Process of Change : creative

OpenSocial, Punctuated Equilibrium

bobreb — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:50:00 GMT

Generally speaking, OpenSocial is amazing news. The social layer I've been prattling on about for, well, a very long time, is really shaping up.

Though I still believe we've yet to do more than scratch the surface of social user experiences. And that surface, to stretch the analogy too far, is so wide it's been enough to get us all in a lather. Who now can say how deep it goes? And I believe there's a technical angle, or component, that's not addressed yet -- perhaps even a keystone technology or two.

Regardless, the barriers to entry just got lower to anyone interested in the application of a social layer to their core business value proposition -- and it applies to many existing core value propositions. More interesting, it's impossible to predict what new core value propositions will appear in the next few years, though very safe to predict that some, perhaps many, will. Which of those will demonstrate lasting value is another question. Ahhh, Darwin, you'd have loved the internet.

And what a lovely disruption it is. There's so much low hanging fruit. Web companies that stick to business as usual will be vulnerable. So will some traditional businesses, retailers in particular (many are already engaged). The analogy is rough, but I'm reminded of the mistake WordPerfect made so long ago when they elected to take a wait and see approach to Windows, while Microsoft moved to a graphical version of Word. It was, as they say, the beginning of the end for the then king of word processing. So it will go for businesses that fail to appropriately re-vision their services in light of the social aspect of computing. That is, assuming competition appears that moves intelligently in that direction.

If business runs in cycles analogous to the concept of punctuated equilibrium, it must be clear to just about everyone by now that this be the punctuation.

Bubble? Perhaps. I'm not an economist, so I won't risk an opinion. Opportunity? Clearly. Here to stay? Like breathing.

BTW, seen this? I kind of like the idea.

On Creativity Part 2

bobreb — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 04:40:25 GMT

In part one I put forward the view that creativity could be learned. In this post I'll discuss how. Or, more accurately, how we've tried to get ourselves out of the box. Be warned, the timing of this post is not ideal. The fruits of this process, for us, won't appear in their full glory until next spring. I'm even reluctant to talk about them until they get out the door. So that leaves us with just another post about creativity from just another guy with an opinion. Well, it is what it is. (You never know, perhaps in several months you'll catch us on MSNBC waving to the crowds through a blizzard of biodegradable ticker tape. Okay, maybe not.)

In any event, there are essentially two major tracks and I believe both must be followed. The first is learning the techniques of lateral thinking. We'll talk a bit about that in this post. The second is broadening your conceptual bag of tricks. That we'll save for part three.

There are no lack of books on the subject of creative technique. One of my favorites is by Edward DeBono. Edward is a little outspoken about his own contributions to the subject of thinking skills, but if you can look past that, he really does have a lot to offer.

Another one I enjoyed was by Michael Michalko.

I enjoyed this because it included some interesting tidbits about several creative geniuses. I'm not sure how much you can expect to gain from trying to emulate geniuses, but it's interesting nonetheless.

I do feel compelled to add that there are lots and lots of these sorts of books, that I personally have about a dozen of them on my shelves, and they all say much the same thing. Pick one that sounds good and be satisfied. Developing the discipline to put what it says to use is by far the biggest challenge. Don't make the mistake I made substituting reading the books about creativity instead of actually working on it.

The focus, for the most part, is on techniques to get you out of your habitual patterns of thought. DeBono offers many. Which one you choose is a matter of which you can tolerate. For instance, one technique involves associating a random word with a given problem and then free associating with the random word as the starting point. I've found this to be very effective -- though it took me a long time to give myself permission to do it. I know that may sound strange, but free association is just not something traditional educations prepare you for. To my dismay, I tried it with my 15-year-old son and he was no better -- in fact, he was worse. He simply refused to participate.

On the other hand, another common tactic is to state the opposite of an assumption underlying the problem space. Then you force yourself to come up with as many working answers based upon the new, and opposite, assumption. For combative personality types, this often presents a lower barrier to entry. The point here is to force yourself to find alternatives. If you give up after one or two (or zero) half-hearted attempts, essentially acknowledging that the assumption is valid and must not be contradicted, you're not playing the game right. In other words, this is much beyond the simple admonishment to question assumptions. That's a good thing to do anyway, but rarely does it get you onto something entirely new.

We ran with the latter exercise on the subject of customer behavior information and I'm in the process of getting legal approval for something we wouldn't have considered -- would not have been thinkable -- before the exercise. I'm meeting some folks at the Web2.0 conference in SF in a couple of weeks to explore it. Stay tuned.

Be creative -- but understand, it's difficult and it's risky. Part 1.

bobreb — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 05:46:00 GMT

[Also posted on TheWorkingNetwork]

I was recently speaking with an associate looking for change-the-game ideas to overcome an apparently impossible competitive situation -- and still make money.

Now as a person that manages creative teams, and considers himself capable of the occasional lateral turn, I really ought to have some answers right off the top of my head -- right? I mean, don't creative types just run around wearing non-traditional clothing, and spouting zany, out-of-the-box, spontaneous sorts of things?

Perhaps some do, but I'm certainly not cut from that cloth.

No, I take a far more rigorous approach. I believe creativity can be learned. Similar to drawing, or playing a musical instrument, with diligent practice anyone can develop some real skill. In my view greatness in any field is a combination of hard work, environment, and genetics. But anyone can develop sufficient skill to significantly differentiate them from those that didn't make the effort.

I am compelled to point out that the effort to develop your creativity is no less difficult, and no less time consuming, than developing skill at anything else. You will have to work at it -- and not just a little if you expect any sort of real gain. And because part of the effort involves learning altogether new skills, you can count on frustration and frequent failures. You can count on it. In fact, it's a requirement.

And it's risky. Like playing a musical instrument, every now and again you play a sour note. Sadly, to many an ear, a lot of creative output plays like sour notes.

That is so much true, that most people never consider exposing their creative efforts. In my world, the long term result is an over-reliance upon customer input, competitive analysis, forms, process, and a "that job is done this way" mentality. And of course those results reinforce the behaviors that spawned them. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I am a lucky man for many reasons. One of them is that I get to manage a creative team, and another is that my broader group is growing more and more tolerant of us every day -- and I do appreciate it.

Coming Soon -- Part 2: My personal "free-the-mind" workout.