InnovatorsDigest

Affiliate-to-Innovate: 40,000 LinkedIn Innovators in Groups Can Use NEW Discussion Forums

LinkedIn just released a valuable new feature that allows Group members to engage in discussions about innovation, creativity and other interesting topics. Articles from Innovator's Digest will be linked to some provocative questions in Group Discussion areas.
Get ThinkedIn by joining in our innovation conversations via the LinkedIn Groups that now include over 40,000 innovative minds.

Click Below to Join Our Top 24 LinkedIn
Innovation Groups & Join the Discussions!

Do you want your free subscription to Innovator'sDigest? Click HERE to subscribe and receive innovation news that includes questions used for LinkedIn Innovation Group Discussions.

Get Certified to Train Brains in New Workshop for Innovation Trainers, Facilitators & Coaches

More than 150 innovation experts from 13 countries have already been certified by SolutionPeople to train, facilitate and coach individuals and teams to improve innovation and creativity performance.

Do you want to get certified?
Join other innovation leaders for the award-winning Accelerated Innovation Workshop on December 1-2, 2008 at the highly-acclaimed Thinkubator in Chicago.

Some participants will continue training while experiencing the certification workshops on December 3-5 that are personally led by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman.

Experience 5 Powerful Days of Training Certification on December 1-5, 2008

Monday & Tuesday, Dec. 1-2, 2008 – Public Accelerated Innovation & Creativity Workshop (Days 1 & 2 of Certifications)
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 – Innovation TRAINER Certification (Day 3)
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 – Innovation FACILITATOR Certification (Day 4)
Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 – Innovation COACH Certification (Day 5)

Details on 2-day Accelerated Innovation Workshop can be downloaded HERE to get a PDF. Details on 5-day Certification Curriculum can be downloaded HERE to get a PDF. Email info@solutionpeople.com or phone 1-312-829-2852 , ext. 14 if you are interested in registering for the workshops.

Questionate-to-Innovate: Questionation Method Produced Over 3 Million Ideas

SolutionPeople has helped innovators generate over 3 million ideas. What is one of the secrets to their successful ideations that lead to innovation? One secret is their proprietary Questionation™ Method that includes developing provocative questions to be used in innovative facilitations, training workshops, meetings and innovation events.
Surveys have found that Questionation™ Methods have increased meeting productivity, reduced meeting time and increased participant engagement. Most importantly, innovation facilitations that used Question Banks and the Questionation Methods yielded 34-65% more ideas than traditional meetings that followed typical agendas.

Question Banks & Topics
Questionation involved developing unique "Question Banks" for a wide variety of innovation goals, problems or challenges. Agendas and facilitation plans are structured in a way so that key questions are addressed throughout the meeting or event. Answers to questions are collected and deposited in Idea Banks that are used for follow-through and implementation.

Over 10,000 questions have been collected or created by SolutionPeople since 1989. SolutionPeople created question banks for over 100 topics including new product development, sales, marketing, experience design, meeting planning and strategic planning. Haman teaches facilitators, trainers and coaches how to apply the Questionation method during certification workshops and webinars.

Why Are Questions Important?
"If you want to come up with great ideas, you need to ask great questions," states Gerald "Solutionman" Haman who invented the "questionated" innovation tool called the KnowBrainer. The KnowBrainer contains 40 provocative questions that actually help users generate more questions, as well as lots of ideas!

Record-Setting Thinkathon Used 100 Questions
A future Innovator's Digest article will reveal how Solutionman set several world brainstorming records by using the Questionation Method and KnowBrainer tool. Over 454,000 ideas were brainstormed by 8,000 people who used 100 questions in SolutionPeople's Thinkathon at the Singapore Stadium.

Do You Questions About Questionation?
Email Gerald Haman and ask "Solutionman" some questions!

Communicate-to-Innovate Using 21 Persuasive Words That Work

Innovators know how to "communicate-to-innovate" by using persuasive language that engages people to support their ideas. Presidential speech-writer Frank Luntz wrote Words That Work, a book that contains his recommended list of persuasive words. Consider using his recommended words when preparing your next presentation or communication.

21 Words & Phrases
for 21^st Century Innovators
1. Imagine
2. Hassle-free
3. Lifestyle
4. Accountability
5. Results / Can-Do Spirit
6. Innovation
7. Renew, Revitalize, Rejuvenate, Restore,
Rekindle, Reinvent
8. Efficient, Efficiency
9. The Right to
10. Patient-Centered
11. Investment
12. Casual Elegance
13. Independent
14. Peace of Mind
15. Certified
16. All-American
17. Prosperity
18. Spirituality
19. Financial Security
20. Balanced Approach
21. Culture of

Notice that "imagine" is first, "innovation" is number sixth, and the six "R" words came raml as number seven on the list. If you are looking for more words that may be especially appealing to some people, check out Solutionman's Politicator List and Worksheet that was inspired by the persuasive language of American presidential candidates.

Click to Order Frank Luntz Words that Work Book at Amazon.com

Getting Innovation Done

One of the greatest inhibitions to being innovative is fear of making a mistake. However, highly successful innovators make hundreds of mistakes on their way to creating great products. For example, James Dyson—known for his innovative vacuum cleaners—went through over 5,000 prototypes before hitting on the design that propelled him to the success he enjoys today. When it comes to innovation, you have to invite failure, and then relentlessly learn from it.

One of the best tools for leveraging failure into innovation is the humble lab notebook. Just by capturing what you tried, how it worked, and what to do next, you can make huge strides toward solving any problem, no matter how large or complicated. Building a capture habit will do more than spur on innovation and creativity; it can streamline your life at both work and home. One way to get into the habit is to become proficient at GTD (Getting Things Done). GTD is a system of managing workflow created by David Allen. In short, GTD supplies a method for capturing what you want to get done into a trusted system, then engaging with your lists to act at the right time and in the right place.

Click to Order GTD Book from Amazon.com
GTD helps people to be more creative and innovative in two ways. First, GTD encourages you to stop carrying things around in your head. Instead of trying to remember what you want to do, you'll capture it to a trusted place—a tool that's either paper or electronic—where you know you'll be able to find it later. When you're no longer worried about forgetting important information, you start to relax. Relaxation encourages creativity. Second, GTD has creativity built right in. Part of the weekly review—looking over your lists, calendars, and the like—is "getting creative and courageous." In effect, GTD encourages you to imagine a great future for yourself, then gives you the tools to work toward getting it DONE. Click to Order GTD Book from Amazon.com

By Tara Rodden Robinson
Tara is a member of the LinkedIn Getting Things Done Group. Join this group by Clicking Here.

Guaranteed Return On Ideas: Economic Stimulus for Innovators (View ROI Video)

Do you need breakthrough solutions and more innovation? Do you need to improve your innovation skills? Do you want to generate more and better ideas in less time? Do you wish you had more time-saving tools and techniques? Do you need a better ROI in these challenging economic times?

If you answered yes, you and your team should experience SolutionPeople's upcoming Innovation Training Workshops led by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and San Francisco.
Investments Create Dividends: Earn a Guaranteed ROI (Return On Ideas)
The award-winning workshop is designed to help you and your people develop ideas and action plans to address your real-world goals, challenges and problems. SolutionPeople guarantees participants will leave the training with ideas worth more than their tuition investment.
Solutionman's Personal Video
of Workshop ROI Guarantee

Click to View ROI Video

A survey of over 1,000 graduates revealed that 80% of them generated ideas valued at over $50,000 from the Accelerated Innovation Training. One team of 25 people yielded solutions valued at over $273 million. Another team developed a product that was recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the Most Innovative Products of the Year. If you do not feel you have gained at least $1,000 worth of value, you can ask for a refund or take the course again. SolutionPeople is confident you will generate ideas worth much more.

Innovation Workshop Highlights
Learning Objectives
Investments & ROI
Agenda
Tools & Resources
Thinkubator
Trainer: Solutionman
Recognition & Support
Expert Recommendations
Customer Testimonials
Registration Options

Collaborate to Innovate: Bring Innovation Teams
Bring a team and leave as an innovation dream team. Learn how to "collaborate-to-innovate" and save 20% to 40%.
Investment for 2-day Workshop in Chicago on Dec. 1-2, 2008 or on Jan. 26-27, 2009.
Register online at www.solutionpeople.com/store or phone 312-829-2852 ext. 14. Download a detailed brochure of the workshop by clicking HERE.

Know The Difference: Smarter Definitions of Creativity & Innovation

Many people misunderstand, misuse, and make mistakes when trying to define creativity and innovation. A Google search revealed 69,800,000 links for creativity, 140,000,000 links for innovation, and thousands of different definitions!

How do people define creativity and innovation? Research revealed thousands of complex and inconsistent definitions. Many gurus, experts and authors do not agree on what the words actually mean. Some people view creativity and innovation as the same thing. Many definitions are lengthy, verbose, and complex and require a consultant for translation and application.

How does SolutionPeople define creativity and innovation? What may be the best and clearest definitions of those frequently-used and misunderstood words? While speaking at an conference in Washington DC, Gerald Haman shared the following easy-to-understand definitions:

"CREATIVITY
is developing
new, interesting, or different
IDEAS"

"INNOVATION
is the process of transforming creative ideas
into valuable or profitable
SOLUTIONS"
Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

Creative Ideas Provide Energy for Innovative Solutions
It appears that many people are more comfortable talking about innovation than creativity. Their discomfort talking about creativity may be rooted in the perception that that creativity is just fun and games. However, creativity is necessary for innovation to occur. Creative thinking yields the ideas that fill the pipeline of innovation. Innovation cannot happen without the energy generated by creativity. Haman's definition also has makes a subtle, yet important distinction between IDEAS and SOLUTIONS. Creativity produces the ideas and once they yield value or profit, they become solutions. Below is Haman's other "creative" definition to help people define the relationship between creativity and innovation.

"Innovation is how people make money or value from creativity"
Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

The 500% Solution: 7-Day KnowBrainer® Challenge

It weighs a mere 5 ounces and fits easily into a shirt pocket, but despite its diminutive size, Solution People’s KnowBrainer® Tool packs an incredible jolt of innovative prowess. Listen to Starbuck’s John More: “The beauty of the KnowBrainer tool is at every innovation stage, the tool asks you focused questions designed to better create, shape, evaluate, and activate the idea(s) for implementation. KnowBrainer is more than an innovation tool, It’s a catalyst to zoom ideas into action.”

In studies at two major universities, the KnowBrainer tool increased creativity by a an incredible 500%. But one of the most powerful innovations of KnowBrainer is that it wasn’t designed to stay on the shelf or stay in the desk. It was created to be as accessible as a wireless phone.

Mark Twain once wrote “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” The key to becoming consistently innovative is literally to turn the KnowBrainer into a no-brainer. That’s why I developed the 7-day KnowBrainer® Challenge for my clients.

After they have completed KnowBrainer Training, I wait two weeks and then ask them about their experience with the tool. They are usually very enthusiastic but are surprised when I ask “how often” they use it. I tell them I use it everyday. That’s when I give them the KnowBrainer Challenge.

Carry the KnowBrainer with you in your pocket or purse for one full week including weekends. Make a commitment to use it at least twice a day during that period. The problems, challenges or goals can be business and personal. After the first three days, make another commitment. You must use all four areas (Investigate, Create, Evaluate, and Activate) for the next four days.

What was a novelty becomes habit. The habit of using KnowBrainer’s stimulate-to-innovate process then becomes imprinted. The benefit? In just one week, you’ve become your own innovation consultant. You are using the same tool that has helped Apple, Google, American Express and Motorola.

Are you ready for the 500% Solution? For detailed information on the KnowBrainer Innovation Tool, Click HERE. Order KnowBrainer tools at the SolutionStore.

Marty Baker - President of Inotivity
Email Marty

Favorite Thinkubator Experiences: Karaoke-ate, Oxygenate, & DISCOvate to Innovate

"If you want to think outside of the box, you should not put brains in a box," states SolutionPeople's Gerald Haman, who first created their Chicago innovation center in 1992. Since then, over 10,000 people have experienced the "unbox-like" Thinkubator in Chicago's west loop. Guests are encouraged to share feedback and rate their favorite resources.

Here are 8 of people's most memorable Thinkubator experiences:
1. Oxygenate-to-Invigorate: Relaxing while breathing pure oxygen at the Oxygen Bar
2. Karaoke-ate-to-Collaborate: Singing from a collection of thousands of Karaoke tunes
3. DISCOvate-to-Celebrate: Celebrating results while dancing with real the Disco lights turned on
4. Blue Sky Brainstorming while inspired by the Thinkubator's skyline views and rooftop decks
5. Exploring the Albert Einstein and John Travolta-themed areas
6. Sitting on the thought-provoking furniture and art from world-famous designers
7. Playing with the creative brain games and gadgets
8. Tasting the fine cuisine from the award-winning restaurants within walking distance of the Thinkubator
Use these links to take a virtual Thinkubator
Tour and review partial list of Thinkubator Resources.
If you want to learn how to design your own innovation center or creative space, enroll in a Decorate-to-Innovate webinar or schedule a team planning facilitation at the Thinkubator.

New "Politicator" Brainstorming Technique: Use Obama and McCain's Words to Innovate (Download Free Worksheet)

Interesting innovation opportunities can be inspired by paying attention to the language used by American presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. I've created a new brainstorming technique called The Innovative Politicator™ for people who want to develop innovative ideas that are politically correct. Now you can now generate ideas that appeal to Republicans, Democrats and Independents by using the whole brain – not just the right of left sides!

Technique Background
Content for The Innovative Politicator™ was identified by applying rhetorical analysis methods I learned in Graduate School at the University of Minnesota where I earned a Masters degree in Communications. I took pages of notes while listening to weeks of speeches by McCain, Obama, and Vice Presidential nominees Joe Biden and Sara Palin. Over a 2-week period, that included national conventions of both parties, I kept track of the words used by each candidate and made note of which words generated high levels of applause and emotional engagement. I was fascinated by the similarities and differences between the rhetoric of both parties. There are over 900,000 thousand words in the English language and I identified 37 words (called Wordators in the worksheet) to stimulate ideas.

37 Political Brainstorming Words
RepublicansDemocratsBothParties
1. America
2. Better
3. Care
4. Change
5. Character
6. Children
7. Country
8. Democrats
9. Education
10. Energy
11. Families
12. Fight
13. Future
14. Going
15. Government
16. Health care
17. Hope
18. Independents
19. Jobs
20. Leader
21. Life
22. Love
23. Mothers
24. Nation
25. Party
26. People
27. President
28. Promise
29. Reform
30. Republicans
31. Stand
32. Taxes
33. Trust
34. Work
35. World
36. Years
37. Young

Download Your Free Worksheet
Individuals and teams can use this self instructional worksheet for a wide variety of goals, challenges, problems and questions.

Download your FREE PDF of The Innovative Politicator™ Worksheet by Clicking HERE. The worksheet is simple and self instructional. Consider it a gift that you can share with innovators regardless of their political views.

Politicate-to-Innovate,
Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

Brand-ate to Innovate: The Pepsi/Coke Challenge

The Pepsi Challenge was a marketing tour de force. It proved that in a blind taste test, most consumers prefer Pepsi. So why hasn’t that analytical proof pushed the needle in Pepsi’s favor? Read Montague, Director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab at Baylor College of Medicine, has shown the true power of branding on the brain.

Montague decided to repeat the Pepsi Challenge, but added a twist of technology. Using a non-invasive technique called Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) he was able to reveal which parts of the brain are active in real time.

When Montague and his team gave a taste of an unnamed soda to his volunteers he found that more people preferred Pepsi. On the scan, images of the ventral putamen, one of the brain’s key reward centers, had a response that was five times stronger than for people who preferred Coke.

The surprise came when Read repeated the experiment. This time, telling volunteers which brand they were tasting. Nearly all the subjects then said they preferred the Coke. Moreover, different parts of the brain fired as well, especially the medial prefrontal cortex, an area associated with thinking and judging. The subject’s brains were proving that their experience of the Coke brand influenced their preferences.

The work of Montague and other studies proves that branding goes beyond images and memory recall. The medial prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain known to be involved in our sense of self. It fires in response to a stimulus -- an image, name or concept -- that resonates with who we are. Something clicks, and we are more likely to buy.

The science of neuro-marketing is now in its infancy. But what it has proved is that branding isn’t the latest marketing ploy, but a glimpse into how our brains are affected by smart messaging and marketing.

Marty Baker - President of Inotivity
Email Marty

46 Questions to Help Innovators Know What Customers Want

Every innovator should read Anthony Ulwick's book, What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services, because he makes it very easy to questionate-to-innovate. SolutionPeople purchased 50 copies of the book and made it required reading before an innovation facilitation for a consumer products company. The facilitation agenda was simple; we used innovative techniques and tools to answer the 46 questions addressed in the book! The facilitation was a huge success as we produced an Idea Bank with thousands of ideas and over 100 useful solutions.

Question Bank
(created from the Table of Contents in Ulwick's Book)

Formulating Innovation Strategy
1. Who Is the Target of Value Creation and How Should It Be Achieved?
2. What Types of Innovation Are Possible?
3. What Growth Options Should Be Considered?
4. Where in the Value Chain Should We Focus to Maximize Value Creation?
5. How Do We Handle Multiple Constituents with Potentially Conflicting Outcomes?

Capture Customer Inputs
6. Why Should Companies Gather Customer Requirements?
7. What Three Issues Plague the Requirements-Gathering Process?
8. What Types of Data Do Companies Commonly Collect from Customers?
9. What Customer Inputs Are Needed to Master the Innovation Process?
10. What Methods Should Companies Use to Obtain the Necessary Information?
11. How Do You Know Which of the Three Types of Inputs You Should Capture?

Identifying Opportunities
12. What Is an Opportunity?
13. What Three Common Mistakes Are Made in Prioritizing Opportunities?
14. How Should Companies Prioritize Opportunities?
15. How Do You Identify Underserved and Overserved Markets?
16. How Dos Value Migrate Over Time?
17. What Implications Does the Outcome-Driven Paradigm Have for Competitive Analysis?

Segmenting the Market
18. What Is the Purpose of Segmentation?
19. How Has the Practice of Segmentation Evolved?
20. Why Are Traditional Segmentation Methods Ineffective for Purposes of Innovation?
21. What Is Different About Outcome-Based Segmentation?
22. How Is Outcome-Based Segmentation Performed?
23. How Does Outcome-Based Segmentation Address Development and Marketing Challenges?
24. How Is Job-Based Segmentation Different, and When Should it Be Used?

Targeting Opportunities for Growth
25. What Is Different About Targeting for Innovation?
26. What Types of Broad-Market Opportunities Are Likely to Be Attractive?
27. What Segment-Specific Targeting Strategies Are Effective?
28. How Does a Targeting Strategy Result in a Unique and Valued Competitive Position?
29. Why Do Companies Fail to Target Key Opportunities?

Positioning Current Products
30. Why Does Messaging Often Fail to Tout a Product's True Value?
31. What Are the Prerequisites for an Effective Messaging Strategy?
32. What Messaging Will Be Most Effective?
33. Should a Company Message Along an Emotional or Functional Dimension?
34. How Does the Sales Force Have Immediate Impact on Revenue Generation?
35. What Is the Advantage of an Outcome-Based brand?

Prioritizing Projects in the Development Pipeline
36. What Issues Do Companies Face When Prioritizing Projects?
37. What Method Is Used to Identify the Winners and the Losers?
38. Which Efforts Should Get Top Priority?
39. What Other Factors Affect Project Prioritization?

Devising Breakthrough Concepts
40. Why Does Traditional Brainstorming Often Fail to Produce Breakthrough Ideas?
41. How Are Breakthrough Concepts Successfully Generated?
42. What Are the Mechanics Behind Focused Brainstorming?
43. Why Do Traditional Concept-Evaluation Methods Fail?
44. How Is the Customer Scorecard Used to Evaluate Product and Service Concepts?
45. How Are These Methods Applied in Practice?
46. What Is the Role of R&D in the Innovation Process?

Order Anthony Ulwick's book, What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services via Amazon.com