InnovatorsDigest: 1.1 Tools, Techniques & Tips

NEW Innovation Tool of the Month Club.com Provides Innovation Stimulus

CLICK to Learn About a New Club for Innovators!

www.InnovationToolOfTheMonthClub.com

Amazon.com Offers KnowBrainer Innovation Tool on Sale for 15% Discount

Over 100,000 people around the globe have the award-winning KnowBrainer and innovation tools created by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman. For the first time ever, Amazon.com is offering a significant discount on the latest version 4.0 of the KnowBrainer innovation tool.

Save 15% and order your KnowBrainer tools for only $83 (Save $15) by clicking HERE on Amazon.com. All purchasers can attend a free 60-minute Tool Training Webinar ($100 value) led by Solutionman or his certified KnowBrainer trainers. After placing your order, send an email to webinars@solutionpeople.com for your KnowBrainer Training Webinar invitation. Click HERE to read detailed background information on the KnowBrainer.

My Thinkubator Experience - a Review by "Experience Economy Expert" Bill Gibeault

Gerald Haman loves questions. In fact, his favorite question is "What is your favorite question?"

So here was my question. How did he and his company, SolutionPeople, get me to travel half way across the country to attend his Accelerated Innovation & Creativity Workshop in Chicago?

Throughout my years in corporate America, I have experienced learning and training encounters in virtually every shape or form you can think of – leadership, selling, negotiating, public speaking and streaming media. Why was this going to be any different?

In their bestselling book, The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre and Every Business a Stage, Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore ask a series of great questions. In a world where most products and services have little differentiation, what would customers really value? Better yet, for what would they pay a premium?

The answer is experiences—how companies engage customers in an inherently personal and memorable way. The buzz on Haman's Accelerated Innovation Workshop was that it wasn't the traditional lecture and 3-ring binder snore, but a real EXPERIENCE.

This was a big lure for me. I had just became was certified by Pine & Gilmore in the theories and models of The Experience Economy. I wanted to discover if the Thinkubator "experience" lived up to its impressive word-of-mouth billing.

Located in a spacious loft in Chicago's West Loop, the Thinkubator is a truly innovative venue. Festooned with toys, games, large-screen TVs, Aeron chairs, light bulbs in various shapes and forms, bean bags, sofas and sculptures, it invites you into a world that definitely isn't business as usual.

Haman's opening act is literally transforming. It's called the "Know Your Brain Game Experience." It's a quick, but amazingly accurate "brain scan." I won't spoil the surprise, but attendees gain some insight into how their brain works and how they can use this knowledge to become more consistently innovative. The game is a highly interactive experience and sets the stage for the introduction of SolutionPeople's 4-quadrant brain model and 4-state Accelerated Innovation Process. (Investigate, Create, Evaluate and Activate). At this point, every participant gets a KnowBrainer® Innovation & Creativity tool. The brainchild of Haman, it's an innovative hand-held tool that uses a combination of questions, words, quotes and images to help people think through all the stages of his proven creative problem solving process.

Cool fact: Tests by students at Northwestern University and Wayne State University found that the KnowBrainer tool increased creativity levels by over 500% versus traditional brainstorming with flip charts. In just the first 3 hours of the Innovation Workshop, SolutionPeople delivered a memorable experience – engaging clients with entertainment, education and a dynamic venue.

A great experience? Most definitely. One of the most remarkable accomplishments of SolutionPeople is that the "experience" has fueled the growth of the organization. Haman hasn't relied on traditional advertising to get clients; growth was a result of word of mouth and the continuing story amazing Thinkubator experiences.

Author's Footnote: SolutionPeople's Gerald Haman recently invested an entire week with Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore to become a Certified Experience Economy Expert. He is already making plans to enhance the Thinkubator Experience by applying new ideas inspired by his interaction and discussions with Pine & Gilmore. Haman has organized a new LinkedIn Experience Economy Networking Group for fans and practitioners of The Experience Economy.

Affiliate-to-Innovate: 60,000 LinkedIn Innovators in Groups Can Use NEW Discussion Forums

LinkedIn just released a valuable new feature that allows Group members to engage in discussions about innovation, creativity and other interesting topics. Articles from Innovator's Digest will be linked to some provocative questions in Group Discussion areas.
Get ThinkedIn by joining in our innovation conversations via the LinkedIn Groups that now include over 60,000 innovative minds.

Click Below to Join Our Top 24 LinkedIn
Innovation Groups & Join the Discussions!

Do you want your free subscription to Innovator'sDigest? Click HERE to subscribe and receive innovation news that includes questions used for LinkedIn Innovation Group Discussions.

Communicate-to-Innovate Using 21 Persuasive Words That Work

Innovators know how to "communicate-to-innovate" by using persuasive language that engages people to support their ideas. Presidential speech-writer Frank Luntz wrote Words That Work, a book that contains his recommended list of persuasive words. Consider using his recommended words when preparing your next presentation or communication.

21 Words & Phrases
for 21^st Century Innovators
1. Imagine
2. Hassle-free
3. Lifestyle
4. Accountability
5. Results / Can-Do Spirit
6. Innovation
7. Renew, Revitalize, Rejuvenate, Restore,
Rekindle, Reinvent
8. Efficient, Efficiency
9. The Right to
10. Patient-Centered
11. Investment
12. Casual Elegance
13. Independent
14. Peace of Mind
15. Certified
16. All-American
17. Prosperity
18. Spirituality
19. Financial Security
20. Balanced Approach
21. Culture of

Notice that "imagine" is first, "innovation" is number sixth, and the six "R" words came raml as number seven on the list. If you are looking for more words that may be especially appealing to some people, check out Solutionman's Politicator List and Worksheet that was inspired by the persuasive language of American presidential candidates.

Click to Order Frank Luntz Words that Work Book at Amazon.com

The 500% Solution: 7-Day KnowBrainer® Challenge

It weighs a mere 5 ounces and fits easily into a shirt pocket, but despite its diminutive size, Solution People’s KnowBrainer® Tool packs an incredible jolt of innovative prowess. Listen to Starbuck’s John More: “The beauty of the KnowBrainer tool is at every innovation stage, the tool asks you focused questions designed to better create, shape, evaluate, and activate the idea(s) for implementation. KnowBrainer is more than an innovation tool, It’s a catalyst to zoom ideas into action.”

In studies at two major universities, the KnowBrainer tool increased creativity by a an incredible 500%. But one of the most powerful innovations of KnowBrainer is that it wasn’t designed to stay on the shelf or stay in the desk. It was created to be as accessible as a wireless phone.

Mark Twain once wrote “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” The key to becoming consistently innovative is literally to turn the KnowBrainer into a no-brainer. That’s why I developed the 7-day KnowBrainer® Challenge for my clients.

After they have completed KnowBrainer Training, I wait two weeks and then ask them about their experience with the tool. They are usually very enthusiastic but are surprised when I ask “how often” they use it. I tell them I use it everyday. That’s when I give them the KnowBrainer Challenge.

Carry the KnowBrainer with you in your pocket or purse for one full week including weekends. Make a commitment to use it at least twice a day during that period. The problems, challenges or goals can be business and personal. After the first three days, make another commitment. You must use all four areas (Investigate, Create, Evaluate, and Activate) for the next four days.

What was a novelty becomes habit. The habit of using KnowBrainer’s stimulate-to-innovate process then becomes imprinted. The benefit? In just one week, you’ve become your own innovation consultant. You are using the same tool that has helped Apple, Google, American Express and Motorola.

Are you ready for the 500% Solution? For detailed information on the KnowBrainer Innovation Tool, Click HERE. Order KnowBrainer tools at the SolutionStore.

Marty Baker - President of Inotivity
Email Marty

New "Politicator" Brainstorming Technique: Use Obama and McCain's Words to Innovate (Download Free Worksheet)

Interesting innovation opportunities can be inspired by paying attention to the language used by American presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. I've created a new brainstorming technique called The Innovative Politicator™ for people who want to develop innovative ideas that are politically correct. Now you can now generate ideas that appeal to Republicans, Democrats and Independents by using the whole brain – not just the right of left sides!

Technique Background
Content for The Innovative Politicator™ was identified by applying rhetorical analysis methods I learned in Graduate School at the University of Minnesota where I earned a Masters degree in Communications. I took pages of notes while listening to weeks of speeches by McCain, Obama, and Vice Presidential nominees Joe Biden and Sara Palin. Over a 2-week period, that included national conventions of both parties, I kept track of the words used by each candidate and made note of which words generated high levels of applause and emotional engagement. I was fascinated by the similarities and differences between the rhetoric of both parties. There are over 900,000 thousand words in the English language and I identified 37 words (called Wordators in the worksheet) to stimulate ideas.

37 Political Brainstorming Words
RepublicansDemocratsBothParties
1. America
2. Better
3. Care
4. Change
5. Character
6. Children
7. Country
8. Democrats
9. Education
10. Energy
11. Families
12. Fight
13. Future
14. Going
15. Government
16. Health care
17. Hope
18. Independents
19. Jobs
20. Leader
21. Life
22. Love
23. Mothers
24. Nation
25. Party
26. People
27. President
28. Promise
29. Reform
30. Republicans
31. Stand
32. Taxes
33. Trust
34. Work
35. World
36. Years
37. Young

Download Your Free Worksheet
Individuals and teams can use this self instructional worksheet for a wide variety of goals, challenges, problems and questions.

Download your FREE PDF of The Innovative Politicator™ Worksheet by Clicking HERE. The worksheet is simple and self instructional. Consider it a gift that you can share with innovators regardless of their political views.

Politicate-to-Innovate,
Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

Pop The Question! 9 Questions to Make Creative Ideas POP!

Sam Horn's book, POP! Standout in Any Crowd, suggests innovators answer 9 simple questions called the W-9. You can use these 9 questions to plan to market, sell, promote or implement creative ideas:
W9 Pop Question Bank
W1: What am I offering?
W2: What problem does my problem or offer solve?
W3: Why is it worth trying or buying?
W4: Who is my target audience?
W5: Who am I and what are my credentials?
W6: Who are my competitors and how am I different from them?
W7: What resistance or objections will people have to this?
W8: What is the purpose of my pitch?
W9: When, where, and how do I want to take people to action?

Do you want to see a real case example of the W-9 questions in action? Check out Innovation Tool of the Month Club to see how Horne's W-9 questions were used to design the website. Innovators Digest reads books and extrapolates to questionate, so readers can apply the author's wisdom. It was easy to extract questions from this book!

QUESTIONATE & Discuss in Our LinkedIn Group:
What are the questions you think MARKETING innovators should ask or think about to sell or promote creative ideas?
Join the Innovator's Digest Discussion on our Linkedin Group for Marketing & PR Innovators to share your questions and read others suggested questions.

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