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By Dave Larson, Tim Casai
Frank Lloyd Wright once stated that ideas are "salvation by imagination." In that regard, as designers and architects develop their design concepts, their "salvation" comes in large part from the "imagination" of their staff, administrators, and students who participate in the design process. How Dreams Are Made: Translating Your Ideas Into Designs explores how ideas are translated into imaginative, creative, and worthwhile designs.
Among the topics covered:
Business titans Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Walt Disney shared a common practice: they deliberately and systematically sought out new, creative ideas from diverse sources to propel invention and innovation. Active idea hunting led to their breakthroughs. Arriving at new ideas does not, however, require genius, says Dr. Boynton. Purposeful observation is a skill that can be mastered.
To become an effective idea hunter, be receptive to creative inspiration from unfamiliar or unusual sources. Warren Buffet, for example, attributed the seed of his "circle of competence" investment philosophy to Ted Williams' strike zone analysis in The Science of Hitting. Reuse, repurpose, or recombine existing ideas-yours or others'-to innovate. And be quick to test or prototype your ideas so that you "fail early to succeed sooner."
Strategic and Business Planning: A Self-Help Process provides a set of 11 questions that individuals can work through to develop the basics of a strategic and business plan for their organization or department. Each question addresses a key component of the planning process and flows seamlessly from one stage to the next, creating a comprehensive yet simple document to guide individuals as they go forward. The DVD explains how this plan can be used for operational planning, as well as for monitoring and risk management.
The promise of sustainable design is that it can help conserve the earth's resources, as well as save money. While a strong argument can be made that conserving energy and resources is certainly the right thing to do, the truth is that some design strategies offer more economic benefits than others. Sustainable Design Cost Savings details easy rules of thumb that can be employed to calculate the return on investment in sustainable technology. The DVD also includes several case studies that illustrate a number of the most favorable sustainable design-related improvements that can be undertaken in new buildings or renovation projects.
"Creative Marketing": Top Ways to Increase Your Business explains how health/fitness clubs can design and implement cost-cutting, result-driven marketing strategies. The DVD reviews several creative-marketing techniques that have been found to be effective in the health/fitness club industry, including the use of social media to enhance an awareness of a club's products and services. The DVD also details the key factors involved in a club's GCM-the one action that could make or break a company. In addition, the DVD explores the value for clubs to define their BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal), as well as the need for facilities to create "WOW" in whatever they do by offering a level of customer service that enables them to connect with their members.
How To Be Creative - As Told by the Creators. Hosted by Stacey Stone. Nine extraordinary individuals who have excelled in their fields reveal the secrets of their Creativity. This program teaches how sensory awareness affects the creative process, what creativity feels like and recurring themes - personal and professional.
FEATURING: Joel Asher, Dori Atlantis, Richard Bruland, Fu-Ding Cheng, Gordon Hunt, Jon Lawrence Rivera, Maria Royce, Mimi Seton, Stacey Stone & Charlayne Woodard.
Practical tools for jump-starting your creative thinking.
Great ideas are integral to success. Lynda Curtin gives you the tools to generate fresh ideas quickly and systematically. Using the proven techniques of lateral thinking, provocative operations, concept extraction, and random entry, she engages you in a powerful ideas-generating process that will give you something useful to take back to your job. You'll learn how to break out of your current mind box, take charge of your creative thinking potential, and outthink your competition.
Lynda Curtin is founder and president of The Opportunity Thinker. One of a select group of consultants certified by Dr. Edward De Bono, Ms. Curtin helps corporate clients such as Microsoft, AT&T Global Information Solutions, and the Disney Store leverage the creative thinking power of their employees to build innovative organizations. Ms. Curtin holds degrees in business and adult education from the Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto.
The stages of a product's life cycle are presented. When a product is not growing, or is beginning to decline, marketing becomes even more significant. Harley-Davidson merged with another company in 1969 and lost much of its control over the quality of the product, which had attained a high standard. In 1981, certain organizational changes were implemented and the government changed tariff structures; the return of quality, employee empowerment, commitment, and listening to the customers turned things around.
Anyone who needs to challenge the way they think will benefit from this visually stimulating and highly entertaining resource.
Based upon the work of Mark Brown of Innovation Centre Europe, this exciting programme looks at the barriers to profitrelated creative thinking and suggests some simple but powerful ways to overcome them. It shows how constantly stimulating creativity and innovation is key to coming up with viable ideas for products and services, and processes and procedures that your customers (internal and external) really want.
It explores the difference between a 'dinosaur' and 'dolphin' outlook, and looks at why we tend to restrict thinking to self-imposed limits, how we can avoid idea assassination, and how to take the initiative and translate ideas into action.
What do Bill Hewlett, Chris Rock, and Jeff Bezos have in common?
How risk-averse organizations can capitalize on design school principles.
Overcoming psychological barriers to creative experimentation.
Much like the standup comedian who tests and refines jokes in small clubs before rolling them out to a television audience, most successful entrepreneurs don't begin with brilliant ideas: they discover them through a deliberate process of creative trial and error. From his research on innovative leaders-from Apple, 3M, Toyota, and Starbucks, to the U.S. Army's counterinsurgency strategists, to artists and even standup comics-Peter Sims found they shared a surprisingly similar approach.
These innovators methodically take small experimental ideas through a process of testing, failure, and refinement. Their low-risk "little bets" provide critical information for multiple iterations and successive small wins that eventually lead to creative breakthroughs. Pixar, for example, was acquired by Steve Jobs as a hardware company, but its peripheral and low-risk experimentation in short animated films over several years ultimately led it to pivot to full-length filmmaking and the highly successful Toy Story franchise.