dlyohn look at more stuff

the top 10 things I’m going to use from

Look at More Stuff

top 10 things I’m going to use from Look at More Stuff © 2011 Denise Lee Yohn, Inc.

In the book, Look at More Stuff: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change, Andy Stefanovichopens the toolbox he‟s developed from working on innovation for 20 years and lays out his secrets for inspiring creativity.

The book is chockfull of proven tools, methods, and approaches.

Here are the top 10 things I’m going to use to unleash creativity in my clients – and in myself.


#10. ask provocative questions“A well-placed provocative question can completely shift the

mood of an individual or team by inviting people to think aloud with you. Here are some of my favorite provocative questions:”

? What‟s next?

? What don‟t we know?

? What are we going to do?

? When did you last create

something?

? What‟s relevant?

? What questions should we be

asking?

? What‟s the most important thing?

? What would make you a little more

uncomfortable?

? What would be your first move as

CEO?

? What is the world telling you?

? How could you put yourself out of

business?

? What should we start, stop, and

continue?

? How much time have you thought

about your team today?

? How much time do you set aside for

yourself?

? When is the last time you really

looked outside your business, your

industry, your world?

? What‟s the Bigger Big?

? What could go wrong?

? What could go very right?

? Why should we care?


#9. have a museum mentality

“Isn‟t it amazing?

We give ourselves permission to find inspiration in a museum

because we expect it…But then we walk out the door and we

put on our blinders again. We leave the experience and the

wonder behind.

How can we have a museum mentality everywhere in our lives?

At home? At work? On a random street corner?”


#8. celebrate risk-taking“A senior leader at Ore-Ida…called his senior engineers together and issued a challenge: take risks, don‟t be afraid to fail, and deliver some innovative new products. He couldn‟t have been clearer. But as the weeks went by, the leader wasn‟t getting any results. His people were simply too risk averse.

So he went out to an Army-Navy surplus store and bought a cannon…which he placed on the front lawn…He gathered the same engineers together and made them a promise. If any one of them were to have a „perfect failure,‟ he would let him or her shoot the cannon. He defined perfect failure as identifying a good idea, researching it, testing it, and taking it as far as possible before coming to the realization that it should be canned.

Well, before too long, Ore-Ida was having perfect failure parties around the cannon.”


#7. practice confusion tolerance

“give your team permission to generate and explore several

new ideas before choosing a

solution”

“change the way you approach idea

generation…remove the filter

of „the perfect solution‟”


#6. deconstruct --reconstruct

define your objective

break it down into its fundamental parts in three areas:

physical, functional, emotional

reconstruct the components in four ways:

exaggerate, eliminate, substitute, simplify


#5. use alternate measures to gauge creativity & innovation

measuring mood:• do people decorate

their office space with

interesting, personal,

and even challenging

things?

• what actions will get

you a hand slap in

your business

environment that

wouldn‟t on a

playground?

• how many “happy

days” do you have in

any given year?

measuring mindset:• how much time each

week do you and your

team dedicate to

working on projects

that are outside of

core responsibilities,

but that you/they are

passionate about?

measuring

mechanisms:• how many ideas did

you create today?

• how many times a

year do you change

desks?

measuring

momentum:• do you make a

yearbook each year

to celebrate the

people, ideas, and

events of the year?

• what is your

organization‟s version

of the Olympic torch?

how far does it travel?

who carries it? how

does it stay lit?

measuring

measurements:• do you measure gross

organizational

happiness?

examples


#4. use blueprinting tobring ideas to life

state it: use a simple articulation that sets up the action you will take and outlines why you are doing it

paint it: describe the idea in enough detail that an average person could understand its basic components

preach it: explain a reason (or reasons) for believing in the idea

live it: outline the important details

do it: include some initial action steps that your team can begin executing

name it: use a concise and memorable name


#3. embrace (and enforce) an inspiration policy

an inspiration policy

clarifies why inspiration is

important to the

company, and how

people will be supported

and encouraged to

develop it in themselves

and their colleagues


#2. outline a path for passion progression

portfolio opportunities•help people tap

into their passions and give them something to brag about

growth opportunities•enable individuals to

develop skills and harness their talents in ways that aren’t necessarily tied to their job description

revenue opportunities•maintain

prescribed responsibilities – the activities that keep the lights on

use a framework

to help “find,

create, and

allocate

opportunities for

your team that

will inspire and

encourage them

to pursue their

passions”


#1. become the CMO(Chief Mood Officer)

“part of your job description issetting the mood in your organization.

good mood leads to good environment.

good environment leads to a good workplace.

and a good workplace is where people want to stay.”


get the book: Look at More Stuff

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