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