The QLog

Experience Totality Today

By Totality I mean the Total Eclipse of the Moon!

Do something different tonight: witness a full lunar eclipse (assuming that the skies are clear in your area this evening) The entire event will be visible from a large area including part of Africa, Europe, North America, and South America.

The lunar eclipse starts at 8:43 EST. Totality itself will begin at 10:01 EST and last for 50 minutes. The entire shows will end at 12:09 EST on February 21, 2008.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are 100% safe to watch. You can look directly at the 'disappearing' moon without any special filters.

Although the entire event will not be visible from the US West Coast, you still will be able to see the majority of the eclipse.

For more detailed information, see the below links:

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

Happy Winter Solstice (and Related Festivals)

I want to take a minute to wish you and your family a very joyous time during this season's remaining celebrations and feasts, including, but not limited to:

• Yule (Dec 22)
• Yalda (Dec 22)
• Festivus (Dec 23)
• Christmas (Dec 25)
• Boxing Day (Dec 26)
• Kwanzaa (Dec 26-Jan 1)
• Watch Night (Dec 31)
• New Year's Eve (Dec 31)
• Feast of Fools (Jan 1)
• Epiphany (Jan 6)
• Inbolic (Feb 1)
• Candlemas (Feb 2)
• Groundhog Day (Feb 2)
• And any other Holiday (secular or religious)

Make a Fun List

Life is busy and it is too easy to get overwhelmed with the many events, activities, and commitments everyone has. Many hard working individuals forget to take time to do the things they REALLY enjoy. So, create a Fun List. Include all the things you currently love to do as well as those items you have always wanted to try.

If you are like most people, when you are done, you'll realize that you are not doing the things you truly enjoy and that marginally fun activities, like TV, have been gobbling up your precious life.

Make a Fun List tonight.

Indexed

Check out Jessica Hagy's visual blog Indexed. She cleverly and graphically explores a different set of relationships each day on a 5x3 Index card. I spent about 30 minutes going through the archive. Enjoy.

Creativity Today

Thought I'd pass this very interesting email I received today about a 'new' book, called Creativity Today. This book is popular in Europe; yet. it is not generally available in the US. Luckily, 800-CEO-READ has a solution. I have not yet seen the physical book myself, but I am very inspired to read it soon.

Also, check out the companion website for the book too: www.creativitytoday.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Mueller
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 4:20 PM
Subject: Creativity Today

You might remember when we presented a book during the inBubbleWrap days called, The Idea Book - an interesting book from Sweden we were surprised wasn’t readily available here.  We made it available to you, and received a ton of compliments and thanks for bringing this title into the fold. 

Well, we’ve found another great book.

It’s called Creativity Today.  Published in the Netherlands (in English), the cover states that the book offers “tools for a creative attitude for business, education, industry, training, development, government, consultants, workers, thinkers, meetings, design, health…”  Indeed, it's true. In fact, Creativity Today has inspired thousands of European managers, teachers and students, and has become the standard by which other creative thinking books are measured. 

Paul Williams at Idea Sandbox (www.idea-sandbox.com) turned us on to it.  We're using it as a manual for how to approach any problem or situation creatively.  Here are some of the many points in the book that stand-out to us:

- By definition, new ideas don’t fit into existing schemes of thought.  This means that judgment very often occurs too fast when new ideas are launched.

- Visual languages are generally less respected than verbal language.  Yet, the ability to visualize may be the most important basic skill in the creative thinker’s toolbox: no creative solution, simple as it may be, can be thought of, designed and realized without using imagery.

- Ideas need to evolve from an abstract, conceptual level to a concrete, practical level, otherwise they will always remain what they are: ideas.

With each of these points (and many, many others), the authors provide case studies and easy-to-follow instructions, analyzing problems through “The Series of Phases,” applying “The COCD Box,” and a variety of exercises and tests.  This book is literally a textbook in creative thinking.  They take on creative challenges such as fixing traffic jams, product creation and development, customers waiting too long at a checkout counter, how to make money, and many more. As a bonus, this edition includes an expanded section called “Creation Today” that applies the ideas of the book to organizational development. 

You can’t get this book anywhere in the States, so we decided to remedy that.  800-CEO-READ will sell it until a U.S. publisher picks it up.  The cost is $39.95, but the first 100 people who type the code 8x2vf during checkout will get an additional $5 off.  Click here to check the book out: www.800ceoread.com/products/?ISBN=9789063691462

You can also visit the book’s website for more info: www.creativitytoday.net

Thanks for considering this offer.  We hope you can start practicing the lessons in this book soon and watch their effect on your business.

Jon Mueller
800-CEO-READ
219 N. Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53202
800-236-7323 x210
www.800ceoread.com

Fun?

Thought Question of The Week: If you are not having fun, what are you doing instead?

Happy New Year 2007!

Yes, the ball will drop in NYC; however, you should also give a little reflection to our favorite NYE song, Auld Lang Syne, probably the best remembered work of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796). It is traditional throughout the English-speaking world to sing this during the transition from one year to the next. The same melody is used by the French; however, they have a different parting song entitled Ce n’est qu’un au revoir meaning 'this is only goodbye, not farewell'.

Auld Lung Syne literally means ‘old long since’ but can also be translated as ‘long ago’ or ‘days gone by’. I have posted the lyrics of the common Americanized version below as I rarely hear more than a few people correctly articulate the words after jolly reveries, spirits of the season, and the clinking of those grand cups o’ kindness. Now you have no excuse tonight and can actually lead the chorus!

What old acquaintances have you perhaps forgotten? And what might you do about it?

Auld Lang Syne
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!

And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,

And for days of auld lang syne.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Happy Winter Solstice Holiday!

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. May it be blessed with the good cheer of friendship and the deep love of family!

Qlog will be back on December 26, 2006.

Thom's Disclaimer: Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, energy efficient, life embracing, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, nutritionally enhanced, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the spiritual or secular traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice any such spiritual or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, psychologically balanced, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures).

The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the creed, age, race, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, economic status, philosophical outlook, political affiliation, sexual orientation, genomic organization, choice of computer platform, or the primary musical preferences of the wishee(s).

Tyromancy

Perhaps this is a legacy of being raised in Wisconsin which was known as “America’s Dairyland” when I was growing up; however, here is my new favorite word: tyromancy. It means to divine the future by studying the patterns that form during the coagulation of cheese!

Every now and then, I see house with a sign outside advertising that an authentic palm reader or psychic resides within and is immediately available for consultation. Perhaps I could learn this ‘art’ and become the premier practiconer of tyromancy for the 21st century! I could setup a cool website and have groovy business cards that state:

Thom Quinn
Master Tyromancer

Of course, I’m just kidding. Nevertheless, the evolution of language is fascinating (at least, to me and professional linguists). Today, this word is a fossil; however, at an early time, there were enough individuals practicing this particular methodology to understand the future that a distinct term was deemed neccessary by society-at-large.

I wonder what common words today will become laughable in a few hundred years.

Productivity 101 (Day 28): Brainstorming Redux

“If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.” - Linus Pauling, Nobel Laureate (Twice)


Last Monday, the WSJ published an article that suggested that most brainstorms at most firms do not produce worthwhile results. Brainstorming can be a powerful technique; yet, even the best system does not yield fruit if there are major constraints. At many companies, brainstorming does NOT work. Why?

Habit

The old saw is that “once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget.” I completely agree that there are many skills that can become second nature once mastered. Learning to ride a bike takes real effort and continual practice. Falling down is part of the process.

Question: How well would you ride a bike if you only were allowed to practice once a year as a child? I will hazard a guess: not very well!

Most teams never get into a creativity habit as a group where ideas are shared out loud. Most teams rarely brainstorm together. Sometimes brainstorming is part of an annual process, but for most corporations, this kind of activity is sporadic. Without practice or getting into this kind of team habit of thinking together, how can one expect to excel at brainstorming? Practice is the key.

Culture

Many teams, departments, and companies are so adverse to failure that real creativity never arises as team members are to afraid of suggesting ‘non-acceptable’ ideas in a public forum, thereby looking foolish and possibility hurting their careers. Instead, only safe, old, or merely incremental ideas are presented. Anywhere where mistakes are viewed as ‘bad’ instead of wonderful learning opportunities is a poor candidate for a successful brainstorming session. An autocratic, overly conservative culture can not be magically suspended for a creative moment. The culture must be open before anything like brainstorming will work.

Linus Pauling’s method for idea generation is preferable for the 21st century, especially if one is really dedicated to finding better answers to old problems.

Also, if individual team members are not full stakeholders in the brainstorming process or the final outcomes, they do not have the complete motivation to take risks and offer their best ideas. This is more of a problem when a special team is assembled for a brainstorm, consisting of people who do not normally work together. It is important that everyone who is part of the brainstorm understands exactly why they are present and how both the problem and the solutions will impact them, both directly and indirectly.

Bottom Line

Brainstorming can work extremely well if and only if an organization has a culture that supports the possibility of breakthrough creativity (and all the potential pitfalls this openness implies) and group activities where ideas are presented publicly occurs frequently. Once again, the benefit of the wildstorming technique I detailed recently is that it improves the overall likelihood of the entire brainstorm process bearing real fruit.


Reference

Sandberg, Jared. Brainstorming Works if People Scramble For Ideas on Their Own. Wall Street Journal.  June 12, 2006, b1