The Dragon and the Princess

Once upon a time there was a dragon with a mane of thick golden hair. He was fierce and liked to eat people. The local villagers were terrorised by him until he agreed to leave them alone on the condition that every year a princess was brought to his cave. No one ever found out what happened to the princesses, but no villager ever saw them again.

One year, a very brave and very intelligent princess was chosen. She agreed she would try to defeat the dragon. She was given daggers and swords hidden in her clothes to kill the dragon when she entered the cave.

The day came and she entered. The dragon roared out of a dark area of the cave, just as she drew her sword. It instantly turned to dust.

"Your weapons are no use against my magical powers", he said.

Instead of cowering in fear, the princess ran and jumped on his head. He was caught totally unaware and before he could shake her off she had nestled inside his golden mane. She would not move no matter what the dragon did.

She began to talk to the dragon. At first she whispered in his ear, "you want to let her go." And slowly she added other words, and became louder until finally she said "she is free!" By now the dragon was convinced that she was his inner voice and, doing as he was told, he flung open the door to the cave.

Just before she left, she said, "and the villagers are your friends and you want to let them be." Nobody ever saw the dragon again.

How Do You Create an Innovation Culture?

I've been pondering this question for some time. It really can only be answered in the context of the overriding question, "How do you change any culture." There is no real set answer, as it often depends on the particular place and conventions applying to where you are.

In a company it can be even more difficult because there is self interest to consider, as well as the culture at large. One way to start creating a culture of innovation is, therefore, to award those who have new ideas and make it difficult for those who defend the status quo. Unfortunately, by the nature of what a corporation is, often the rewards flow the other way around.

Normally, when there is an issue in this area, it is for a few reasons:

• Employees don't understand the value of innovation. Or, if they do, it is understood in the context of the company as a whole rather than for them as an individual. Why should they take on the risk when they could lose their jobs? Let someone else be creative.
• Leadership does not exist on the issue, or is inconsistent in its message. Are new ideas really cherished and nurtured? Is time given for creating ideas, or does the CEO talk about innovation and then drive you to make sales calls all day?

There are no easy answers. Most people don't understand innovation, so put their heads in the sand. But I think with the Internet beginning to break down normal means of communication and where China and India are creating a massive work force of talented and creative people, change is going to happen quickly and before anyone is ready for it.

The E-Myth and Innovation

Are you working on your business or in it? That's the main question raised by the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. His main point is that many people who go into business do so because they think they can do it better than their boss. Unfortunately, the skills an employee needs are not the same as those an Entrepreneur needs, so often the business gets into trouble.

But what also struck me was the power of looking beyond the day to day workings and using your business as a way to deliver your product to your customers and clients. Your product shouldn't be the only thing you produce to client specifications. Your business model should also be geared to your client as well, and put together to provide these results without fault.

Imagine the ways you could innovate exceptional service into how you greet people, deal with their orders, deliver products and services to them and how you approach the market. These are all areas ripe for innovation that other companies, especially big ones, struggle to deal with.

So look beyond your day to day rush to 'get things done' and consider how your business could deliver predictable, exciting service to your clients even before they know (or care) what the product is.

Forget Innovation, It's Something Else

Why all the resistance to innovation? I kept asking myself this as I was preparing to stand up in front of a few dozen people trying to excite them about creating new ideas and developing new markets. You'd have thought this would be something people desperately wanted considering the current market conditions. So why is it all so hard sometimes?

I think the reason is something which underlies innovation - resistance to change. Innovation is all about new ideas and changing what has gone before. For many people this is uncomfortable, and in fact is part of how we think. Normally, our propensity to find a system that works and stick with it is good for us. We don't want to have to try every way of travelling to work every day, or the numerous ways in which you could make coffee. We find the best way for us and stick with it.

But this resistance to change deeply restricts innovation. The solution is to use another part of our brain that is equally adept in its own area. We love to make connections and find new routes to information. In fact, this is the basis of most of our comedy with the punch line providing the unexpected connection.

Change acceptance (and the innovation that comes from it) can all be done in a targeted and focused way using innovation techniques, but it needs two things:

1. The willingness to recognise we get comfortable with our normal ways of thinking and need to step back, pause, and try something new.

2. The ability to engage a different part of our brain in a structured way at set times to make sure we make it part of our routine. Strangely, once we do this and it really becomes the norm it will difficult to do something else (for all the reasons above).

So it is all a matter of understanding how your mind works and using those aspects that work best at the best times, and planning it all to become part of the process.

Learned Optimism and Creativity

Does it help to be an optimist if you want to be creative? I think the answer is yes because your attitude will determine how creative you are and whether you think you can come up with new ideas. When someone asks if you’re creative do you think the following?

• I’m just not a creative person.
• I’ll never learn how to come up with new ideas, besides I don’t think you can teach people creativity.
• You’re either creative or your not, and most people aren’t.

In studies on depression it was found that those most likely to be depressed made negative comments that were permanent, pervasive and personal. The above three all fit the bill. People who talk to themselves this way are less likely to try, and as a result never improve their performance. So to be an optimist you need to understand you can control the situation and that the following is true:

• You are creative, you just need to know how to unlock your potential.
• You can learn creativity skills, and most people pick these up easily and can apply them quickly.
• Everyone is creative in some way, it is just where you put your focus!

Make sure you stop yourself if you are talking in the first way, and correct yourself to talk the second way. Imagine if a company made sure it always addressed its problem with an optimist's mind set. The profit would probably roll in on the back of a wave of creativity and innovation.

The Unexpected is the Underexploited

Do you have a product or service selling more than expected, or in a market you never thought would be interested? Is something not selling that you thought would sell out instantly?

You have an opportunity here to capitalise on something your competitors may not realise. Often an industry will have an understanding of their market and won't consider approaches outside their agreed conclusions (e.g. groupthink). Sometimes this can be the right thing to do. You may have done your research and made the right conclusions. But, have things changed? When was the last time you considered these issues?

This is a great chance to pick up innovative ideas for a number of reasons:

• The market may have changed and you might now have first mover advantage.


• Demographics may have moved and you can be ready to capitalise on this.


• Often the unexpected outcome is the only way to identify these opportunities, and most of your competitors don't track them.


• It is in the nature of your competitors to ignore anomalies and move on to what they know.

So, how to take advantage of the situation? First, you need to talk to customers to find out why they bought or didn't. Don't navel gaze and worry too much - just ask! When you have the data, consider how you can optimise what you have to fit the current trend. Finally, why not start to have part of your management meetings cover things that went really well so you can pick up these chances to increase your profits.

Are you Darkminding?

You know the symptoms:

· Resisting any new ideas because they shake the status quo.

· Resist thinking for yourself because it is too hard.

· Resist looking for new ideas because that’s not what you’re paid for.

If you do any of these you may be ‘Darkminding’. I coined this term because I think it captures exactly the two ways in which we deny our creative side any chance to improve our lives.

1. We ‘mind the dark’ (as in tend to it and try and keep it the same) because it is what we know and any light threatens our comfort zone.

2. We keep our mind dark (as in not letting any new thought in) because it is too much effort, and we are averse to risk.

The results of Darkminding are insidious because they are often hidden. You can be going along quite well in the dark, knowing where everything is until…

Wham! Someone has moved the furniture and you’ve run right into it. And it hurts!

Be creative and give your brain a chance, let in a bit of light and you might be surprised how bright the sun is shining for a change.

The Dragon and the Three Gates

Once upon a time there was a village ravaged by attacks from a dragon. The villagers decided to build a wall to protect themselves. But, fearful this would not be enough, they built another wall, and then another until they had built a fortress.

One day, the dragon returned to the village for some fun but found himself shut out. He bashed himself against the walls, blew fire and smoke, and even tried a few enchanted spells. Nothing worked.

Enraged, he decided to leave, but not before doing one last evil act.

“You may have shut me out, but I now cast this spell so that you will be shut in forever. You cannot escape unless you can see with the eye of a dragon.”

Panic spread across the village. They tried to get out but couldn’t. All doors were locked and all windows were shut fast, as if by concrete. Any entrance ways within the walls were completely covered by bricks.

The villagers tried firing with cannons. Nothing happened.

They tried climbing the walls, only ending up on the same side they started on.

Finally they tried crying out and apologising to the dragon. Still nothing happened.

Food began to run out, and the villagers started to lose hope. Then one day a little boy said “I know how to break the spell!”

Doubtful, but desperate to try anything, the villagers did as the boy suggested and built a hot air balloon which flew up into the sky. From here the boy could see all the walls and how the villagers had been trapped. Shouting out to them he led them to safety. When the last villager had left the walls, the spell was broken and all the ways in and out were cleared.

And nobody heard from the dragon from that day onward.