Creativity Central [Marty Baker]

The mantra is preserve the best, reinvent the rest.

But why?

Because of three things.  1) The record/video store is a dinosaur.  2)  Gas is fueling change.  3)  Social networks are growing and going mainstream.

The word change is becoming a bankrupt word because it's used so frequently it has lost it's impact.  The stories above have more impact because it's an experience we can understand.  This morning -- a TV report on how the cost of gas is changing how music stars plan their concerts.  15 big rigs. Or maybe just 6.  Or do we just stream live into an experiential theater?

CreativityCentral Blueprint for Reinvigorating Your Company:

• If you have a strategy for growth, don't leave it on the page. An overlooked element of the strategy process is making it visual. Don't just think strategy, design it. Energize it.  Make it an experience. Most of all -- make it human.  
• Argue forcefully against your own assumptions.  Think and prepare an anti-strategy. It will make the eventual strategy stronger.
• Begin with a brain trust and build that brain with 9 archetypes (Yamashita) or 10 (Kelly Ideo). (See slideshow below -- slides 46-54).  You may have the vision, but enhance and challenge that vision with diverse thinkers.
• Get clear on the why and how you're going to change the status quo. 
• Create a collaboration roadmap.  Read RADICAL COLLABORATION by James Tamm and Ronald Luyet. Read the blog below this one on how Pixar created a culture of collaboration.   
• Evaluate by prioritizing your criteria for evaluation.   If getting your face and firm on the cover of Fast Company is your #1 goal, that's your #1 evaluator. Don't make all evaluation criteria equal in leverage.  
• Look beyond the job titles of your staff.  What drives them beyond the job description?  That's the energy you need to tap into.  
• Have an overactive imagination.   When we work at Solution People in Chicago - the final phase is activating ideas. Make it happen.  Find people who can make it happen.  Steve Jobs didn't end with "wouldn't it be great if we created a digital music service and a player together?"  He began by saying, "make it happen."