Innoveering Nebraska

Every life has a rhythm that is influenced by the people and things around us.  Sometimes our optimal rhythms, the pace of life at which we are our best selves and do our best work, can get lost.  Sometimes we don’t even realize it’s gone.

I nearly lost my optimal rhythm last week.  A situation had me a little stressed.  In the past I would have soldiered on, trying to do it all.  And as a result, I would have done nothing well.  But I’ve learned a lot in the last year. 

Instead, I took a break.  For four days, I didn’t blog or clean house.  Nothing fell apart, the world kept spinning, no one even seemed to notice that I had stopped cleaning (thankfully someone did notice I wasn’t blogging).  Because I cut myself some slack and took a break, I was able to continue experiencing flow and eventually came up with a pretty good idea for resolving the stressful situation. 

Maybe someday this process will come naturally.  I really hope so.  Until then, I plan to guard the optimal rhythm of my life fiercely.  It’s too valuable an asset to compromise. 

In a related matter,  I’ve been shocked to learn I’m a night owl.  Who knew?  (Who, who?)  I think I was always too tired  to realize it.  Life is somehow easier and more fun when you’re able to operate at your optimal rhythm.  Do you know what your’s is?  Want to find out?  Keep a little paper or electronic journal for two weeks and note the circumstances (time, location, people, surroundings) when you feel especially productive, especially not productive, miserable, happy, and especially when you experience flow. 

Below are Rick Lee’s night owl lamps. 

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On January 7th I posted some thoughts on what qualifies someone for the “entrepreneur” label.  I still don’t have a firm definition, but I wanted to share a couple of opinions which have recently influenced my thoughts on this matter. 

First, two fellows I met at Awesome Camp in Lincoln on January 30th are very certain that someone can be entrepreneurial without being an entrepreneur.  If I understood them correctly (and I confess it was the end of an exciting day at the end of a tiring week) there must be several livelihoods dependant on the endeavor for someone to qualify as an entrepreneur.  To cite my earlier example, by these definitions my friend’s Lego operation is entrepreneurial, but doesn’t qualify her as an entrepreneur. 

This makes sense to me, but I find it unsatisfactory.  I think more words might be needed. 

In the meantime, I received an email today with a link to Hugh MacLeod’s new prints related to Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin.  In Linchpin: Are You Indispensable, Godin has a different definition of artist than Rocco Landesman, the NEA Chairman I quoted in my January 7th post.  Both Landesman and Godin believe artists are entrepreneurs. 

I’m going to quote MacLeod’s website directly, because I can’t say it any better than he has:  By Seth’s definition, an artist is not just some person who messes around with paint and brushes, an artist is somebody who does (and I LOVE this term) “emotional work.”  Work that you put your heart and soul into. Work that matters. Work that you gladly sacrifice all other alternatives for. As a working artist and cartoonist myself, I know exactly what he means. It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it. – end quote

The idea that people doing “emotional work” are entrepreneurs resonates with me.  However, I have great respect for the two business men I met and their belief that entrepreneurial activities do not qualify one as an entrepreneur. 

I’m wondering if the words and definitions would line up to everyone’s satisfaction if we made a distinction between “entrepreneurs” (those with emotional work and/or entrepreneurial activities) and “business entrepreneurs” (those with livelihoods depending on their endeavor). 

Check out the rest of MacLeod’s prints here or order his book, Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity, here. 

Read reviews or order a copy of Godin’s book, Linchpin, here.    

By the way, isn’t it fun to see how one creative work inspires another?  How creative are you feeling today?  Do you think we have any obligation to share our creativity with others?  Who inspires you to be creative?  Can you spend more time with them or their work?  Can you do it today?

Below is one of Hugh MacLeod’s prints inspired by Seth Godin’s Linchpin. 

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Do you know what this means?  Neither did I this time last year.  Which is why I’m writing about it today. 

Dogfooding is the process of using your own product or service to figure out whether it’s ready for consumers.  Google did it over the past holiday season with it’s new Android.  Dogfooding helps companies determine whether any problems remain.  It’s a good idea.  It’s a good term to add to your vocabulary.

Blue ocean refers to a market that is wide open.   In contrast, red oceans are crowded markets full of sharks that make the water red.  Blech.  There is an example in “Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant” by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne that clearly communicates this concept. 

Cirque du Soleil was a blue ocean idea.  Before Cirque du Soleil, there were traditional circuses and theatre productions.  Each had set audiences (you know who you are), set expenses and had been done for many, many years.  These are very red oceans.  Cirque du Soleil removed expensive portions of the circus (animals) and theatre productions (well known performers).  It also blended elements of the circus and theatre to appeal to both audiences and attract additional crowds. 

What blue oceans can you see?  What blue oceans can you imagine?  How could your company benefit from dogfooding?  How could you benefit from dogfooding?  I tried napping in my guest room today and decided it’s far too cold and crowded in that room for guests.  Dogfooding works.  Blue oceans are worth the search. 

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Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World” is overbrimming with valuable insights and advice.  I read it through twice the first time I encountered the book and highly recommend it to everyone.  

Recently I’ve found myself explaining the But Out concept a lot.  I first encountered this problem solving tool in “A Whole New Mind.”  Here it is: 

I want to A, but B.

I want to A and B, so C.

For example:  I want to create a website, but I have no idea how to do this.

I want to create a website and I have no idea how to do this so I need to hire Toolulu and Think.Do.Be.Create to help me.

Try it.  It’s fun.

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I met with someone today at a local Panera (Starbuck’s was full).  We were covering a dry, practical, boring, but necessary topic of business.  Nothing thrilling until he asked about how I came to be a small business owner and I wrapped up my little synopsis with “and now I can’t imagine ever going back to the way things were before.” 

Much to my astonishment (and delight once the shock wore off) he high-fived me right there in the middle of the quiet, suburban Panera.  It was a very enthusiastic high five and a very quiet Panera.  I’m sure you can imagine the stares. 

And I loved it.  I was honored to be recognized by a fellow adventurer and thrilled to exchange tales of our experiences. 

It reminded me of a sappy story I heard once about how we should follow our dog’s example and greet all our loved ones enthusiastically when they return home. 

Greet the next innoveering entrepreneur you meet with an enthusiastic high five.  It will make their day and encourage them to work even harder – even on the boring, dry aspects of business.

Who are Entrepreneurs?

This week the new Chairman of the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA), Rocco Landesman, referred to artists as entrepreneurs on the PBS News Hour.  The message is part of his “Art Works” tour.  I believe he’s right and it got me thinking about how exactly I define entrepreneurship and who qualifies for the moniker. 

 The only conclusion I’ve reached so far is that a lot more people are entrepreneurs than realize it or will admit to it. 

For example, a friend buys Legos from individuals on-line (the big boxes of “left-overs” every home has), matches the individual pieces from multiple bulk purchases with the building instructions she downloads from Lego’s website, has her two sons put together the newly compiled kits, photographs the completed kits and sells them on-line.

In her mind this system she’s devised is just a little hobby that enables her sons to put together as many Lego kits as they want.  From her perspective this “hobby” is not important, elaborate or creative enough to be labeled “entrepreneurial.”  But I think she’s wrong and I believe there are a lot of people out there just like her. 

What would happen if these entrepreneurs realized who they were?  Why is this behavior so difficult for us to acknowledge?  What can we do to encourage and celebrate these entrepreneurial endeavors?

To read more about the message of the Art Works Tour, check out: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/

To watch the PBS New Hour interview that started this thought process, go to:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/