A request for help:

Every year, Innovation Excellence, a premier portal for innovation content, has a popularity contest style “Top 40″ Innovation Bloggers of the year listing. I admit, I wish to be on the list. I wasn’t last year and I realized, a bit too late, that it has something to do with driving people to their portal, and a bit less to do with objective statistics. In many statistical categories, I’m already in the top 40. In terms of quality and consistency of content, I’d say, with a great deal of bias, I’m easily Top 10. There is a sort of raw composite ranking which is dynamic, if you look to the right of this post you’ll see where I stand. This ranking is a bit mis-leading because it includes portals that are not individual blogs, like Innovation Excellence and Information Week, and blogs that are not strictly speaking innovation blogs (such as the Futures blogs). If you throw out the ones that really don’t belong in the list, I’m probably top 25.

Is there another Innovation blogger with the voice of an active practitioner (at KILN, an innovation services firm that is innovation how to deliver innovation!) and not just a theorist? There are a few I admit, but just a few. I’m a fan of Paul Hobcraft’s work and also his colleague Jeffrey Phillips. I keep an eye on what Stephen Shapiro writes and also the culture maven, Grant McCracken. There are several other peers I keep an eye on (Jorge Barba, Mike Brown.) I think it’s only fair that I’m acknowledged by my industry, but I need your help to get it.

If you are a frequent reader, could I ask you please to click here and nominate me? The voting comes later between the 18th and December 31st, please stay tuned — I’ll need help there too.

Here’s why I think you might, if you would be so kind, support my Top 40 Innovation blogger campaign. In 2012 on my blog –

• I’ve written 88 posts to date, all related to innovation and the related fields of creativity, trends, self-expression and leadership. I’ll let you judge quality, but in terms of quantity, I’m easily Top 10. This is all original content, unlike many blogs which pump up volume with click through links and guest bloggers.
• My post on creative style was picked up by Smartbrief on Leadership, and was republished by Innovation Excellence (If Steve Jobs Worked for You, You’d Probably Fire Him). This is probably my best post of the year or at least the one that attracted the most attention. It’s an eye opener and it was nearly virally re-tweeted.
• My post on innovation training was also picked up by Smartbrief and was widely read and distributed (Training is Innovation Accelerant) — oddly, while it’s a somewhat obvious insight it’s one that has been routinely overlooked.
• I’m the only Innovation blogger who does his own cartoons — I’ve done 12 this year. Here’s my favorite, How to Avoid Innovation Infarction. Nearly all my graphics are original.
• I’ve done many blogs on specific tools, techniques and innovation frameworks. One of my best is about the concept of conceptual blends or “mash-ups” — Do The Mash, but am also fond of this post about the concept of idea scaffolding — Scaffolding Your Way to Better Ideas. If I don’t say so myself, these are cutting edge techniques, this is high value, free content.
• This year saw me do two blasts of related posts, call them series blogs. One had to do with small business innovation — Guerilla Innovation, and another had to do with a Gonzeaux Innovation Roadtrip — with views of innovation through middle America. Guerilla Innovation is essentially a free online blogged book. That collection of posts is highly useful for a small business innovator or inside a big corporation innovator. Who else has done anything like this in 2012!
• I’ve done a half a dozen book or movie reviews this year with the innovation lens — my fave is – Moneyball is Innovationball
• Nearly all of my posts are of that readable length of between 500 and 700 words — I make an effort to make a point and not pontificate. Shouldn’t this be rewarded?
• My readership varies widely from post to post, but many posts have had over 5,000 hits, and this is without a lot (any) of Google Gerrymandering (search engine optimization)

Alright, I’ll stop with the specifics and the abject begging — but if you go to my blog, browse around in this year’s posts, you’ll find information and insight on a wide variety of innovation topics. So, peeps, give a poor innovation blogger boy a hand willya? 

I’ve just found a similar treasure — but having to do with cross-cultural communications.  It’s official title is When Culture Matters, the 55 minute guide to better cross-cultural communication, by Indy Neogy.* True to its title, it’s a brisk one-hour read. Like The Elements of Style, Neogy’s new book is a treasure of clarity, brevity, and useful tools to bridge the cultural communication divide. This should be required reading for any Chief Marketing Officer. This pithy text gives you the big picture and provides precision tools for cultural navigation. Indy might have called this book “The Elements of Effective Cross-Cultural Communication.” Or maybe “Pre-cursor to Innovation.”

This esoteric sounding skill set is not a “nice to have.” Innovation means delivering and selling useful new ideas to the market. This simply can’t be done if you can’t communicate — to the locals — in a way they understand and resonate with. It starts with awareness, but it doesn’t end there.

If your organization does business across international borders, or if your brand is marketed around the world, you must cope with culture. Not coping, being blissfully unaware, is essentially trying to paint a landscape with a blindfold on. The democratization of the marketplace enabled by the Internet means anybody — in Three Oaks, Michigan or Hazelmere, UK can sell to the world. That’s good news — but the bad news is selling requires more than just having a great product. It means positioning a brand in ways that local people, say in Bangladesh, can relate to, or at the very least, not be offended by. Of course this is not just companies and brands. Executives, any individuals for that matter, need these skills to deal with people of other cultures. 

This cross-cultural communication stuff is not easy. Multi-nationals have to cope with these issues just within their own business, let alone their customers. Innovation is hard enough when everybody is on the same page. Cross cultural communication is impacted by the very soul of who people are and what they believe. So, if you’re trying to innovate and you’re clashing with never-spoken cultural values, you’re not going to get anywhere. Your teams will be blocked and might not even know why. Once a product is complete, you’ve got the brand communication challenge. Brand messaging is not as simple as “one truth for all”. How a statement is perceived is all about cultural context. The “peace and love” message might be good vibes in Canada, but blasphemy in the Philippines.

The consequences for a lack of cultural awareness are many and profound. Cross-cultural competence to quote the book, “means gaining a bone deep understanding that there is more than one way to perceive, interpret and act in the world.” It’s not as simple as just not showing the feet of your soles in Thailand.

So, if you’ve been barking your shins in some foreign market, or not understanding why your product is doing so well in some places and so poorly in others. Maybe that division in India is under performing…you get the picture.. check out When Culture Matters.

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* Indy Neogy is my business parter at KILN. He’s a fascinating guy and his work around the globe makes him uniquely qualified to write this book.

Last year’s event (for a summary look at this post) exploded with dynamic speakers, cultural, and artist happenings. Even the governor, Mary Fallin, was there to support the notion that creativity and innovation is how Oklahoma moves forward. This year features Sir Ken Robinson and Peter Diamandis of X Prize fame — and that’s just the start. It’s all taking place November 13th in Oklahoma City. By all means, if you want a great taster, or even a major feast of creative stimulation, this is the conference for you — register now before they fill up. Follow this hastage on Twitter for the on-going skinny: (#SoCF12).

Here’s why you should register, in a word, value.

As I’ve noted in this space before, it’s interesting how ‘creativity’ conferences tend to be organized. In my view, nearly all of them are a bit exclusive. That is, they’re expensive — for registration fees, travel, and time off work. That means, generally, only people with high level jobs, or who work for themselves, AND have a pretty healthy bank account can go. This is unfortunate because it leaves people out who can really use creativity and innovation tools, like middle level managers, or educators. If you are an educator, say a high school teacher, or a leader in the the non-profit sector, you probably won’t be attending a creativity conference in spite of high interest and real need. The other organizational aspect of these conferences is that creativity and innovation are not always equally balanced; they tend to be more of the former and none of the latter. This is not so with State of Creativity. There is due attention paid to providing a fascinating balance of strategies for creative cultural nurturance AND direct innovative business results. This is a conference that works for everybody interested in creativity and innovation.

The State of Creativity Forum has a model that accelerates creativity, innovation, and economic growth. The model works like this:

• a reasonable to low registration fee ($150!)
• a one day event that allows locals and regional people to attend without a hotel expense
• solid corporate and government sponsorship to support the effort
• a balance of creative culture and innovation process content

This model works — the number of participants these past years was 1000+. This is remarkable — most creativity conferences are 350 or less. Even commerical innovation conferences don’t reach this level of participation. I’d call that success and the reason is this is an incredible value. I’ve been told that people are coming from Europe and all over the states in addition to heavy Oklahoma resident registration. But there’s more…diversity.

The participants includes educators, artists, inventors, students and entrepreneurs — in addition to business people, consultants, corporate innovators, investors, and venture capitalists you might expect to see. So, the model for the conference has created a diversity that is admirable — and valuable. Its inclusiveness inspires the kind of networking and informational exchange that contains a bit of magic. The kind of magic where an inventor meets a marketing geek and they have lunch with an angel investor who introduces them to a university professor, who just so happens to have a technology that helps the inventor connect some dots…you get the picture. Things get created, even start-ups, and new business ideas move forward faster — economic momentum accelerates. That’s why this conference is such a good idea. It helps participants to create things in the real world, and in Oklahoma especially.

Imagine a prairie fire racing across the countryside — that’s the speed of innovation Oklahoma is accelerating with this conference.

Speaking of creating things, there are two new additions to the conference this year. One is a series of pre-conference courses called the cSchool Bootcamp (four 90 minute courses for $295). These are taught by local masters in various aspects of creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation. A special luncheon also includes a guest speaker I know will be a big hit, Cyndi Burnett (who’s with the prestigious International Center for the Study of Creativity at SUNY Buffalo). The second new addition is my own post-conference workshop, Innovation Roadmap ($250) which is a roll up  your sleeves work session for innovation planning, suitable for entrepreneurs or corporate innovators. Come to my small group session if you want to create something real time (to register contact: leanne@stateofcreativity.com).

I hope to see you at the conference!

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* Full disclosure: I’ve had a minor role in shaping this years event.

Speaking in Oklahoma at their Creativity Forum last fall I spontaneously asked a group of about 200 if they had an “innovation plan.” The audience was nearly all small business people. Not a single person raised their hand. I followed up with “okay, I’m not even talking a formal plan, but anything written down at all guiding your efforts?” A few hands went up, like, three. And yet they must be innovating something or they wouldn’t be in business; for them, it’s organic, and intuitive. There is good news to this and bad. Good, that they are doing innovation, bad, that they may not be able to sustain it, or up their game, without a bit more knowledge.

It’s ironic really because small business is a huge source, maybe even the primary source, of innovation. Small business people don’t have a lot of time to read academic tomes and scientific studies of innovation process. More classic business books about innovation tend to be pretty dry, and geared towards Fortune 5000 innovation. Small business people pretty much have to get up early and get on with it. For them, it’s all about action — because that’s what it takes to survive. Small business people are like water running through the market place, looking for places to go, flowing around, behind, above, below, and through all obstacles, innovating all the way. Unfortunately, as hard as small businesses try to survive and thrive, a huge percentage fail, on average about half. The top reason: Lack of Experience.

Now, part of lack of experience isn’t just not knowing the business area or market. Everybody is flying blind when opening up new markets. If it were obvious where to start a new company, everybody would be doing it. Lack of experience then, is more about not changing fast enough — ignoring the feedback the market is giving you. The best entrepreneurs I’ve worked with aren’t brilliant as much as flexible. They adjust to what’s happening and somehow find a way to make it work. Now, this talent isn’t experience in the normal way we think of it is it? It’s not about having done it before, it’s more about seat-of-the-pant analysis, intuitive adjustment, and continuous creative problem solving. These are essential “experience” skills for small business survival.  Almost nobody teaches it, and this is all about Innovation isn’t it? Finding something that is just new and different enough to draw in buyers.

It has to be new and different to attract customers — and that means innovation.

What’s needed in my view is a survival guide for small business people. It would be all about how to innovate, how to survive, how to grow. Small people need a different kind of guidance than the Mis-Fortune 5000. They need more basic innovation advice, hacks if you will, or “guerrilla” strategies and tactics. It would need to be about half about entrepreneurship, because they are tackling two big challenges at once: 1.) how to start and run a small business, and 2.) how to make something people will buy.

Consider this the introduction to Guerilla Strategies for Innovation. For the first chapter, go here:

http://www.greggfraley.com/blog/2012/07/16/even-a-pizza-shop-has-a-point-of-difference/

Nashville, Tennessee — Saturday May 12, Gonzeaux #6

Nashville is throwing the recession out of town. The building boom cut short by the downturn seems to be back in full swing here. A huge new convention centre is going up, downtown residences, and an extension to the already way cool Country Music Hall of Fame is nearly done. Good stuff, but for me, beside the point — not Gonzeaux Innovation material.

The innovation story here has more do do with persistence of effort and entrepreneur’s who simply don’t stop until they make something happen — persistence personifies Nashville innovation — two cases in point:

1. Snappy Auctions: Debbie Gordon had a fairly brilliant idea a few years back to help people sell their stuff on E-bay. She made a success of a single shop where people drop off their stuff, using her enormous personal energy and skill. The chain of franchise stores that came later did not do so well –the market shifted; e-Bay made it easer to do single items, more people had internet connections, and franchise owners found it challenging to bring in enough transactions. So, Debbie did what good entrepreneurs do, she tried something else. She’s currently heading up a firm, S3 Consulting, that takes used medical equipment and re-sells it for universities — a great niche business. Persistence matters.

2. Mercury Intermedia: When you think of Nashville, the first thought is country music right? If you had to predict where the dominant provider of mobile apps for big players like the New York Times, TED, Fox News, CBS, and Showtime (partial list) you’d guess the silicon valley, I know I would. No, Mercury, based in Nashville, quietly dominates this high tech niche. The leader of Mercury is a visionary, Bill Tallent, and he’s had an extraordinary career moving from Genesco to Telco Research, and then a series of small businesses. How Mercury got into mobile apps is a story of simply responding to customer needs; Tallent started by doing pop-up ads. Now they own the space. It’s another entrepreneurial persistence story.

Both of these stories also illustrate it doesn’t matter where you are — you can innovate, you can disrupt. The history of innovation is filled with farm boys and people outside the big cities. If you get involved in markets, learn what’s happening, and anticipate customer needs — innovative magic can happen. When Debbie Gordon saw a warehouse of used medical equipment, she didn’t see a waste of space, or a big headache (as her customers did) she saw dollar signs. When most guys would have retired, Bill Tallent started another business.

Off to Alabama. If only I could do the rest of this road trip with Debbie and Bill…would that be some rolling Gozeaux innovation ideation or what?

I’m proud to wear it. The answer to my question of whether a wristband can create USA jobs is an emphatic Yes. There are already innovation success stories. I’m a wristband-come-lately — this has been going on since last November.

Hats off to Starbucks for linking with the Opportunity Finance Network (see: createjobsforUSA.org) to raise awareness for job creation — and actually help fund entrepreneurs. Starbucks donated 5 Mil to kick start the effort. The idea behind the wristband is awareness AND, it’s also about funding underserved businesses (aren’t banks supposed to do this?). I see this as a very creative way to create jobs. It’s a donation you’re making, but I like the idea that it funds growth and jobs directly.

Small businesses create jobs, it’s a fact. And, it’s also a fact that many small businesses with good ideas, solid business models, and hard working people can’t get the money they need to grow. Once upon a time, banks did this work, but in many places banks have become disconnected from the communities they purport to serve. This effort by Opportunity Finance Network seeks to create a national network of more community friendly lenders to fill the gap, and, grow USA jobs.

Google Offers, Banana Republic, Take Part, Blast Radius, and NASDAQ OMS are also supporting the effort.

So, head over to your local Starbucks USA readers, and buy an overpriced coffee, and, a wristband. The unemployed American you’re helping thanks you in advance.

As I was thinking about what to post today related to innovation and reading Innovation Tools at the same time, I got one of those lovely “aha” moments (or maybe it was just an obvious but good idea hitting me over the head with a sledge hammer).

Everyone should know about Innovation Tools. It’s probably the largest ezine/portal related to business innovation. Just as important, it’s a site you can trust has no hidden agenda.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, and you are at all in the creativity and innovation space, either as a supplier or on the client side, I urge you go sign up. It’s a helpful resource that is constantly updated. Like the name implies, it’s heavy on tools, but you’ll find information on everything from Mind Maping to Triz to recent book reviews, articles, and, in today’s edition, 2 new iPhone apps to help generate ideas.

The editor and visionary behind it is Chuck Frey. Chuck is an old pro in the innovation industry (PR as well) and he impresses me with his even-handedness, breadth of knowledge, and editing skill. Unlike other e-zine/portal sites that pull content from various people in the industry and then use it to promote the editors own agenda (and books, services, etc.) Chuck mostly stays in the background. Which is a smart, and fair, choice — it makes Innovation Tools a neutral industry resource. He’s modest, but he’s a guru in his own right, having authored several books related to Mind Mapping. His MindMapping SoftwareBlog is another great innovation resource.

I don’t know him well but anybody who provides a service to the industry like Innovation Tools, and is from Milwaukee, is alright with me. Kudos to Chuck for his service to all.

Be looking for, and buy, Chuck’s new book, Up Your Impact, 52 Innovative Strategies to Add Value to  Your Work – due out officially May 1 (but available now). It’s a brilliant idea for a book. It’s about helping people deliver more value in what they do, no matter what the economy is doing.

It’s a story of a lack of innovative courage. A hesitancy to ask themselves big, bold, brave, questions (see KILN for how).

Britanica is going the way of Kodak. They are being bypassed by a world that is simply doing things differently. A world that is no longer using film to make memories, and no longer relying on a shelf of books for information.

Britanica and Kodak saw this iceberg coming for years. This isn’t exactly Silicon Valley paced change is it? The Titanic sunk because it couldn’t turn fast enough but Britanica and Kodak had plenty of time. Britanica still survives for the moment, but they are in complete denial, their Global President Jorge Cauz said just yesterday that they are unaffected by Wikipedia.

Do some executives live in a secret walled garden? I suspect Mr. Cauz knows better, he may have been misquoted.

In the last ten years I’ve actually had brushes with both of these organizations. With Kodak I was advising a qualitative research supplier who was consistently suggesting (“iceberg ahead!”) to Kodak that consumers were going towards digital. I did some research for a competitor of Britanica in the USA and consumers were already talking about not needing hard copy books, and this was over 8 years ago.

So, we ask, why in the name of all that is rational didn’t Kodak or Britanica adjust their strategy? And how did FujiFilm survive?

It isn’t because Kodak or Britanica don’t have resources or technology. Both companies could have reinvented their products, in fact, both companies made efforts in that direction. Britanica has an online service, now (never used it until this morning), and Kodak has digital cameras. Heck, Kodak invented digital cameras!

I think Kodak and Britanica have failed because they lacked the courage to take the risk of radical reinvention. Kodak might have kept in mind that they were not in the film business, they were in the memories business. Britanica was not in the book business, they were in the education business. Plenty of opportunities for both companies in memories and education right? Their efforts to change were, and are, half-hearted. How does Britanica compete with Wikipedia’s soulful mission? They don’t at this point, they create other educational products. There is some indication they are doing this with their mobile apps — keep pushing!

How did FujiFilm stay profitable? Essentially, they had the courage to redefine themselves. They saw the iceberg and asked themselves a brave question: What else can we do with our technology? Answer: courage and cosmetics. See this excellent analysis in the Economist for more detail on why Fujifilm is thriving.

It’s about asking yourself big, bold, brave, not lazy questions isn’t it?  This takes courage. But if they had, if they’d asked themselves the bold, brave question years ago: “How might we create memories online?” Might they have become Facebook?

Kodak, really, should have done Facebook. What question should Britanica be asking?

Yes, Elvis, prescription drugs can kill you.

Yes, I’ve updated my website and blog. It’s been a surprisingly fun project due to having a great technology and brand innovation partner in the firm Reuben-Hunter. Not only does it look better, it will be easier to change — and I can do it myself! I’m confident it’s more engaging, and will achieve higher rankings, sell more books and speeches and lead to more business.

As an innovation expert (God love me) doing my own house cleaning and updating my brand brings me back to some basics. In other words I should listen to my own advice. Anyway, allow me to share two simple thoughts:

1.) If it ain’t broke, break it — my old website worked in the sense that I could point to a site address, and I could post my blogs. It was reasonably professional. So, it worked for many purposes, and, “business as usual” took over and I spent my time doing business and not keeping an eye on my own brand image. I was not compelled to update the look, feel, and content even when it was desperately needed. Sound familiar? Why is it we need emergencies to make needed changes? Like Elvis many of my peers and friends were loathe to tell me “your website sucks” and I deluded myself into thinking it was fine. Innovation is at least partially about facing dreadful facts. Yes, it means breaking things that on the face of it work fine. Yes, Elvis, prescriptions drugs can kill you…

2.) When you need innovation help, get the best — for you. There are always choices when it comes to a supplier or partner. The easiest, or cheapest, are rarely the best choice. Nor are the glitzy high priced types, who I find are often more about themselves than their customers. Search and dialogue until you find somebody who matches your working style, can help you think, has the skills, and will go the extra mile to make you successful — like Reuben-Hunter.

Would love to hear comments on the new site. I may have Elvis’s waist line, but I’m not Elvis, you can tell me.

Students getting pepper sprayed at UC Davis, California

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a creative and innovative endeavor. OWS has reinvented the concept of a protest. This post is a look at the creativity and innovation aspects of OWS, and not a political commentary.

Public protest did need to be reinvented. As a brand, protests had lost shelf space — media attention. Protests of the last, say 30 years, have been decidedly ho-hum and almost completely ineffective. Between permits, gates, fences, and area exclusions, they were useless as means of democratic self-expression. The media hasn’t seen protests as news for years, but now that’s all changed. OWS is a big story and it will only get bigger until something — the conditions, government, authorities, laws, change.

How did OWS get media attention and reclaim the protest as an agent-for-change brand? Here’s my list of how they’ve been creative and innovative:

1. They aren’t asking for permission. This is non-violent protest, and they’ve been careful about it, but it is clearly civil disobedience. They’ve been savvy about how far they’ve gone with rule breaking and in the process have taken back control of the protest brand.  Before OWS protests were toothless tigers, now, they have a tiger in their tank. Taking over public areas and making the whole thing continuous and viral — it’s out-of-the-box, break-the-rules thinking.

Ironically, this book was a best seller, branding protest is not a new thing

2. Franchising the Sit-In. The ‘occupy’ is a brand update to the good old fashioned sit-in, but OWS has gone Way Bigger and essentially franchised the idea. The boldness and success of the early events inspired the events that followed. In innovation we always try to think big don’t we? Look at the How To Do It page here. This web page might be the most effective protest literature since Jerry Rubin’s Steal This Book.

3. They’ve made strategic use of new technology, Social Media. Yes, we’re talking Twitter, Facebook, blogs of all sorts, and a new player, the anonymous no-login, Vibe. When the news media pays no attention, make your own media, that’s creative. They’ve used Social Media to market the OWS concept, and, to communicate to each other. 60′s radical’s could only have dreamed of such easy access to so many people. New tech has enabled OWS.

4. It’s counter-intuitive but the lack of a focused message or specific demands is actually working for them. It’s allowing OWS to shape their message over time and sculpt it to mirror an increasingly sympathetic public. A multi-dimensional and evolving message is a new kind of strategy for a brand, and in spite of it being “not good marketing” it seems to be working, so, it’s innovative. Will traditional brands try it?

5. The authorities have been tricked into making a classic mistake — over reacting. Instead of responding with simple protection and letting the energy fizzle away — they feed the fire and reinvigorate the story. By treating the OWS people as the enemy, the authorities are creating the story OWS wants, helping them make their point. Gandhi is smiling somewhere. The more they over-react the more OWS gains attention and public support. It’s well done, creative, PR.

6. They’ve leveraged legitimate gripes. Conditions for public protest are ripe. High unemployment, rising costs for tuition, and a sense that average people have been screwed by Wall Street are the feelings of a large percentage of the population. You can argue if the perception of inequality is true, or say they’re whingers, but we’re talking consumer feelings here aren’t we, not purely facts. Perception is reality. Brands listen to consumers, that’s creative.

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this, but please, no political rants. Comments about the branding, creativity, or innovation aspects of OWS are of interest, if you want to rant about politics there are plenty of other places to do that.

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PS: For boosting your own creativity, read — Jack’s Notebook, a business novel about creative problem solving, available on Amazon. If you’re a reviewer, a college professor, a teacher, or in corporate training, please get in touch with me about the book and creativity and innovation training programs.

PPS: If you liked this post or found it interesting, please comment, and/or subscribe to this blog, thank you)