Grace Before Reading a BookEternal Father, as we open the pages of this book we have

chosen to read, we would express our gratitude for all the noble thoughts which the mind of man has given to the world.

We are grateful for the opportunity afforded us by good books to become companions of great minds and hearts. May we keep our minds always open and receptive to truth and beauty, knowing that these finally are manifested in our character.

May we treat this book as we respect and admire a friend. May we always choose for our reading moments books which will elevate our hearts, ennoble our minds, and lift our spirits.

For all the good things which come our way, we are grateful and, most of all, dear Father, may we be worthy of them. Amen.

ideaSPOTTINGHOW TO FIND YOUR NEXT GREAT IDEA

SAM HARRISON

ideaSPOTTER vs trainSPOTTER winner loser

capture lots of ideas

EXPLORATION IN LIFE

ASSOCIATIONS

HOW AND WHERE TO FIND IDEAS?

EXPLORE – open mindASSOCIATE – watch, ask and eavesdrop

OLD IDEAS

Associate

OLD IDEASOLD IDEAS

AssociateNEW

IDEASNEW

IDEASAssociate

NEW IDEAS

Five steps and 101 tips for creativity on command focuses on a five-step methodology for generating idea.

IdeaSpotting focuses on the Explore phase of the creative process – using

exploration and association to spot great ideas!

There is no formula for creativity.

No cookie-cutter solution.BUT THERE IS DEFINITELY A

FLOWING FORM IN THE WAY HIGHLY CREATIVE PEOPLE GLIDE TOWARD EXCITING,

ENDLESS IDEAS.

EXPLOREOBSERVE & LISTEN

FREEDOMBRAINSTORM &VISUALIZE

EMBRACEEDIT & SELECT

PAUSESTOP & DETACH

LIFEPROTOTYPE & IMPLEMENT

exploring begins with an open mind.

START WITH A BLANK SLATE. FILL IT WITH INSIGHTS.OPEN MIND

CREATIVE EXPLORING

FRESH EXPERIENCES

KNOWLEDGE & INSIGHTS

EXPLORERANGES OF POSSIBILITY.

FREE – RANGEEXPLORATION

FIRING RANGEEXPLORATION

YOUR PIERIAN SPRINGOF INSIGHT

PIERIAN SPRING: n. A source of inspiration. (From Greek mythology; a spring in Macedonia, sacred to the Muses.)

- Fill your work with life- It’s a BIG WORLD

ENTERTAINMENT(MOVIES, THEATER, MUSIC, ZOOS, THEME PARKS, ETC.)1.2.

MEDIA(NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, BOOKS, TV, RADIO, ETC.)1.2.

FOOD(RESTAURANTS, SNACKS, HOME-COOKED MEALS, ETC.)1.2.

PEOPLE(FRIENDS, STRANGERS, CUSTOMERS, COWORKERS, ETC.)1.2.

“Sometimes during the two-year curriculum, every MBA student should

ought to ear it clearly stated that number, techniques and analysis are all side

matters. What is central to business is the joy of creating.”

Peter Robinson,Snapshots from Hell:

The Making of an MBA

WHAT YOU SEE

IS WHAT YOU GET.

THE MORE you look, THE MORE YOU find.Be current.IDEAS LIVE IN LIFESTYLES. LOOK INTO

LIFESTYLES. WHAT PUBLICATIONS, WEB SITES AND EVENTS CAN HELP YOU MONITOR THE

LIFESTYLES OF YOUR AUDIENCES?

PUBLICATIONS WEB SITES EVENTS

FASHION

FOOD

MUSIC

SPORTS

HOMES

HOBBIES

OUTDOORS

POLITICS

OTHERS

rashomon effect:n. The effect of subjectivity of perception. For

every event there are X versions of what happened, with X equal to or greater than the number of witnesses. A well-known phenomenon to detectives, reporters and creative explorers!

GET A SQUIRREL’S camera.Ever wonder how squirrels find all those nuts

they hide? They make mental snapshots, according to Dr. Temple Grandin, an autistic person who uses her autism to help explore animal behavior. After burying a nut, the squirrel looks right and left before moving on. He’s taking mental pictures of physical coordinates, reports Dr. Grandin, and the visual memory later helps him recover the nut.

LISTENING 101 a. CLOSE MOUTH

b. OPEN EARS LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT

CUSTOMERS WANT.

• WE IGNORE THE PERSON• WE PRETEND TO LISTEN• WE SELECTIVELY LISTEN• WE ATTENTIVELY LISTEN

“I would say that listening to other person’s emotions may be the most important thing I’ve learned in twenty years of business.”

Heath Herber.FOUNDERHerber Company

LISTEN WITHOUTmultitasking (on the phone).

“Tell me a story’ still comprisesfour of the most powerful

words in English.”-Pat Conroy, AUTHOR

ask the question, play the fool.

don’t ask the question, STAY THE FOOL.“ The important thing is not to

stop questioning.”-Albert Einstein

Ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask.

FOCUSED QUESTIONING“How does this make you feel?”

“What does this reminds you of?”

“I keep six honest serving-men, they taught me all I knew. Their names are What and Why and When

and How and Where and Who.”-Rudyard Kipling

WHEN IS YOUR NEXT CLIENT MEETING?LIST SIX CREATIVE QUESTIONS YOU’LL

ASK:1. ?2. ?3. ?4. ?5. ?6. ?

know what makes your audience

LAUGH, CRY AND SCREAM

“we have a program called Follow Me Home, where we literally follow consumers into

their homes and watch them use our products.”

- Jacqueline Maartense,- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

- Corel

“we don’t see things as they are. we see things as we are.”

Anais Nin, writerWHO CAN HELP YOU SEE YOUR ORGANIZAITON WITH NEW

EYES?1.2.3.

WHO CAN HELP YOU SEE YOUR CLIENT’S ORGANIZATION WITH NEW EYES?

1.2.3.

WHO CAN HELP YOU SEE END USERS WITH NEW EYES?1.2.3.

WHO CAN HELP YOU SEE COMPETITORS WITH NEW EYES?1.2.3.

- the lizard – or reptilian – brain of survival instincts

- the leopard brain of emotions (limbic system)- the intellectual brain of learning and

reasoning

“the starting point was the question, what’s the users experience?”

Steve Jobs

IF AN IDEA POPS UP, write it down.

If a vision drifts in,

SKETCH IT OUT

CAPTURE IDEAS AND INSIGHTS.GRAB IDEAS / TAKE DOWN NOTES…

like Leonardo da Vinci

have a NOTEBOOK

Try tree branching, which is much like using mind-maps for brainstorming. Write your key word and circle it. Build branches supporting other words, symbols, and ideas.

Write a key word in the top right corner of each filled sheet in your notebook. When trying to find info later, you can easily thumb through the pages.

Here are a few other search tools to try if Google doesn’t give you what you need.

A9.COMThis search engine from Amazon.com includes images, media columns

and blogs in its first search.

ANSWER.COMincludes, authoritative sources, such as Merriam Webster and Columbia

University Press.

CLUSTY.COMClusters the results from other search engines, sorting by category.

GROKKER.COMVisual people often like this Yahoo-powered engine that shows results

with a graph containing circles filled with dots.

HOTBOT.COM AND INFO.COMBoth provide Google results along with those of other search engines.

MOLESKINESInspirational book: quotes, clippings

often stimulidaily recorder and list keeperMIQUELRIUSSPIRAL NOTEBOOKSINDEX CARDS = SOFTWARETREE PAD

of course – PENS AND PENCILS

“I never travel without my notebook.One should always have something

Sensational to read in the train.”- Oscar Wilde

YOUR YARD ISN’T THE ONLY YARD IN TOWN.

and your next idea MAY BE JUST OVER THE NEXT

FENCE.

“Masters open the door,but it’s up to you to enter.”

-Chinese proverb

“Originality consists of the achievement of new combinations

and not of the creation of somethingout of nothing.”

-Richard V. ClemenceEconomist and Writer

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Don’t Go It Alone.NETWORK

Build your Network.

“Networking is a powerful way to stay alert and gather insights.”

Scott Orazem Hallmark

Networking provides the crystal ball for future trends.

1. Pick strong partners.2. Be s strong partner.3. Focus on what’s important.4. Expose yourself.5. Remember Ethos.6. Nurture the network.

“Keep away from people whotry to belittle your ambitions.

Small people always do that, but the really great will make you

feel that you, too, can become great.- Mark Twain

We’ve all had our shares of blunders, flops, bad moves, goof, gaffes, clunkers.

SPOT WHAT YOU CAN DO to salvage them.

Everybody fails from time to time. By exploring failures, they generated better and bigger IDEAS.

“From error to error, one discovers the entire truth.”

Sigmund Freud

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.”

John Luther, writer

1. Mistakes tourists make.2. Mistakes web designers make.3. Mistakes taxpayers make.4. Mistakes dieters make.5. Mistakes salespeople make.6. Mistakes new dog owners make.

FINDERS, KEEPERS.

Be a creative street scavenger.

Ex. Kenneth Cobonpue

look for one thing, STUMBLE OVER ANOTHER.

collaborate with A HIBISCUS.

a rust is a coffin WITH THE ENDS KICKED OUT.

the world is a book. IF YOU DON’T TRAVEL YOU ONLY READ ONE PAGE.

when you can’t go, stay put. AND MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU’VE GOT.

You can do everything we’ve talked about. You can spot IDEA AFTER IDEA AFTER IDEA