Creative Notes

Creative Notes

( 2:11 PM ) Steve
In the Dallas Morning News business section, several IT experts talked about the importance of system admin jobs, that companies don’t like to outsource admin jobs. I’ve worked at places like this, where they think hardware drives software development. But, really, could they be any more confused? Not even if they were in the land of Oz.

The customer is what’s important, and software is what provides value to your customers. Here’s two commands for the people pretending to manage IT departments:

1. Find the yellow brick road and start following it. At the end of the road there's a man. Ask him for a brain.
2. Then, take a class in marketing.
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( 2:11 PM ) Steve
It has been said that only 1 out of 10 software developers are able to make a difference when it comes to software design. I call this the “Design Mind”--some people just know how to build things. Instead of tying software into knots, they create flexible architectures.

In many instances, developers are too focused on technology, if they studied other disciplines they would learn concepts that improve their designs.

I ran across one of these concepts while reading the book “Creating Customer Evangalist.” The book describes a concept called bite-sized chunks--bite-sized chunks are small, easily consumed servings from your product portfolio.

Case stories in the book provide a conceptual framework that allows developers to see the whole picture, What’s more, bite-sized chunks compliment object-oriented development. You see, creativity occurs when we are able to form associations between different disciplines.

When you apply this concept in software development, it forces developers to focus on flexibility and your customers. This creates the type of software we learned about in computer science classes--components that can be used independently or in any combination.

Who would have thought that marketing could drive sound design concepts into software development.

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( 10:44 AM ) Steve
Is Your Boss a Cookie Thief?

It’s your nightmare and their dream job. Jobs taken by managers and executives who don’t have a clue about what they are managing. As you probably know, you can’t manage what you don’t understand, you can’t understand what you haven’t done.

The following poem shows what a cookie thief is:

http://www.storybin.com/sponsor/sponsor109.shtml

You know, the sad thing is most executives will never figure it out.
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( 1:01 PM ) Steve
This past Friday, I had lunch with a colleague at Cool River Cafe in Dallas. It was the same old story, just a different restaurant. A major telecom firm is shipping more software jobs to India. My friend confides that past offshore attempts by this company had failed, but the cost-savings looked so good they were moving forward anyway.

It’s almost impossible to influence wide-asleep managers, so let’s focus on a way to create new jobs in Dallas. Many people talk about creating new jobs, but few create a framework that will produce new opportunities. Let me show you how new jobs can be created in Dallas:

1. Just for fun we’ll pump up SMU’s computer science program. Hire several top computer science professors, bring them to SMU, give them a cause--to turn Dallas into one of the top software cities in America.
2. In the computer science program, add classes on creativity and classes from SMU’s world-class business school--focus on how business models work.
3. Add support and infrastructure from the local business community.

As you think about this approach, you suddenly realize that this just might work. It has for other regions--ever hear of the Silicon Valley.
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( 3:30 PM ) Steve
Imagination is more important than knowledge. (Albert Einstein)

If this statement is correct, then shouldn't we leverage our abilities by understanding how to use imagination on a daily basis.

That's why I believe the book 'Applied Imagination' can be very helpful in creating new products or services. I also noticed a great statement in the book: How Customers Think.

Metaphors also affects imagination...

Without imagination, we could never interpret out experiences...

...metaphor is the engine of imagination.

When I read these statements everything just seemed to click. Like a light bulb turning on in a dark room.

When we combine metaphor with a visual, we have a powerful way to manipulate ideas and be creative. Spend some time with your customers and find out what metaphors they hold in terms of your products; then use those metaphors to market your product. For example: Chevy Trucks -- Like a rock. #

( 3:20 PM ) Steve
I have found it helps the creative process if you understand how the mind works. Many experts say that your mind is a goal-oriented mechanism. This means that those things you focus on tend to expand. The computer field holds a couple examples of goal-oriented mechanisms. For example, a linear program may try to maximize a goal such as Max CD Yield. The variables are then manipulated until the highest yield is reached. See Excel's Solver for an example.

If you are reading this you've probably used Google -- another goal-oriented mechanism. When you say 'Show me web pages about creativity' it delivers this goal to you.

When I want to learn something new I often say to myself something like 'Show me how to be more creative.' When I tried this several months ago a series of events occurred that helped me learn about creativity.

A friend happened to invite me to a presentation by Jackie Huba - Ben McConnell and Jackie authored the book: Creating Customer Evangelists (www.customerevangelists.com). I recommend this book to anyone interested in marketing and creating loyal customers.

Within this book there's a chapter on a a company that created a tool called the KnowBrainer -- its a creativity tool that you can hold in the palm of your hand (www.solutionpeople.com).

This tool triggered a thought that lead me back to the book Applied Imagination. By using the stories and concepts in Applied Imagination along with the KnowBrainer I have significantly expanded my ability to be creative. #

( 12:08 PM ) Steve

In my efforts to learn about creativity and apply it on a daily basis, I've found the following book to be very helpful:

Applied Imagination
by Alex F. Osborn

The book is full of examples and ways to apply your imagination. He often presents an example or story that keeps the concept close to you. For example, when he talks about multiplication as a way to be more creative, he also shares the story of the first windshield wiper. The inventor originally conceived only one windshield wiper per car. Later he doubled the wipers -- two wipers became standard equipment on each windshield.

I find that these stories help me remember the concept of multiplication and apply it to problems that I'm currently working on. #

Thoughts and ideas on creativity and applied immagination.