| ==Flash back to 2004== | | | | except for three appointments. Clients ask to |
| | | | meet, and I smoothly schedule them before and |
| As I sit down to write an article, I feel | | | | after the week. People want to "get |
| stumped. I've got an hour to "get it done," | | | | together." I schedule them out. A |
| and meanwhile I'm just staring at the | | | | high-priority board meeting comes up, but, |
| screen... 55 minutes later, with a few | | | | I'm unavailable. So sorry. My week is packed |
| sentences written, I have to stop, and I'm | | | | full. With space. And the creativity and |
| off to the next thing- two back-to-back | | | | insights pour through. |
| conference calls. | | | | |
| | | | ==Flash forward again.== |
| ==Flash forward again.== | | | | |
| | | | How do you defend your spaciousness from the |
| Your business depends on your creativity. | | | | unrelenting onslaught of demands and |
| Your creativity in your marketing, in your | | | | deadlines? Read below in "Keys to Space |
| product and service creation, and just in how | | | | Defense." |
| you show up for your customers and clients. | | | | |
| Without creativity, everything grows | | | | Keys to Space Defense. |
| stagnant, you are unable to produce to meet | | | | |
| deadlines, yours and others, and you begin to | | | | - Take "Cafe Days." |
| feel lifeless. And so does your business. And | | | | |
| so do your profits. | | | | Nutso marketing guru Sean D'Souza calls these |
| | | | "cafe days." I've adopted them, and they are |
| How do you nurture the absolutely critical, | | | | brilliant. Go spend 2-4 hours in a cafe. By |
| bottom-line necessary creativity since you | | | | yourself. No computer. Bring a pad of paper |
| can't just turn it on between appointments? | | | | and a pen if you like. Eat lunch. Sip tea. |
| | | | Watch people. Daydream. See what happens. |
| Well, let's take a look at creativity, what | | | | |
| it is, and what it needs. | | | | - Give yourself one appointment a day for |
| | | | you. |
| The first thing to get clear is that | | | | |
| "creativity" is a bit of a misnomer. You | | | | If you see clients, or vendors, or whomever, |
| aren't creating anything, in the meaning of | | | | and you typically schedule 60-90 minute |
| "making something exist out of thin air, | | | | appointments, give one of these to yourself |
| where nothing existed before." No human being | | | | every day. Yes, every day. |
| can create at that level, although it can | | | | |
| sure look that way sometimes. | | | | I struggled with finishing my book for a long |
| | | | time, until my mastermind group convinced me |
| So, when you get creative, what's really | | | | to treat my book like a client. A very big |
| happening? In the best-selling management | | | | and important client. A daily client. |
| book Whale Done, by Ken Blanchard, the book | | | | |
| describes how a failing manager attending a | | | | I made the decision to give my 9am client |
| business conference in Florida, takes time | | | | slot to my book every single day. I finished |
| off to go see a killer whale show. Amazed by | | | | the book in a little over four months. And, I |
| the performance, he sticks around to find out | | | | liked the habit so much, I kept that 9am slot |
| how the trainers get the killer whales to | | | | for me. Just try and get a 9am appointment |
| perform so consistently. | | | | with me. Sorry, I'm booked. But I'll gladly |
| | | | see you at 10:30am. :-) |
| A best-selling book was born out of this | | | | |
| apparent mis-match: training killer whales | | | | - Schedule unproductive time. |
| who could easily kill and eat their trainers | | | | |
| (means you want to keep them happy and | | | | I really did schedule a whole week of |
| well-fed), and creating positive and | | | | unproductive time, but that was at the end of |
| effective relationships with employees and | | | | December. During the rest of the year, I'm |
| others in your life. | | | | more likely to schedule a Cafe Day, or simply |
| | | | an hour or two in the afternoon, once or |
| Amazing. Simple. Creative. | | | | twice a week. And, when I put it in my |
| | | | calendar, it doesn't move. Someone needs an |
| Although Whale Done is written as a fable, | | | | appointment, an important meeting comes up? |
| the event of meeting the killer whale | | | | Sorry, I'm already booked. |
| trainers really happened. And it happened | | | | |
| during time off from working. | | | | You are not a robot. And even robots need to |
| | | | oil their joints. If you really want to make |
| Creativity is a synthesis of different | | | | that quantum jump in your business, then you |
| elements, not normally seen together, or | | | | need to do more than just stand where you |
| expressed in a certain way. In order to make | | | | want to jump from because when you make a |
| those unusual connections, you need | | | | quantum jump, there is a little bit of time |
| unscheduled time. You need room to think and | | | | before you land in the new place, when you |
| play and daydream, where there is no pressure | | | | are flying through unstructured space. |
| to be "productive." | | | | |
| | | | Action step: Take out your calendar right now |
| You need space. | | | | and look at the next few weeks. It might take |
| | | | a few weeks to start to work it in because of |
| ==Flash back to 2006.== | | | | pre-scheduled commitments, but schedule your |
| | | | "unproductive" time right now. And don't give |
| I have an entire week of unstructured time, | | | | it up for anything. |