Game-Changers, Innovation…and Marketing: Inspirations
Without starting with that intention, I’ve been immersing myself in “creativity juice” this morning. A whole bunch of the e-mails I’ve opened have, by random chance (if there is such a thing), forced me to think about how creativity happens, what it means, and whether “if you build it, they will come”—a/k/a, in the pre-“Field of Dreams” world as the better mousetrap aphorism—has relevance in today’s world.
Today, I’ll share three of these inspirations with you: the raw material. And I’ll write down what I think about this confluence, but set it to post on Tuesday—because I want your reactions before you see mine. Please comment below.
1. This quote from @ChrisBrogan:
When I think about all that a business can do to succeed (or all that an individual can do, for that matter), I start from the mindset of forgetting about the path that someone else has forged. Why? Because innovation rarely (never?) comes from following an established path. If I were going to design a hotel, I wouldn’t try learning what worked and didn’t work for the Four Seasons, I’d think through (and then interview others about) all the details that matter to me as a traveler, and then consider what I could do better.
While I won’t give away my reactions yet, I will tell you that my response cites Steve Jobs, energy visionary Amory Lovins, and some game-changing, category-inventing products.
Meanwhile, you have the floor. I’m eagerly awaiting your response.
A lifelong activist, profitability and marketing specialist Shel Horowitz’s mission is to fix crises like hunger, poverty, racism, war, and catastrophic climate change—by showing the business world how fixing them can make a profit. An author, international speaker, and TEDx Talker, his award-winning 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, lays out a blueprint for creating and MARKETING those profitable change-making products and services. He is happy to help you craft your messaging and develop profit strategies. Learn more (and download excerpts from the book) at http://goingbeyondsustainability.com
I love “TED walks,” Tony–thanks.
Creativity branches all kinds of ways. From a standard of a red rubber ball, one can get creative with a yellow rubber ball, a red rubber tube (or cube), or a red Velcro (R) ball … or of a different commercial brand name. I love TED Talks, and they use the seminar format to tweak our creative nerves to life. But that young boy had his fill in school of the seminar format, I imagine. He went out and DID something creative, MADE something out of his passion. And the Andy Hobsbawm talk moves us to use our creativity in the service of the environment … to walk the green talk. Perhaps it’s time for TED Talks to grow into adding TED Walks: volunteers who build solar panels on an inner city school, or other creative projects that move TED Talks past sound waves into mass. We can hope that folks will be so moved on their own, or we can try to build a critical mass towards that end. No: towards that beginning.