Twelve Ways to Generate Spin Offs

by | Aug 8, 2011 | Illuminating

You will have no end of ideas coming your way when you follow the guidelines in two blogs …

Seven Ways to Encourage Light Bulb Moments
Seven Ways to Block Light Bulb Moments

Sometimes you can have a great idea and do nothing with it – only to see it successfully copied by someone else who you unwittingly inspired.

Sometimes your initial idea doesn’t quite live up to your hopes for it.

The solution to both these woes, lies in the Spin Off and here’s 12 ways to generate them!!

Think about your idea in these context …

1. Industry – could it be applied in new sectors?
2. International – could you change it so it works in new markets?
3. Inter-operable – could it be made to work with more ‘things’?
4. Demographic – can it be sold to a new target market?
5. Duplicity – can you replicate its essence, say with a minor change, but in such a way that it becomes something entirely new?
6. Down-size – can it be made smaller, cheaper or with a sub-set of features?
7. Education – how can it be made so that it can used to teach or be taught?
8. Entertainment – how can you make it more fun?
9. Extension – how can you add more features so it does something entirely new?
10. Augment – how can you add more features so it’s better value for money?
11. Amortise – how can you spread the cost of production to improve cash flow or spread the cost for the client
12. Agreements – who could you partner with to get to new markets or so that 1+1 > 2

Now if all this sounds wonderful but you have no idea how to introduce these practices into your business, get in touch. I am passionate about bringing these simple and freely available techniques into business – see Light Bulb Moments on Demand for more info

Seven Ways to Block Light Bulb Moments

by | Jul 6, 2011 | Illuminating

Before we explore how to generate light bulb moments and make them happen in your business, it is worth finding out what stops them from occurring in the first place.

In my experience, it is the culture of a business that is the key enabler here. Get it right and then creativity flows in all aspects of the business. Get it wrong and you end up with disaffected employees, staff churn, unhappy customers and a problem with the bottom line.

These are seven ways to run a business such light bulb moments are stopped in their tracks. I am sure you will have experienced one or more of these mechanisms somewhere you have worked. They are often the tactics used by inexperienced or naive managers with the aim of controlling a work force.

1. Instil a lack of security

Nobody whose job is under threat feels like being creative. This is a bit of shame as when a company’s back is against the financial wall, innovative thinking is often just what is needed.

2. Breed a climate of fear

Fear of failure and fear of ridicule are an anathema to creativity. If you come into work and are afraid of suggesting new ideas or, god forbid, that something is less than perfect, any light bulb moments you receive will never materialise.

3. Take love out of the equation

People love to love and love to be loved. We like it when someone likes us and likes what we do. Love is a word that somehow doesn’t get mentioned in business. When you love the work you though, you will never ‘work’ again.

4. Fail to communicate

Communication works two ways in successful businesses. There is a flow from the top down and the bottom up. It is the responsibility of management to get the conversations going. People like to talk and if you don’t give them something positive to talk about, the conversations will turn to gossip and back-biting.

5. Lack of vision

You would never think of driving a car blindfolded, or blindfold your passengers, yet many businesses don’t see where they are going. We need visibility to function and this vision gives perspective. We can watch for pot holes ahead and also learn from looking at where we’ve been. With this clarity, we can be inventive of about planning the route ahead.

6. Quash free thinking

As human beings, we are only able to hold one thought at any one instant. If that thought is spent rehearsing a conversation yet to be had or replaying one that didn’t go so well, our brains are tied up with internal dialogue. A still and quiet mind is a creative one and thrives when given a challenge and an opportunity in a supportive and appreciative environment.

7. Be a killjoy

This is not about dress down Fridays or Paint Ball days. It is obvious that a happy worker is a productive worker. Apparently it takes less muscular effort to smile than it does to frown. Fun places to work become sought after and hard to leave. So simply start the day with a smile …

In summary, if you build a business based on these principles, you will always struggle. Do the opposite and you will create the climate for ideas to flow freely which, in turn, lays down the foundations for success

Related Posts:

The Business of Light Bulb Moments
Light Bulb Moment on Demand service
Seven Ways to Encourage Light Bulb Moments
The Art and Science of Creativity Workshop

The Business of Light Bulb Moments

by | Jun 28, 2011 | Illuminating

This is the first in a series on light bulb moments in business.

More in this series:

Seven Ways to Encourage Light Bulb Moments

Twelve Ways to Generate Spin Offs

Seven Ways to Block Light Bulb Moments

It’s often traditional practice in business that innovation is restricted to either the product development team or the marketing department.

While this is natural and to be encouraged, businesses who want to survive and thrive in these times should take a more holistic approach to ideas generation.

Back in 1984, I was the proud owner of an early Macintosh computer. In the nineties, I ended up being begrudgingly dragged into the world of PC’s. Two years ago, I returned from the wilderness and have become a proud owner of an iMac and am writing this blog on an iPad. If you call me, I will answer you on an iPhone. I use MobileMe, shortly to be iCloud, and all in all I am a happy bunny.

Why? What Apple do is bring innovation into all customer touch points – starting with new product announcements and rich product functionality through to simplicity of purchase, ease of set up and use. This is all capped with superb ongoing support. A good example of the benefits of such a philosophy is that most iPad owners pay the same price again as the device in apps over a product’s life span.

But if you haven’t got Apple’s billions, how do you even begin to emulate their success? Where do you start?

The answer lies in looking at all the areas where you connect with clients and tackling the ones that are giving you the most headaches. By looking at these first, everything else will be a breeze. The way you look at them is important though.

If you wallow in negative thinking, this engages the parts of your neurology that block light bulb moments from occurring. The key lies in positive thinking. Even if the area you are looking at is not so great, it will inevitably have some good points at least.

What you do is simply identify the good points only and see how you can improve them as opposed to focussing on any negatives. The results are surprising – especially when you engage an independent and objective facilitator 😉

This is the basis and start of a process known as Appreciative Enquiry (or Inquiry). It is an example of parallel and sequential thinking which I will expand upon later in this new blog series on Light Bulb Moments in Business. Using this type of thinking is the key to making sure ideas don’t get away.

If you’d like to bring unlimited creativity to your business, have a look at my Light Bulb Moment on Demand service

Some more Moments of Light

by | Jun 14, 2011 | Illuminating

I had the great pleasure of being interviewed about my new book by Mike Quinsey on BBS Radio last week.

Listen to it back here … and if you have a show and would like to chat with me about the book, get in touch.

Likewise, if you’ve had a light bub moment and done something about it, I am looking for inspirational people to appear on my Moments of Light show on Carl Munson’s Barefoot Broadcast.

Listen on iPad or iPhones here …

Some Moments with Lillian

by | Jun 9, 2011 | Illuminating

I had the great pleasure yesterday of being interviewed on the Waking Passions show by the wonderful Lillian Ogbogoh about my new book on light bulb moments

You can tell the skill of a good interviewer by what they get out of their interviewee. I don’t think anyone has ever extracted so much information out of me in just an hour.

Thank you Lillian for such an enjoyable chat …

You can listen to it here …


and the two visualisations I mention during the show are here

The Door to Creativity

by | Jun 7, 2011 | Illuminating

As I have said many times to numerous audiences, writing and publishing a book will open doors for you.

The ink is not even dry on my new book, the Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments, and a big one just opened for me.

I’ve just been honoured by becoming a series author on this marvelous site The Creativity Portal

I came across it a few months ago and added it to my wish list of places I’d like to be able to post. Imagine my surprise when Creative Director, Chris Dunmire, replied to my email saying she’d love to have me on board.

The site is full of the most amazing free advice on all aspects of creativity – from tips on relatively conventional themes of writing, music and art through to the more eclectic disciplines of origami, mandela making, macrame knotting and even exploring Bonsai & Suiseki trees.

I am doubly honoured to be writing on the same portal as luminaries I’ve admired from for many years like Eric Maisel, Tony Buzan, Edward Glassman and SARK – check out the list of all the authors here …

I’ll be writing a series of articles on what stops, encourages and generates light bulb moments on demand.

Be sure to sign up to the newsletter Discover your Muse newsletter to get notified of new content as it appears

And you can read the first one here …

Light Bulb Moments on Tap