Try something new (the analog version)

Last month I challenged SBB readers to improve their communication skills by trying something new. Since everything I listed involved technology, however, I want to issue a follow-up challenge from the analog world. While it's crucial to keep pace with technology, it's just as important to learn how to use some tried-and-true communication tools and skills, like:

• A library card. Still free, and still relevant. (If you live in Allen County, apply for one here.)
• The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Still the best way to find every magazine article in print in a given year, and only available at your local library.
  
• Your reference librarian. Reference librarians are the original search engines, and they're better company than Google or Yahoo. When you need to dig deep on a research project, they're the people to see.
• Public speaking. One of the best ways to raise your profile at work or in the community. But make sure you can do it well before you volunteer. How do you learn?...
• Try Toastmasters or another skill-building group. There are plenty to choose from in northeast Indiana.
• Write a letter to the editor. Petrified of public speaking? Let your pen do the talking instead. Click to learn more about where and what to send to the Journal Gazette or News-Sentinel
• Your writing's not ready for prime time? Well, take a writing class at Ivy Tech Community College or IPFW.
• Learn a foreign language. Given population trends, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or Indian are probably good choices. French no longer makes a lot of sense from a practical standpoint, but learning just about any language is worthwhile. (Except Klingon. Learning Klignon is just nerdy.)
• You'd rather speak with pictures instead of words? Take a photography class. See pg. 32 of the spring Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation catalog from a class that's only $67.
• Teach a class. Already good at most of this stuff? Consider teaching others. You'll hone your public speaking skills, too, and you'll inevitably learn something new about your topic.
  
• Read. A book. A real book. Something with actual pages.
• Travel.
  
• Turn off the computer and talk to someone. Yes, I mean now.
  

Free e-book for all the writers out there

The Lonely Writer by Geoffrey Hineman might be the best e-book I've ever read with a reference to Theo from The Cosby Show. A sample of what's inside:

We humans, by nature, are a social lot. Being alone, and projecting the discomforts of that loneliness can get in the way of productive writing. For instance, how many times have you found yourself looking forward to some uninterrupted alone time as the perfect opportunity to get some writing done. Then, when the time came, you squandered it? And how many times was it spent doing things that weren't as important or fulfilling to you as your writing is?

If this sounds like you, then please keep reading. This book is for you.

In the following pages, I will be sharing with you ways to capture (or in some cases recapture) the ability to embrace this lonely act of writing and tap your own innate, and very distinct, sense of creativity.

Hat tip: Copyblogger

Fort Wayne Smaller Indiana group launched

I’ve started a Fort Wayne group on Smaller Indiana, the social network that brings together “creative people and innovative ideas” from across the Hoosier State. If you work in communication, marketing, or advertising, I’d encourage you to visit the site--and sign up, if you like what you see.

The best 8 min., 19 sec. you'll spend on the web today

Phenomenal, thought provoking stuff from "Shift Happens" creators Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod.

Hard work is hard, but the work goes much better when you know who it’s for and your creativity’s clever

Yes, this is a post about Dr. Seuss—the documentary The Political Dr. Seuss, to be precise. I began the night with no more than a passive appreciation for the film's subject, but I gained a new respect for everything that’s packed into those little books. After watching it with a few friends Saturday night, I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, writing, creativity, education or politics—just about everyone, that is. The title is a little misleading, however, in that politics are just part of the story. In fact, my three biggest takeaways had nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with the type of stuff that’s right in SBB’s wheelhouse:

1. Hard work is hard... Theodor Geisel, the man behind Dr. Seuss, would write as many as 500 pages to get the 60 he needed for one of his books. In the process, he’d also throw away 90% of his drawings. The lesson? If you want the end product to be great, you have to revise, revise, revise. And don’t fall in love with your first draft. Or your second. Or your third.
   

2. But the work goes much better when you know who it’s for... One of the many things I learned from the film is that during World War II, Geisel made training films for the U.S. Army. But they weren’t just any films: they were animated movies starring a character named “Private Snafu.” The Army had called upon Geisel after traditional videos starring soldiers (who couldn’t act) and actors (who couldn’t act like soldiers) had received a poor response. Seuss realized that entertaining, fun films would be much more memorable than the boring, serious fare his audience no longer responded to. (Geisel was apparently 60 years ahead of Made to Stick.) The lesson? Know your audience, and don’t be afraid to try something new if it’s aligned with your audience’s needs.
   

3. and your creativity’s clever. The Cat in the Hat began as a replacement for the outdated reading primers used in schools in the 1950s. Limited to a small list of words that would reflect the vocabulary of younger readers, Geisel had a hard time getting started. His solution? He decided to use a working title that incorporated the first two words on the list that rhymed—“cat” and “hat,” of course. The lesson? Creativity in problem solving is just as important as artistic creativity.
   

There’s a lot to like about The Political Dr. Seuss—and you may have a chance to see it for yourself very soon, thanks to a Fort Wayne organization that shall for now remain nameless. Once the details are finalized, I’ll post the date, time, and place.

Smaller Indiana Getting Bigger

You probably already have enough networks to manage, but if you consider yourself creative here's another one worth joining: Smaller Indiana. The site promises to be a
"place for you to share your ideas and engage with Indiana's most creative and inspired souls...working together to build community, culture and commerce."

With an agenda that ambitious, there doesn't appear to be anything "small" about Smaller Indiana--except the number of Fort Wayne members. Change that by clicking here to show those Circle City slickers that we, too, can make with the creative.

Hat tip: Taking Down Words

New Year, New Ideas

If you want to come up with some big ideas in 2008, but you don't know where to start, check out 100-Whats of Creativity, a free e-book from Don the Idea Guy.

Here's just one example...#49:

What if... the idea fails?

Would you start again or close up shop and go into another business?
Would you build on the existing concept or abandon it all together to pursue a completely new idea?

What does a failure say about the market for your product?
The project execution?
The personnel involved?

What will you have learned?
What lessons can you take to the next project?

What constitutes a failure?

Download #49 and the other 51 "Whats" here.