Less is More

I recently heard a sales trainer wrap up a day long workshop with a review that included the following:

• 6 OBJECTIVES listed at the beginning of the meeting.
• 5 PRIORITIES for winning.
• 4 BUSINESS DRIVERS for making business happen.
• 7 PERFORMANCE FACTORS for determining gaps in results.
• and 10 RESOURCES from the meeting to help attendees succeed.

I hope his goal was to overwhelm the group with ideas and not consistency and retention. Our brains (even the most brilliant of them) have limited shelf space. And once the shelf is full, you have to take something off to put something new on.

In training and knowledge management, we naturally think more is better. The more knowledge and ideas I share, the better they will do. The danger of throwing everything at your learner is that they will only remember a fraction of what you cover and that could be the least important part. Never sacrifice the most critical learning for some good ideas that could be helpful. It's better to give your learners bite-sized learning and have most of it stick.

I enjoy posting on Twitter and presenting at Pecha Kucha because they both force me to edit and be brief. They provide excellent practices in the fine are of concise communication.

Winner of Karate Dottie

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Karate Dottie Discount Code

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Social Media Interview on NPR with Gary Vaynerchuk

5 Movie Quotes about Creativity

1. BLAZING SADDLES

HEDLEY LAMARR: "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought
cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."

2. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY

SARAH CONNOR: Men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you thought it up. You think you're so creative. You don't know what it's like to really create
something; to create a life; to feel it growing inside you. All you know how to
create is death...
JOHN CONNOR: Mom.
SARAH: ...and destruction...
JOHN: Mom! We need to be a little more constructive here, okay?

3. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

CHARLIE: What do you have against my family?
WILLIE WONKA: It's not just *your* family, it's the whole idea of... [balks] You
know, they're always telling you what to do, what not to do and it's not conducive to a creative atmosphere!

4. APOLLO 13

TECHNICIAN: We've got to find a way to make this [square CSM LiOH canister] fit into the hole for this [round LEM canister] ... using nothing but that.

5. DEAD POET'S SOCIETY

JOHN KEATING: No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.

What's your favorite movie quote about creativity,ideas, innovation or solutions? Share your quote in the comments. Also remember to leave your comment on this interview with S.F. Varney to enter to win an autographed copy of "Karate Dottie."

Getting Serious about Creativity

I was reading this interview with Paula Scher on Psychology Today's website about the important role of failure in the creative design process. Here she explains her approach to recovering from failure:

There are two different ways this thing works. I did a TED talk about the difference between serious work and solemn work. I define serious work as being where you make breakthroughs, and solemn work as doing the status quo and the level may be very good but it's not breakthrough.

There's another factor—and I'm talking about this as a designer, but I imagine it would work in any form of the arts and to science. When you're working and you make mistakes, particularly when you're young, you make discoveries because you do things that are inappropriate and wrongheaded, but within the wrongheadedness you find an unexpected way to go. These things are truly the breakthroughs.

And here is the TED presentation she mentions above where she goes into greater detail about the cycle of going from solemness to seriousness:

12 days left in this series of posts focusing on creativity. Remember to enter to win a free autographed copy of "Karate Dottie" by commenting on this interview with author S.F. Varney.

7 Creativity Quotes

7 Creativity Quotes

View more presentations from Todd Chandler.

I compiled the quotes I've been sharing for this creativity series into the above slide presentation.

Only 13 days until the drawing for a free autographed copy of "Karate Dottie." Enter today by posting a comment on this interview with author S. F. Varney.

CREATIVITY | Thoreau Quote

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