thinkitcreative

Trying to keep up with news from Tom Peters is a lot like trying to read a newswire: you never have to wait long for something new and interesting to pop up. This post is no exception.

Want your organization to be a hothouse of creativity (and of course you do!) Invest in innovation and give your staff the authority to be in the driver’s seat.

Here’s further proof that both Tom and the Gallup study he quotes are on to a great point. Back in 2000–2001, a lot of people in North America were worried about a deepening economic downturn. This was particularly true in the technology sector, where layoffs and cuts to R&D had already become the mainstay.

Not all followed that course, mind you. One firm, which itself had a near-miss with bankruptcy just a few years earlier, decided there was a better way to make the company grow. The CEO announced that rather than shrinking his R&D, he was telling staff to stay put and think big…no holds barred, adding: “We’re going to innovate out of these hard times.”

Many were impressed with that kind of gusto. Others, quite the opposite.

Fast forward by six years to today. That company—Apple—is at the top of its game, thanks to products spearheaded at the beginning of that great innovation push. Among those that were the outcome of this smart investment: a little device you may have heard of, called the iPod.

Make no mistake: being creative is your engine for growth.

Getting Real by 37signals. The book is a collection of ideas about creating simple, user-focused software, but its core messages are as relevant to copywriting or any other kind of media that interacts with your audience.

The authors state…

Getting Real delivers better results because it forces you to deal
with the actual problems you’re trying to solve instead of your
ideas about those problems.

Which is quite true. Your products, messages and ideas will resonate better with your audience when what you do and what you say is all about them.

But where I disagree with the authors of Getting Real is their later contention that “old rules don’t apply anymore,” and by inference, that what they’re calling for is somehow a new approach to doing things.

Look back at the history of successful ad campaigns and you’ll find that among the things done right was to showcase a message or product in a way that put the needs of the audience ahead of the company that was doing the selling.

Simplicity and being user-focused isn’t about old ways versus new.

It’s about the right way versus the wrong way to communicate and sell effectively.

Common among the best, most memorable speeches you’ll hear is an old trick among speechwriters: themes. Whether it’s an allegory to help explain a complex topic, or a personal anecdote to help break the ice with a little bit of humour, themes can be a big help to a speaker, keeping the audience interested in the topic at-hand.

Fletcher Dean, who runs the excellent and much-quoted thespeechwriter.com has posted some helpful tips on using themes in a speech. I’ll share some highlights:

True ‘happened-to-me’ stories — This isn’t a “while I was waiting on the taxi” theme but a real event in the life of the speaker. These not only have the benefit of providing a good theme, but they endear the speaker to the audience.

Stories — Folk tales and fairy tales can even provide memorable introductions into your main topic. These are especially useful for international speakers when you can find a local tale familiar to the audience. It shows the speaker has done his or her homework and appreciates the local culture.

Quotes — A good quote can set the tone early in a speech and give you an interesting theme. If the person being quoted is well-known and well-liked, this technique has the added benefit of letting your speaker borrow credibility.

Reference to an historical event — One of my favorites, this often requires some legwork to ferret out but is easily worth the effort. Listeners appreciate the historical perspective and anecdotes this technique provides, especially if it’s tied to a “day-in-history” event.

Current events — A quick scan of the news can often provide just the hook you need to develop a theme. Because speeches are often written days, if not weeks ahead, however, it’s most useful to look for news events that have staying power. These may even include books on the best-seller list, popular movies and television shows or even print and broadcast ads.

Statistics — In a category all by themselves, statistics can often be elevated to theme status if you find the right ones. Economic and education stats are often useful but so are demographics if you can use them to illustrate a point. The key here, of course, is to bring those statistics down to a personal level.

Time for a fun post. If you had to be David Bowie for the rest of your life, but you could pick only one of his many personae, which one would it be:

ZiggyBowie — Decorate yourself in 70s getup, play guitar, including the requisite jammin’ good with Weird and Gilly and them Spiders from Mars;

AlladinsaneBowie — All the glam and glitter you can carry, but be weighed down with so many phamaceuticals that the entire experience is little more than a blur when you look back years after the fact;

The Thin White Duke Bowie — Be Germanically obsessed, androgynous and shellshocked by life’s misfortunes. But at least you wind up with a closet full of snappy Italians suits;

LowBowie — Produce a work of sheer artistic genius that fails miserably as a commercial product;

ScarymonsterBowie — Be consigned to a Kornilof clown costume while producing your very best work, but in which people only fully appreciate until decades after the fact;

Let’sDanceBowie — Make music as bad as your haircut. And laugh all the way to the bank; or

QuinquegenarianBowie — Produce fantastic material year after year that gets limited but enthusiastic support. Oh and more bad haircuts.

What’s my pick? QuinquegenarianBowie, hands down. Always do your very best at what you do and there will always be a market for it.

WordPress is the greatest invention to hit the webosphere since Mosaic breathed its first binary breath.

Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, one of my all-time favourite films, was on TV the other night. Every time I see it, I’m struck by how prescient Fellini was about mass media—about its power and hollow-headed appetite for what can be most charitably described as event culture.

But there’s also a message in there for everyone who is fond of being on the viewfinder-end of things—be it the monitor you’re looking into right now, or a camera. For all its virtues, that electronic window—like the hero in the Fellini film—can only bear witness to happenings. It can capture, yes. But can never really live that sweet life.

It’s an important lesson that bears repeating in business. We all want happiness and fulfilment in what we do. And part of that is to be generous with the time you make for family and friends. That’s where the sweet life lives.

Nisus Writer: If you write for a living, you’ll likely need to have Word in your arsenal. But Word has many bugs shortcomings including a delightful habit of corrupting its files when changes are made to the normal.dot file. Enter Nisus Writer. Not only does it keep feature bloat under control, it also has a built-in file converter that lets you save and open files in Word, WordPerfect, AbiWord, RTF, among others.

1001: If you’re using flickr to manage and store your image library, this little freeware tool is indispensable for helping you upload images and passively browse the flickrstream.

Newsfire: The über simple layout makes it a snap to get a quick hit of updates from favourite sites.

Camino: Safari might be prettier, but this browser is still the fastest out there.

iScrobbler (plugin for Audioscrobbler): Tracks and updates to your Last.FM account, showing what you listen to on iTunes. It’s geeky, yes, but once your playlist grown a few thousand tracks deep, it becomes increasingly fascinating to see what your real listening habits are.

Transmit: If you need to maintain a website, then you’ll likely need an FTP application. Transmit is without compare in the Mac world. Not just feature-rich, but intelligently designed.

MenuCalendarClock: Handy to have in your taskbar, so you can check at a glance today’s date as well as your upcoming iCal appointments.

Billings: A must-have for busy professionals who need to keep track of invoicing plus time spent on multiple projects.

Check out this weird and nifty little video that tricks your eye (videofeed courtesy of Google).

And for those of you who are curious to know how to make your own tricky dragon…voila