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     KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
   ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
             Volume 2, May 8, 2001
    Publisher: © Key Associates, LLC, 2001
           http://www.mkkey.com

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"If you put fences around people, what you get is sheep."

"The innovator has to be a warrior. People are far better 
critics than they are creators."          

IN THIS ISSUE (the theme is CREATIVITY):

• What's Hot in Leadership
• Frequently Asked Questions from Leaders
• Meetings and Courses
• Useful Websites
• Articles/Publications
• Maintaining Yourself as a Leader

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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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INFORMATION REPLACING AUTHORITY.

MANAGING IDEAS, NOT RESOURCES.

USING A BALANCE OF IMAGINATION AND 
LOGIC.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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How can I get my team to be more creative?  Get them
laughing.  Laughter comes from making novel connections
in the mind; a HA-HA can become an AHA. Don't reject
the ideas that people laugh at.  Suspend the voice of 
judgment.  Proliferate ideas before deciding.

How can I get "outside-the-box?
Use tools that seek connections between things that don't 
normally go together: look outside your field for answers; 
reverse your assumptions about the issue; use metaphors
and analogies ("How is my problem like a monster?" for
example); look up a random word in the dictionary and
search for a connection.  Ask a child or someone who is 
totally outside your  team.  For instructions on how to use 
some of these tools, see 
Creativity Exercises.

Why do so many good ideas die on the vine?  They
get laughed out.  Or they lacked an Idea Sponsor, a mercenary
manager to shepherd the creative idea and make sure it
turned into an innovation.

Is it possible to be creative in face of a budget? 
You cannot cost-cut your way into the future; a successful  future 
depends on innovation.  However, a budgetary challenge can
heighten creative tension.  But be careful of  too much tension, 
which can heighten fear, then shut down creativity.  Using a 
creativity course that we teach, staff can identify millions in
savings in a few weeks.  See Creative Tools and Methods.

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MEETINGS AND COURSES 
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The Innovation Convergence Network 2001 meets 
in Orlando at the Disney Institute, June 3-6.  Call 
(407) 827-4455.

The Creative Problem-Solving Institute  meets June
16-21 in Buffalo, NY. Call (716) 689-2176.

Join those interested in Appreciative Inquiry--a dialogue 
process of learning together--in Baltimore, 9/30-10/3.  
Enroll at www.pegasuscom.com/ai/.

       Did You Know

The Average Business Traveler Will Spend...
* 3 years in flight
* 2 years traveling to and from airports
* 28 months waiting for scheduled flights
* 11 months waiting for connecting flights
* 3 months searching for a parking space
Source: National Business Travel Association
(An argument for Virtual Meetings from Placeware)

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USEFUL WEBSITES & NEWSLETTERS
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www.ebrary.com is the library of the future.  Free searches 
and full text viewing of books, periodicals and printed
information.  Get on the list to be informed of their opening.

Visit Paul Plsek's site at www.directedcreativity.com.  Paul
says that we have solved most of the easy-to-solve problems in
industry with analytical tools.  What remains are the intractable
ones--the hard-to-solve problems that require creative thinking.

www.thinksmart.com includes a library, an idea workout gym,
and learning modules.  Take their instruction on mindmapping
in 8 easy steps.

Listen in on an Innovation Conversation held by Fast Company, 
http://www.fastcompany.com/ftalk/sanfran/.  A major interest
is maintaining a culture or ecosystem that sustains innovation.

Need to borrow someone else's art?  Have a look at:
www.eyewire.com
or
www.photodisc.com
or
www.adobe.com 
or
www.aridi.com
or
www.artville.com

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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
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Amabile, Teresa. Growing Up Creative: Nurturing a Life 
of Creativity. The Creative Educatin Foundation, 1992.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal 
Experience. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.

Fritz, Robert. The Path of Least Resistance; Learning to 
Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life. New York: 
Fawcett Columbine, 1989.

Higgins, James M. 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques. 
Winter Park, FL: New Management Publishing Company, 1994.

Kuhn, Robert Lawrence (ed.). Handbook for Creative and 
Innovative Managers. New York: McGraw Hill, 1988.

Morris, Jill. Creative Breakthroughs: Tap the Power of Your 
Unconscious Mind. New York: Warner Books, 1992.

Van Gundy, Arthur. Techniques of Structured Problem-Solving. 
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1988.

Wujec, Tom. Pumping Ions: Games and Exercises to Flex Your Mind. 
New York: Doubleday, 1988.

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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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Fear is the vicious thief of creativity.  Eradicate all forms of it, 
including the little voice within yourself that has an opinion on
everything.  Someone once said. "I may not be good writer, 
but I am a fearless one."  Take courage to put your ideas out
into the world.  The only failure would be not living up to the
creative in you.