mean?
  • Why do you think this will make a difference?

Stop making statements. Start asking questions. You’ll be amazed at how much you learn about the people you work with and their capabilities. And they will love you for being receptive.

“My boss acts way too harsh/soft for me.”

Interaction styles are different. You can pick up several clues to personality type by observing your people and their reactions. If you just can’t figure out someone at the office, learning about personality type might give you some insight.

If you like to take charge and lead (reds and Lions especially), you might intimidate those with a softer side (like greens and Retrievers).

If you are risk averse and like to plan everything before you take action (like some golds and Beavers do), you might be driving those on your team who live to get things going (like Otters) or enjoy exploring new ideas (like blues) crazy.

Many people don’t think about this, but if you are gentle and well meaning and in a leadership position it can be a problem too. Why? If you get along with everyone, strive to mediate conflict, and try to have everyone join in a group project and you are managing someone who is very driven, hard charging, or is fiercely independent – they are going to expect you to act in a much more directive way than your natural manner. Why? Because they expect to be led as they would lead, and that means giving direction instead of collaboratively working toward a common goal.

Leadership Styles

Am I suggesting you try to change your true nature based on your team profile? No, you wouldn’t be successful if you did that. Your success is based on using your strengths, and your personality type can be a guidepost to discovering them.

However, if you seek to understand what your team members expect from a leader and the actions that bring out the best in them, you will become the boss we all dream of having someday. You will become the leader that others choose to follow.

Your Turn

I could go on with more examples, but better yet … why don’t you? What would you love to tell your boss if you could? What feedback have you received from others? Please share in the comments!

Filed Under: Ideas, Personality
March 13, 2010 By

Should You Appear Naked on the Social Media Stage?

"nude woman"

Photo by perfectoinsecto

Alanis Morissette. Steve Pavlina. Catherine Caine. What do these three people have in common? They are all passionate people, and have all appeared to their audiences in the nude.

Emotional Nudity

The Google dictionary says: “Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. It is related to the concept of modesty and is sometimes used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected by the conventions of a particular culture and situation, and in particular exposing the bare skin or intimate parts.” But I’m not talking about appearing without clothes (except for Morissette). That’s only one definition of nudity. I’m talking about the immodest, unvarnished, intimate, shocking, often impromptu exposure of passion.

Alanis Morissete performed concerts in the nude (I think it was because she was passionate about a cause). Steve Pavlina, who I used to read religiously and promote to friends, starting blogging about his open marriage (and his subsequent divorce). And Catherine Caine recently went on a passionate rant about the lie of social media (the fallout from that emotional post inspired this one).

The Cocktail Party Level of Life

Social media is just a great big virtual cocktail party. There are those who chat about celebrities and TV events and movies and the daily news. There are those who retell the latest joke, talk about the latest books, and share insights about current events. There’s even “that guy” who tries to work the room, telling you about how his business would suit all your needs and handing out business cards with abandon.

When Social Media Becomes Meaningful

There comes a point, though, when we just get tired of the cocktail level of life. We want to connect, we want to share, we want to get personal. That’s when the true value of social media kicks in. Who knew that I would ever connect with someone in Australia who would motivate me and help me find my virtual voice? How else would I have ever learned lessons about using internet tools to connect with people from a guy in California? How else would I get daily inspiration from people around the world sharing ideas and insights on Twitter?

That doesn’t mean you get to run through the party with wild abandon, screaming expletives and calling people jerks. At least, not without the “What have I done?” moment of sobriety and the subsequent guilt and self-recrimination at the end of such a wild night. But that is when you find out who your true friends are – whether they are virtual or not. They call you on it, they tell you their side of the story … and then, once you’ve apologized, they forgive you and move on.

Should You Show Some Skin?

What should we, as bloggers and writers and speakers and tweeters, expose to our audiences? Should we just talk about the happy things, keeping ourselves so buttoned up and shielded that we expose nothing to our readers? Should we dare, from time to time, to post something slit from here to there (metaphorically speaking) and show a little more of our true selves than is proper? Or should we just let it all hang out and allow our audiences to shut their eyes or look the other way when they so choose?

There’s no universal answer, and that’s why the aftermath of Catherine’s post was so interesting to me. Her point was that the promise of social media makes us believe that we will be intimate friends with all who ask us to relate with them online. She felt betrayed by that promise, and spoke out about it. Many people agreed with her or echoed her thoughts in the comments (though none so graphically), but some of the people she called out by name were upset and hurt by her rant. Luckily, for her and the rest of the blogging community, Scott Stratten of Unmarketing was brave enough to call her on it and adult enough to make it a learning moment instead of a fight.

What is the “right” level of emotion for a blogger to display? How honest can they be? I think it depends on who they are trying to reach and why. If you are trying to drum up more business, then of course presenting yourself as a polished poised professional is your best bet (but please, don’t be “that guy”). If you are just trying to be more social and grow your network, then being chatty and positive and not too intrusive is probably your best bet. But if you are trying to inspire and motivate others or trying to change the world, you need to get real.

Get Naked, Get Real

In order to connect with people, online or not, you have to show some of your true nature. You have to expose some of yourself. You have to be brave enough to take a risk with your feelings. Without some willingness to open up, you are a bright shiny toy on a shelf to be admired – not a Velveteen Rabbit to share our daily lives with.

If your goal is to connect with people or share your passionate cause, don’t be afraid to be nude online. Say what’s on your mind. Apologize when you’ve made a mistake. Connect with others on something that really matters. Change the world – one naked moment at a time.

Your Turn

Do you have to get naked to make a difference? Tell me what you think in the comments!

Filed Under: Ideas
February 23, 2010 By

3 iNtuitive Tricks to Boost Your Memory

elephant

Photo by digitalART2

Is there someone in your life who seems to effortlessly fly through training classes, courses and tests? Who can volunteer to speak the morning of a Toastmasters meeting and deliver a speech that would take you a week to prepare? Who can reply to a surprise question from the boss at a meeting with a perfectly coordinated reply that actually makes sense?

As I read Scott Young’s guest post “How I was Able to Ace Exams Without Studying”, I was struck by how the ideas he suggests to boost memory come naturally to many iNtuitives (greens and blues). The post is definitely worth a read, and here are three tools he suggests that I use every day. You can apply them, too – no matter your personality type.

Metaphor

How do you describe complex or unfamiliar ideas to others? Okay, now how do you do it so that they understand?

I was first exposed to the value of metaphors when I read Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. In the book, Chip and Dan Heath describe the power of making an idea stick by comparing it to something the audience already knows.

For example, one of my family members owns some farmland and was offered a chance to purchase the easement that cut through the property. I was given a copy of the offer letter and my six year old, ever inquisitive, asked what the letter said. How would you explain it?

I ended up talking about two birthday cakes – one with a strip of sand running across it and the other without. I asked him which he would rather have. Of course, he said he’d choose the cake without sand. I then explained that this easement ran through the land, splitting it in two and making the easement part of it unusable. Suddenly, a six year old could understand the impacts of a real estate decision.

Harness the power of metaphor. Exercise your ability to compare complex ideas to simple ones. Communicate those ideas to others using comparisons and see whether you see the light of understanding dawn in their eyes.

Mind Mapping

Do you get writer’s block when you sit down to write that article, that report, that research paper? Blank paper (or a blank screen) can be awfully intimidating. Even trying to write an outline can be a challenge. Insert the power of mind mapping.

Mind mapping, simply put, is creating a diagram of circles and lines to brainstorm ideas. You start with one central circle and write the main idea inside it. Then draw a spoke and another circle and, in it, the first related idea that comes to mind. Then the second – either related to your second circle or as another branch off the main idea. As new things come to you, you simply add circles and connecting lines. If you use paper and pen (or pencil), as I often do, you will end up crossing out or erasing lines and connecting the circles in many ways as you re-organize your thoughts. If you do this a lot, you might want to invest in an online mind mapping tool or software like MindManager by MindJet.

The next time you are faced with a blank screen, a timeline, and a product to create, give mind mapping a try. Watch your ideas take shape as your mind jumps from related idea to related idea, unencumbered by outlines or hierarchical bullet points.

Use Mnemonics

Ever take piano lessons? How did you learn the scales? Does the phrase “Every Good Boy Does Fine” ring a bell (for the notes E, G, B, D and F)? How about math class? Did you memorize the order of operations by the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition then Subtraction)? If so, you used mnemonics to memorize material.

Acronyms are one of the most common uses of mnemonics. If you are like me, you go to the store often and return carrying all sorts of stuff – yet forgetting the one thing you went to the store to buy. Next time, try using an acronym. For instance, a list like milk, eggs, apples and bacon might create the word BEAM.

Never underestimate the power of an acronym.

Why do I say that iNtuitives often use these tools naturally? Because people who use iNtuition the most usually take in data by understanding connections or fitting it into the big picture. Painting word pictures (metaphors), connecting ideas and relating concepts (mind mapping), and creating word puzzles (acronyms) are natural strengths for most iNtuitives. Those who prefer Sensing (golds and reds) will benefit from using them too.

What helps you remember? Have you applied anything from this article? Let me know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Action Steps, Ideas, Personality
January 1, 2010 By

3 Words for 2010

love spelled with cards

Photo by balladist

Happy New Year! What is it about a new year that makes everyone want to make a new start in some aspect of their lives? I’m no exception. I was inspired by Chris Brogan’s three words concept this morning and quickly started thinking about my own. So far, I’ve come up with:

1) Action
As in, take some action. I talk so much about what I want to do, or could do, or should have done. Nothing happens until you take action. Doors can open left and right, but you have to walk through in order to see the next. In my case, I want to talk to as many people as possible about discovering and using their strengths to improve their lives, an idea introduced to me by Marcus Buckingham almost three years ago. In my case, I use personality type knowledge to help people re-discover themselves.

2) Health
Everyone’s goal, right? Rather than having one particular plan that I want to follow, though, I’m trying ideas. In November, it was eating vegan for 30 days (yes, I was born and raised a steak and potatoes girl, but there is life after beef). I survived. Last week I started 30 days of Green Smoothies for breakfast. I bought a Blendtec and everything. So far, so good! And I’m still eating mostly vegan. Mostly.

3) Online presence
This is the year for me to start building an online presence. Funny to say for an ex-web developer. You would think I’d be online all the time. And I am – but I haven’t been contributing. There’s nothing wrong with lurking, but if my goal is to talk to as many people as I can this year about discovering and applying their strengths then I need to start connecting.

That’s what occurs to me today. These might morph over time – the only constant with me is that nothing stays the same – but expect the themes to linger.

Combine this three words idea with Mark Dykeman’s idea for a Content Idea Matrix and hopefully I’ll have a lot to write about in 2010!

Do you know your strengths? Can you communicate them to others? What topics would help you out the most? Leave them in the comments or tweet them to me and that’s where I’ll start.

Filed Under: Ideas
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