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It never fails, no matter how much I really want to write about a particular article, blog post or rumor, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. So I guess it’s time to do a “brain dump” and empty out the ol’ file cabinet again.(Put on your best Edward G. Robinson gangster voice here.) So here’s how this works, see? I give you a link, a summary, and sometimes even a quote, see? You pick the ones you like, follow the link and read what you find, see? Nnnyah… (Oh, stop it. You’re killing me.)

On Innovation

The House of Innovation gives us four effective innovation strategies, and your task, should you decide to accept it, is to innovate in spite of everything: 1) Collaborate with your worst customers, 2) Ask them, what’s working and what’s not, 3) Show; don’t tell, and 4) Hide your innovation ideas inside a Trojan horse project.

Also from the House is the essence of innovation distilled into 5 principles. To whet your appetite, here’s #3: Passion is the fuel, and pain is the hidden ingredient. If that doesn’t intrigue you enough to make you read it yourself, then you’re dead to me!

Geert Laenen provides 10 traits of successful innovators, along with great examples of each one.

The Business Innovation Insider blog had two interviews I thought would be worth checking out. Chic Thompson (who names their kid ‘Chic’, anyway?) has a very good take on innovation from the customer’s perspective. “Most people think innovation is about meeting a customer need. I believe innovation is about eliminating a customer sacrifice.” I’d say that was bang-on. At least I would if I were Australian.

Another interview with Alfie Kohn (again with the name!) makes me wonder what he’s smokin’. Alfie seems to think there should be no rewards for innovation. At least I think that’s what he says. Can’t buy it personally, but read it for yourself and see what you think.

And finally, for a perspective on innovation from a completely different direction, there’s a short one about Christian Gansh, a grammy-award winning conductor. The BII post is OK, but unfortunately the referenced links are not in English. Too bad, it seems like it would have been worth reading. Anyone out there read German, or whatever it is?

On Blogging

Matthew Stibbe on Bad Language responds to the question “How do you start a blog” by… blogging the answer! Wow, what a pro! Most people would give you a list of 5, or maybe even 10 things to do, but no - Matthew provides 18 great points that, if followed through, will at least give you a decent head start over the main mass of blogs out there.

In the meantime, John Koetsier (did I finally get that right, John?) submits some great thoughts on the how, why, when and where of business blogging.

Andy Nulman’s hilariously titled Pow! Right Between the Eyes blog has a very funny true story that proves that every good blogger is the victim of an epidemic. Short and direct – you have to read it. Have to!

On Leadership and Stuff

Among the secrets of true greatness is to open your brain up to experiences that have nothing to do with your day job. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, for example, is a concert-level pianist. A Fortune magazine article mentioned in this post at the Business Innovation Insider is definitely worth checking out. Unfortunately I never had the chance to go back and find the actual article (it wasn’t out at the time), but now YOU can do it for yourself! How about that for an impromptu cross-training exercise?

Lewis Green from Marketing Profs has a really telling comparison called those who do vs. those who don’t that’s worth meditating over next time you find your business at the short end of the financial stick. Then again, it’s good reading anytime.

Ed Brenegar at Leading Questions offers his comments on two articles about leadership, one from USNews and World Report, and one from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government for Public Leadership. A bit more reading but well worth the time.

If you’ve heard of the new book Mavericks at Work (or even if you haven’t), you’ll want to hear Bob Sutton’s story of his own favorite Maverick. “I love the book, and I guess my only complaint is that – as much as I believe that mavericks, deviants, rebels, revolutionaries, or whatever you want to call people who go against grain –- are essential to innovation, I think that Taylor and LaBarre should have talked a bit more about the risks and downsides of challenging the status quo.” Downside, Bob? Really? You’re risking being something of a maverick yourself by even saying such a thing!

On Marketing and Other Best Laid Plans

For a quickie on that much-loved and ubiquitous marketing tool, direct mail, check out Lee Marc Stein’s funny and thought-provoking story about his recent brief foray as a much-reviled direct marketer. “So, we can make sure we have the right list and offer, develop superb creative [content] that stands out in the mailbox. But if we can’t get recipients to their mailboxes, that’s a problem, isn’t it?” Every direct-marketer’s nightmare, no doubt. At least I hope so.

From the HeraldToday.com website is a “Well, Duh!” story once again confirming what we probably all knew already: TV’s obsession with youth is backfiring on viewers, and subsequently, advertisers. Yeah, yeah - but what I want to know is, how can I get money from someone to confirm what is already common knowledge?

Congrats to Kathy Sierra at the Creating Passionate Users blog for not only using the premise that “sex sells” to find a picture that arrests the attention of every male (and probably many female) bloggers out there, but also being able to actually work the picture into her post (and even the title) in a meaningful way. Well, if you’re gonna do it, then that, folks, is how it’s done!

And finally, with the rather oxymoronic title of Having Fun While Networking, John Koetsier at Bizhack presents a guide on how to attend a networking gig for fun and profit. “The secret is actually to be interested in people and interested in what they do. This is so rare that people will want to talk to you and - amazingly - think that you are interesting.” I must admit, I’m one of those who would rather have a root canal, but hey, I think maybe John’s on to something here. It’s really all about being genuine; people latch onto that, really. Thanks, John for the reminder.

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Well, that’s all for now! Sorry about getting so long-winded (notice I apologized after I did it, not before!), but sometimes it’s hard to resist the opportunity to wax eloquent. (In case you don’t know, that’s an Olde English term meaning ‘laying it on thick and polishing it to a nice, shiny gleam’.)Y’all come back now, y’hear?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!