Creative Consulting

Balancing Genius

2007-03-07T06:14:00.000-08:00

You know what life is like. It is a continual stream- a cinema outside and a cinema inside. How many people have pulled themselves out of the cinema? When you do, that is awakening the secret creator within!Part of this effort is becoming aware of the pendulum, when you swing from yes or no, and consider in terms of only black or white. Instead we must learn to finally say Yes AND No. True genius

Mind Mapping

2007-02-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Mind mapping was formalized as a technique in the early 70's by Tony Buzan, a British bran researcher, as a whole brain alternative to linear thinking. Mind mapping makes it easier to access the tremendous potential of your brain by representing your thoughts using key words. It's organized brainstorming to find out what you know by writing central themes and then depicting thoughts and

Do it Yourself Website In 5 Days

2007-02-10T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Creative Consultant serves himself well if he can manipulate and even create from scratch, his own website. I've found a remarkable video set that will take us by the hand and show exactly how to have real control over our content.How To Overcome The "Techno Babble" and Become A Web Master... In Just 5 Days!I've gotten a special price point for this video package. To check it out simply click

Technology Advances

2007-02-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

If you'd bought a computer in 1950 it would have taken up the entire living room in your house. That's one reason people didn't buy them. The other was cost, even a basic computer would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Governments and some companies could afford them but you'd be hard pressed to find one in a family home.Of course, now they are everywhere, on your desk, in your kitchen

Setting Unreasonable Goals

2007-01-30T04:36:00.000-08:00

Guest Post By Robert Middleton:I heard a guy on NPR last night (This American Life) talking about devoting his life to developing a time machine. I thought to myself, "What an idiot, doesn't everyone know that time travel is impossible?" But as the story progressed, it turns out he actually developed a device that does in fact alter time. Look, I don't know how. This quantum mechanics stuff is a

Push Button Consulting

2007-01-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

Micheal Senoff at JS&M Sales, Inc has a fascinating program he calls "Push Button Consulting."He has put together a 30 minute multi-media presentation online that you can point your clients toward.In it he covers areas like "Increasing Sales Without Advertising", "Enhancing Your Marketing Process", "Marketing As Investment" and explains his four pillars to opetimize your marketing.You can view it

Filling The Gaps In Ourselves

2007-01-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

There's work to be done! In us, there are gaps to be found. These are areas where missing parts can be discovered. It is always a shock when they are brought to consciousness. None of us are finished creatures, but rather, works in progress---or better stated: work that must progress or the sleep which overwhelms us.The Yes Or No GapWhere we can see issues only in terms of black and white. We

Free Report For My Readers

2007-01-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

99 Practical & Powerful Tips For Effective & Confident NetworkersByWill Kintish- Manchester, UK Click Here

The Hero File

2007-01-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is a tool I've recommended for years to my students. It is much more useful than you could possibly imagine. One of the first requirements for a new consultant, but also required by any one that needs a boost in creativity.Simply put, a Hero File is the place you deposit any and all positive remarks about YOU. It's your casche of stories and solutions, your depository of clippings and

Working Hard Enough

2007-01-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

The saying goes: You can never get enough of what you don't really need. I guess it comes from the old personal growth crowd as an axiom refering to things like 'others approval'. Lots of times it's used to spur productivity, too.Many people are trying to work hard enough, because working hard is not what they need. They need to simply be doing, in a careful and concerned way, without care and

Guest Article- Learning To Swim

2006-12-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

The human condition: Swim or sinkBy Guest Consultant Alan WeissI generally learn as much or more from fiction as from non-fiction. People like Theodore Dreiser, Henry James, Jane Austin, Thomas Hardy, et. al. help me to understand ethics, relationships, history, and so much more.I've read the entire Patrick O'Brian series, right down to his unfinished notes for another book, about Jack Aubrey and

How to Tell When a Relationship is Over

2006-12-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Dailymotion blogged videoHow to Tell When a Relationship is OverVideo sent by sabo-tageYou need a relationship consultant if this rings true for you.

Woody Allen Thoughts For The Day

2006-12-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

"Life With Woody" 10 inspirational quotes than can help to improve yourselfIt might take a little coffee or probably a few rounds of beer or any other booze you could get your hands on when it comes to relaxing after a hard day's work. Well, yeah I'm guilty about that one as well, unless I'm caught dead wearing a lampshade over my head after a few rounds of vodka… half-naked! Okay, bad example

Education Models

2006-12-20T04:49:00.000-08:00

There are two underlying models in all national educational systems. the economic and the intellectual. Many think there is a direct relationship between the two. In western systems the underlying economic model is industrialism; and the intellectual model that is supported is academicism. Too bad all of this is now outmoded.The government sponsored public education system (relatively new to the

A Christmas Gift For My Readers (Consultants!)

2006-12-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

It is my pleasure to make available to readers of this blog a marvelous report titled: "101 Unique Gifts For Clients!"Inside you'll find some valuable suggestions for business related gifts that will make your clients remember you long after the holidays are over.Simply click here for your private copy. Once the window opens make sure to click the 'save' icon at the top of the document so you may

Diagram Your Thinking

2006-12-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

The notebooks of Einstein, Martha Graham, da Vinci, Edison, and Darwin suggest that one of primary reasons they achieved greatness was their ability to represent their subjects visually by diagramming and mapping. In Darwin's notebooks there is frequently occuring diagramatic representation of nature as an irregularly branching tree. His tree diagrams helped him capture his thoughts about

A Poem By Frost

2006-12-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

The classic poems are the ones that live forever in our hearts and minds. "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost is one of them.To listen to my reading of this timeless gem click here.

Your Automatic Creative Mechanism

2006-11-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic quidance system to take you to that goal better than you could ever by conscious thought. You supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby.- Maxwell

Change Direction Young One!

2006-11-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

About the age of 14 , children are eased away from ome subjects in shcool and toward others on the ground of utility. Whee has this idea of utility come from, and why does the school curriculum usually fall into two groups of subjects: the useful and the useless? Languages, maths, science and technology are useful; history, geography, art, music and drama are not. This is a common pattern.This is

More Balancing

2006-11-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Techniques for balance:- Learn to rest. Whether a nap, or simply reflective time, or staring at the horizon, recharging batteries is important. I've never seen anyone who was a better decision maker, performer, or comforter when fatigued.- Get a second opinion. The world is so complex, technology so fungible, medicine so controversial, that it's often safer to hear from several experts on any one

Making Your Thoughts Visible

2006-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

The explosion of creativity in the Renaissance was intimately tied to the recording and conveying of a vast body of knowledge in a parallel language: a language of drawings, diagrams, and graphs- as, for instance, in the renowned diagrams and sketches of Galileo.Leonardo da Vinci also used drawings, diagrams and graphs as a way to capture information, away to formulate problems, and the means of

Visualization

2006-10-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am continually amazed at how often I forget about our astonishing ability to create what we want by what we envision. Outcome thinking and the willingness to visualize something's being true before it's physically present is a master skill that we all could probably develop to a much greater degree.One comes to be of just such stuff as that on which the mind is set -The UpanishadsNothing

False Personality & Performance

2006-10-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Are you working for an audience? Is your perfomance predicated on an outer acceptance? Or are you performing from a sense of self that requires none of that sort of thing?The part of us that strengthens the False Personality in us, the ego driven and surface self, needs loosening, a practice that destroys it, undresses one garment at a time. The outer ego can't stand this sort of nakedness, and

A Creative Culture

2006-10-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Creativity is related to culture. Cultural conditions can put fire under, or kill creativity!We don't have creative ideas in a vacuum. Indvidual creativity is stimulated by work, ideas and acheivements of other people. We stand on the shoulders of others to see further. This is true in all fields, in business, science, sport, music, design, fashion---whatever. Human intelligence is creative in a

Emotional Intelligence & Creativity

2006-10-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of interest in the idea of emotional intelligence. Many people are not in touch with their emotions and feel incapable of expressing their feelings. The results everywhere are palpable and catastrophic. In part, this is the legacy of academia. Conventional education splits intelligence from feeling, and concentrates only on particular aspects of the first.That's why being

The Vision Comes First

2006-10-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Your brain's pattern-recognition mechanism is triggered by images you identify with and the focus you hold. However, if you identify with emotions, instead of visions, you will become lost and asleep. The key to knowing which is which is realizing that if you see the outcome first, and then you are made conscious of information, whether it is to catch a ball, create a company, or care for your

Work For The Day

2006-10-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Work is always for the day. Do you understand the kind of work I'm talking about? Not work in the mundane sense of a job, but rather, inner work. It is always for the moment. It must not be for more than the day. Never let the ordinary idea of time come into it. We must work from the standpoint of ideal time. When you are reading a book, once you enter it, you do not mind how time elapses. Your

The Problem With Creativity

2006-09-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

There is a problem with creativity.Companies and governments are very keen to promote it, but they're not sure what it is or who has it. Some politicians have a different problem. They obviously suspect that too much creativity in education may have been the reason that standards fell in the first place. Many of these anxieties are rooted in the misconceptions about creativity. Often it is

Dividing Projects & Problems

2006-09-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

If you find it difficult to think about the whole problem, take a less global approach. Try focusing on one part at a time. Identify each part as a sub-problem. This makes your challenge easier to handle. Imagine trying to find an address, knowing that it was somewhere in Montreal. If you knew it was west of Old Montreal, it would be easier to find. If someone told you it was within walking

2006-09-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

I read the poem "Autumn Day" by Rainer Maria Rilke. Here at the equinox, a changing season for Creative Consultants.

What's Your Play Of The Day?

2006-09-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

When things get tight and tough, it's easy to get hung up in a negative loop of self-talk: "Oh, no! Things are tight and tough!" We bemoan our fate and pander to our disappointment. In fact, such times are always great opportunities to reasses what we're doing and to deepen our thinking and focus. Tough times can be good times as long as we know the game we are playing and decide the play we are

Sincerity

2006-09-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sincerity is the key to Self-Knowledge and to be sincere with oneself brings great suffering.G.I. GurdjieffI speak again to tose who wish to work sincerely. Every morning, at least every day, you must put yourself deliberately under the influence of The Work.Maurice NicollIf when you wake up in the morning and you want inner things, you can remember your aim and if it is affirmed strongly enough

The Nature Of Work

2006-09-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

New technologies are transforming the nature of work. They are massively reducing thenumbers of people in industries nad professions that were once labor intensive. Today Ford announced it's laying off 40,00o of its labor intensive force. New forms of work rely on high levels of specialist knowledge and on creativity and innovations.That's what Creative Consultants are banking on every day. This

Need A Voice?

2006-09-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

This is a brazen plug for my voiceover work. I've just joined Voices.com and wanted my fellow Creative Consultants to know about it. Who knows, you may need some audio produced for a project you have?Competition is fierce and getting noticed in a crowded marketplace is difficult. We cannot afford to let any opportunity to communicate effectively with prospects get by. You are not the only one

Talk To My Hand

2006-09-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Business is caught in a revolution. The labor markets of the 21st century are changing beyond all recognition. This isn't a revolution in a figurative sense, but a real one comparable in scale and impact to the massive upheavals of the Industrial Revolution. This one is being driven like the last one, by developments in technology and this one has hardly begun. Change is a constant factor in

I Rail About Education, Again

2006-09-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've railed about education and the lack of 'creativity' in the curriculum in my book. But some interesting new figures were passed my way yesterday and I thought I'd ruminate on them today with you.There was a time when good academic qualifications guaranteed a job, but not anymore. There is something called Academic Inflation, now.A university degree used to an open sesame to a professional

Blog For Profit- Professional Options

2006-09-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've just finished a new e-course titled: "Blogging For Profit". This 7 day course covers all the ways you can turn your blog into a profit center in your consulting (or other business). To get your copy just send a blank e-mail here.You'll need to CONFIRM your desire to start the course by clicking a confirmation link that will be e-mailed to you in a few minutes. Initial response to this course

Abstraction 2

2006-09-04T04:58:00.000-07:00

Percieving your problem from different levels of abstraction changes the implications of the problem. To find the appropriate level of abstraction, ask "Why?" four or five times, until you find the level where you're comfortable. Suppose your challenge is "In what ways might I sell more Ford Trucks?"Step1 Why do I want to sell more Fords? Because my truck sales are down.Step2 Why do want to

2006-09-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

A reading from the introduction to"Out Of Our Minds"- Learning To Be Creative, a book by Ken Robinson.

You Are Not Your Work

2006-08-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

"Be steady and well ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work".- Gustave FlaubertWe confuse our work with ourselves. We see our accomplishments and our failures as important landmarks to our existence. When they are merely 'activities' we have chosen to succeed or fail at. Nothing more.But the effort often required to be a creative consultant, the hours, and the

Levels Of Abstraction

2006-08-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

One of the best veiwpoints to gather new ideas is by achieving an appropriate level of abstraction. For instance, in the 1950's, experts believed that the oceangoing freighter was dying. Costs were rising, and it took longer and longer to get merchandise delivered. The shipping industry experts downsized the crew and built faster ships that required less fuel. Costs still kept going up, but the

Sonnet On A Sleeping World

2006-08-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Awake and yet asleep! The whole world liesUnconscious of its own unconscious state;Destructive of itself and blind to fate,Ignoring all the writings of the wise.For here and there a man may waken, rise,Shake off the shackles 'ere it be too late,His mind to master, anger, greed and hateDrive out and penetrate the veiled disguiseOf man mechanical- his nature true-Which he percieves, his

Get Thinking Off Your Mind

2006-08-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

It's delicious! Not thinking, that is!Athletes in their "zone", ecstatic worhsipers "in the spirit", movie goers and novel readers engrossed in the story, gardeners pruning their trees, lovers whispering into the night---bliss! No time, no stress, no thinking. The productive state in which time dissappears is not really about not thinking, it's more like not thinking about thinking.If you are

2006-08-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

This 6+ minutes discussion covers chapter 7 of Clotaire Rappaile's new book: "The Culture Codes"We'll discover the codes for quality and perfection in this edition. Just click play below---you may pause at anytime without losing your place.

2006-08-14T12:00:00.001-07:00

I give you my best secrets to save big on your next hotel reservation. An excerpt from my book "Travel Cheap- Travel Well!"But I left our Secret Confession #20:The best day to reserve a room is on Sunday. That's because, typically, the financial management is not working on that day, and any Pauper can get better deals and negotiate tougher.The manager or desk clerk no longer has the option to "

Another Resource I've Discovered

2006-08-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Those who visit this blog regularly already know about (and may own) my book: "Anyone Can Consult"!And now I've found another excellent resource for those considering a consulting career:The Consulting Solution Toolkit provides you with all the tools you need to immediately build, sustain, grow or revive a profitable consulting business. You just need to be the "human glue" to hold it all

Galileo And Thought Experiments

2006-08-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Galileo used thought experiments to imagine a possible world in which a vacuum existed. In this way he could propose the astounding hypothesis that all objects fall through a vacuum with the same acceleration regardless of their weight. No labratory vacuums large enough to demonstrate this spectacular idea existed until years after Galileo's death. Today, this demonstration is standard fare in

The Whole World Is In A State Of Chaos

2006-08-08T03:50:00.000-07:00

If you haven't listened to my last post concerning "The Culture Codes", an audio presentation, scroll down one post to click on the new audio player. The response to this information has been very encouraging.Today, I'm going to make a simple statement, one that Creators will realize is true: The whole world is in a state of chaos, of people doing what they want, of never listening to their

Discussion 1: The Culture Code

2006-08-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've begun a discussion on Clotaire Rapailles' remarkable research into various culture codes. This 20+ minute discussion begins with chapter two of that book and reveals the American culture as one that is "adolescent" in nature. It also reveals the codes for Love, Seduction and Sex.To listen to this program, simply click the play button below. You may pause it at any time without losing your

Musings- Alan Weiss

2006-07-31T03:32:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Alan Weiss. Here are this month's musings by one of our most gifted consultants:- If you're having trouble in networking or social situations, simplyask the other person, "What do you think about..?" Others may bebored by your point of view, but never by their own.- Don't be afraid to tell someone they are doing something annoying(such as sending

Goethe- A Quote For the Ages

2006-07-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a timeless quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774-1832) that has shaken me up to action and productive living like none other:"Until one is committed there is the chance to draw back; always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans--- that the moment one definetly

Is More Really What You Want?

2006-07-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

Here's a fundamental principle to consider. Al of us, personally and organizationally, may be unconsciously holding back new and better things from ourselves, because we feel that we won't be able to handle them successfully or sufficiently. Most of us think that we want "more" of many things. More money, more clients, more responsibility, more fun, more time. But do we really?I've learned that

First Impressions

2006-07-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

One of the many ways our minds attempt to make life easier is to create a first impression of a problem. Like our first impressions of people, our intitial perspectives on problems and situations are apt to be narrow and superficial. We see no more than we've been conditioned to see--- and stereotyped notions block clear vision and crowd our imaginations. This happens without any alarms sounding,

Deeper Channels, Greater Flow

2006-07-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

Cleaning up and streamlining the systems you use as a Creative Consultant and as a living being on this planet increase your ability to handle greater engagement with the world and consequently galvanize unseen forces to fill the channels. Increased capacity seems to unlock attractive energy that starts to permeate the organism or enterprise. It invites participation from the world, at a deep

Looking for Genius- Another Da Vinci Code

2006-07-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Leonardo Da Vinci believed that to gain knowledge about the fom of a problem, you began by learning how to restructure it to see it in many different ways. He felt the first way he looked at a problem was too biased toward his usual way of seeing things. He would look at his problem from one perspective and move to another one and still aother. With each view, his understanding would deepen, and

Guest Blog- Alan Weiss

2006-07-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

1. Techniques for balanceEleven responses you may have wished you used at the time:Comment: "Would you like some advice on how to improve that?"Response: "Yes, which is why I'm going to ask an expert I know."C: "I'm calling for a contribution to a very worthy cause."R: "You may be, but there's so much fraud in phone solicitations thatI only respond to written requests. Send me your

Creativity Show Up When There Is Space

2006-06-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

The universe abhors a vacuum--- and electric current won't flow through a blocked pathway. When mental space has too many distractions and unmanaged agreements and loops, flow is limited. Clear the pipes and you attract and foster new, productive thinking that almost happens by itself.Keeping uncaptured, unclarified, and unprocessed things in our minds creates unnecessary stress. But the payoff

Awakening The Collaborative Spirit

2006-06-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

The notion that the collective intelligence of a group is larger than the intelligence of an individual can be traced back to primitive times when hunter-gatherers would band together and solve common problems.It is commonly understood and accepted to find a group to work with and within your Creative Consultancy. What's difficult is for a group to come together in a collabrative and collegial

MOre Quotes I Like

2006-06-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

"The mind is not a vessel to be filledbut a fireto be kindled."- Plutarch"To be what we are,and to become what we are capableof becoming,is the only end in life."- Robert Louis Stevenson"Our greatest pretenses are builtup not to hid the evil and the uglyin us,but our emptiness.The hardest thing to hide is somethingthat is not there."- Eric HofferThe Creative Cosultant can take the words of

Finding What You're NOT Looking For

2006-06-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Whenever we attempt something and fail, we end up doing something else. As simplisitc as this statement may seem, it is the first principle of creative accident. We may ask ourselves why we failed to do what we inteneded--- and this is the reasonable, expected thing to do--- but the creative accident provokes a different question: What have we done?Answering that question in a novel, unexpected

Looking In Other Worlds

2006-06-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, believing that the individual who had the capacity to percieve resemblances between two seperate areas of existence was a person of special gifts. if unlike things are alike in some ways, perhaps they are so in others. Alexander Graham Bell observed the comparison between the inner workings of the ear and the movemoent of a stout piece of membrane

Some Quotes I Like

2006-05-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly".-- Terence"What lies in our power to do lies in our power not to do."-- Aristoltle"Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny."-- Ken HubbardIf you're like me and live off of the words of other brilliant minds, then you'll want to get a copy of "The Top 501 Most Inspirational Quotes" ebook. Just send

Looking At The Other Side

2006-05-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Physicist and philosopher David Bohm believed geniuses were able to think different thoughts because they could tolerate ambivalence between opposite or incompatible subjects.I believe that if you can hold opposites together, then you suspend your thought and your mind moves to a new level. The suspension of thought allows an intelligence beyond thought to act and create a new form. The swirling

Knowing Your Value- Guest Blog

2006-05-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite commentators and teachers in this business is Robert Middleton. His Info Guru Manual is in my proferssional library and should be in your too. Here are his most recent thoughts about how we set our value as Creative Consultants:Knowing Your Value===================================================The third dumbest marketing mistake in our series is one that is so insidious that

Thinking In Front Of A Tiger

2006-05-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

The Creative Consultant is confronted with challenge upon challenge and that's when the urge to 'flight or fight' usually rears its ugly head. I like what Mencius once said:"If you know the point of balance,you can settle the details.If you can settle the details,you can stop running around.Your mind will become calm.If your mind can become calm,you can think in front of a tiger.If you can think

Connecting The Unconnected

2006-05-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

If one particular style of thought stands out for creative geniuses, it is the ability to make juxtapositions that elude mere mortals. Call it a facility to connect the unconnected by forcing relationships that enable them to see things to which others are blind. Leonardo Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection

Let's Get Finite!

2006-05-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

"It's possible to own too much. A man with one watch knows what timeit is; a man with two watches is never quitesure". - Lee Segal People keep stuff in thier head. They don't decide what they need to do about stuff they know they need to do something about. They don't organize action reminders and support materials in functional categories. They don't maintain and review a complete and objective

The Creator Goes To Work!

2006-05-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

How To Crush Creativity At Your WorkplaceWhy in heaven's name would someone want to crush creativity? Why would you want to hear about it?The answer is: Because simple jealousies and small goals crowd the workplace too often and it has to stop. You want to hear about it because you spend the greater part of your life 'on the job' working. You need to know why and how workplaces in America---your

An Inner Conversation

2006-05-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you've been following along you are now sure that gathering MANY ideas is a valuable thing for the Creative Consultant to attempt. But how is this done?Let's listen in to an inner conversation which can and should take place as your CQ ("Creativity Quotient") increases:" OK that's one good idea. What else could I do?""What other solutions besides these two are available?""Let me throw it to

How To Make Genius

2006-04-27T15:13:00.001-07:00

In his excellent book: "Scientific Genius, Dean Keith Simonton of the USC-Davis, suggests that genuises are forming more novel combinations than the merely talented. His theory has etymology behind it: Cogito- "I think"- orginally connoted "shake together". Intelligo, the root of intelligence, means to "select among". This is a clear early indication about the utility of permitting ideas and

Who Is Milana Leshinsky?

2006-04-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

I know...I know...this is a blatant commercial announcement! But I just sent this letter to mylist and wanted you to see it too. It's tailor made for Independent Professionals. Here goes:Do you recall my mentioning that I was a consultant and coach?I wrote a book aboutit called "Anyone Can Consult"...and many members have purchased a copy. Well, I'vejust met a really fascinating woman who TEACHES

The Functional Consultant!

2006-04-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

A map is not functional until you know where you are on it. Consultants that objectively view their current reality always find a way to reduce confusion and misalignment. Agreement with yourself and your clients about what is true right now---in your company, in your project, in your life---is critical for making clear headway.Get a GripThere's an old saying: "what you resist, you're stuck with.

Thinking What No One Else Is Thinking!

2006-04-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

That's the goal, ever present in my mind. I call it "Original Thinking" and it is far too rare a species. But it needn't be that way. We can actually learn to think fluently and produce a larger quantity of ideas. I based my creativity book on that premise and I'm standing by it.Sadly, we were never taught to connect the unconnected, more importantly the unconnectable, constantly look on the

Linkedin, My Space, Craigslist

2006-04-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Linkedin, MySpace, Craigslist===============================Many of you have invited me to become part of your network atLinkedin.com, an online social networking site for professionals athttp://www.Linkedin.comI used to decline, politely, simply because I haven't quite figured out how it works. Nor have I taken the time to learn. When I told a colleague this last week, he told me, politely, that

Knowing Your Commitments

2006-04-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

As a creative consultant you should really know the total current inventory of your work for a client, or you won't be fully aware of what you can't do. Read that last sentence again. So often, in a silly attempt to please a client, one of the worst things a consultant can fall prey to, we leave off taking an inventory of work we commit to and get side tracked.This is a sure way to lose

A Consultants Chores!

2006-04-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

When you were a child you had chores to do. That is, if you had parents that made certain requirments on you, in order to instill some sense of responsibility and a fine work ethic.I had a paper route, and was required to take out the trash, and regularly clean my room. Simple chores, surely, but each taught me lessons I've lived by ever since.As a mature consultant here are some new chores:1)

When To Call It Quits!

2006-04-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, I had a conversation with a gal about her small business.She'd been in business for about eighteen months, every single one of which she'd lost money in... Lots of money!Yet...She was absolutely convinced if she put more money into her small business (money she didn't have) that somehow (she hadn't a clue how) her business would eventually (she had no idea when) become

Welcome To A Blog About Creative Living!

2006-04-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm creating this space to ruminate about two subjects that seem to collide often. Consulting and creativity. I've written two books covering these areas of living and "livlihood" as mentioned in the banner above this blog.I'm going to use it to amplify the subjects covered in the books and then, stream off into other areas that are not in them. I have to struggle to make sure I'm not bored and