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Steve Jobs: Thank you, Dreamer Extraordinaire
I am sad to have just learned of Steve Jobs' passing. The news arrived via a friend's email that I received on my wonderful MacBook.
To watch this tribute: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/10/jobs/
He was the epitome of one who ceaselessly asked, "What if?" and "Why not?" I find the quote of his below to be inspiring and moving.
At a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs shared the philosophy that drove him.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Sweet dreams, Steve. And thank you.
Kowabunga! will be moving to www.ridingthewave.net very soon! As many subscribers were dropped by the previous subscription service, please resubscribe on the new site so you don't miss any posts!
In the meantime — we're still looking for your ideas for blog posts and interactivity, so here is a repost on our contest, below. Win Langdon Morris' great new book, The Innovation Master Plan or your own special interview on Kowabunga!
I hope that you have been gleaning some value and reading pleasure from this blog, as well as enjoying some of our fabulous photos! We're off to a good start exploring different facets of creative thinking and how to cultivate it in organizations, and I'm pleased to see that we have readers from around the world!
With your help, I’d like to "take it up a notch” soon and make Kowabunga! more a more interactive and creative forum. The timing of my invitation is appropriate, as my next post will be on collaboration!
You can either respond on the blog site comment section, or write me directly at adams at ridingthewave dot net.
- Please send me your ideas for posts, contests, interactivity, podcasts, interviews, videos… Whatever you can dream of…
- Let me know if you’d be interested in writing a guest post or collaborating with me on a post or related project.
Keep in mind that if you post your ideas in the comments section for everyone to see, those may inspire other people's ideas — That's the beauty of brainstorming, or "what iffing."
PRIZES! In return for those who provide the most and best ideas*, I'm offering some added incentive:
- One winner will receive Langdon Morris' new book, hot off the press and signed by the author: The Innovation Master Plan. You'll be invited to share a review, if you like.
- Another grand prize: We'll create a post or fun podcast featuring YOU and your creative and innovative work and/or related topic of your choice.
I would like to think that we've only just begun with what Kowabunga! can become, and that your support and creativity may play a role!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Veronica Adams
Riding the Wave Training & Development
adams at ridingthewave dot net
* Disclaimer: The contest judges offer no objective criteria whatsoever for what will be deemed the "best" ideas. Just ones we think that we all might enjoy! 😉
Dear Readers,
I promised that our next post was to be on ideas on how to foster the creative collaboration that is foundational to innovation in organizations. I also had some other posts lined up for some logical progression.
However, my time will be very limited for the next several weeks because a U.S. government training project for our returning military personnel is calling upon my creative skills. Imagine that! 😉 — Did I mention that I design and deliver training programs?
In the meantime, I will share a couple of articles that I find of interest that tie directly into what we're exploring together in this forum, which, in simple mathematical formulation can be summarized as:
Curiosity + Creativity
x Good Management (Respect + Support)
= GENIUS!
(Yes, I actually made that up on the spot, and math isn't even my strong suit. 😉 )
Look for themes below that tie back to previous posts. Again, it can all tie back to our earlier posts on the 2010 IBM CEO report on best practices for organizations that want to thrive and key points we reviewed from How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci:
- Einstein never squelched the innate curiosity that we all were born with. He just loved to learn and explore; that was his primary drive.
- He didn't grow up in a family who's main preoccupation in life was looking good and fitting in. Modus operandi such as that does not generally foster original thinking. Integrity does.
- He wasn't afraid to experiment and (gasp!) fail as a means of learning what didn't work, so he could ultimately uncover what did.
- He used "whole brain thinking" with the music; let his mind wander with daydreaming and unrelated things while his subconscious continued to problem solve; he was suspicious of the convergent "single answer" thinking encouraged in many of our schools and organizations; and, I like this one, he believed we could learn about the spiritual realities (or, for those who prefer, God) by paying attention to the world around us. — A very worthwhile pursuit.
Namaste! EnJOY!
How Einstein Got So Smart – 10 Learning Hacks |
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Einstein…the Failure?Before you get the list of Einstein’s learning habits, consider some interesting facts about his early life. These things set the stage for appreciating his educational philosophy a little more.
These things represent just a taste of the irony about his early life. Looking back – in light of his eventually recognized genius – these facts even seem humorous. 10 Things Einstein Did to Get So SmartFrom what I can find, no one has compiled details about how Einstein actually studied. I doubt that his true genius was even observable to the eye anyhow. The real accomplishments went on inside his mind. I suspect his brain looked no different than ours; and genetically, nothing seemed remarkable. So, to benefit from his example, we need to look as much at his character and philosophy about learning.
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- Adapting to Change & overcoming Fear
- Ambiguity and embracing the Unknown
- Apple and/or Steve Jobs
- Business Reports: 2010 IBM CEO & 2010 BCG
- Changing Cultures to become Innovative
- Collaboration vs. Silos
- Continuous Improvement or Process Improvement
- Creative Arts & Innovation
- Creative Genius among Staff
- Creative Problem Solving
- Creative Thinking Practices & Exercises
- Creativity/Innovation
- Critical Thinking
- Curiosity & Asking Questions
- Divergent vs. Convergent thinking
- Employee Engagement
- Fun and innovation
- Hierarchy vs. Innovation
- How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci
- Innovation & the Economy
- Innovation in Government
- Innovation in History
- Integrity; Following own drummer
- Langdon Morris
- Leadership & Management Best Practices
- Learning from Mistakes
- Lifelong Learning and innovation
- Mentoring and innovation
- Model Innovative Organizations
- Podcasts on innovation
- Processes and Structures for Innovation
- Redefining Innovation
- Scenario Planning
- Six Sigma and LEAN vs. innovation
- Social Change and Innovation
- Spirituality in Workplace and innovation
- Trust and Respect in Engagement and Innovation
- Types of Innovation
- Weirdness and Creativity
- What-iffing
- Whole Brain Thinking
- YouTube Videos