Announcement: After a little encouragement Rich Finlinson has posted his first Blog. Congratulations. Rich is part of UEN and works with Bill Kucera in the Public Relations area. I've enjoyed many good conversation with Rich and look forward to hearing what he has to say.

Beginnings

I think it was about 1980. My dad had just returned from a seminar and was excited. He had listened to Mike Vance, purchased a set of tapes and wanted me to listen to them. I had no idea what to expect. So I took the tapes and listened.

Mike talked about creativity and creative thinking. He espoused the idea that creativity is something that can be taught and learned. I was truly fascinated with the tapes and I listened to them several times.

The major points have stuck with me over the past 23 years. Some of these points are:

Kitchen of the Mind: We have rooms that are used to prepare food for our bodies. And rooms that are dedicated for feeding our bodies. We should also have a room that is used to feed our minds. This room should be filled with interesting items that stimulate thought. Mike calls these items "queuing devices."

A queuing device is anything that can help you develop ideas or expand on ideas as you work and as you think. Mike got the idea when he was in the Korean War. He turned his tent into a kitchen-of-the-Mind to help him cope with the terribleness of the war.

Brain Surfing: Much more freeing than brain storming. A good way to get ideas.

Five Sensing: In imagination you use your mind to visualize. With five sensing you expound of the idea of "imagine"ination. Think about how something feels, smells. How does it taste? What about sound? A good tool to use with brain sailing.

Plussing: What do you do when you have a great idea that really works? Don't let it get stale. "Plus" it. Plussing is the way that Mike describes the idea of constant improvement. Why did McDonalds do so well in the 1970s and 1980s? Plussing.

Mike also asked the question, "How do you know that you have something good?" Answer: "People try to steal it."

Then he asks the question, "So how do you keep them from stealing a good idea?" Answer: "Plus it." Make it better. Keep fussing with it. Don't let up.

The Ephemeralization Process To be ephemeral is to be short-lived. The ephemeralization process it to shorten the time it takes to do something. Also, to ephemeralize it to make something more valuable. As Mike says, "it is how you do more with less."

Neotany: This is the idea of being an adult who retains child-like characteristics. Mike's example is that of picking flowers. As a young man you might pick some wild flowers for you mother. You probably broke off the stems, too. As an adult you might still impulsively pick wild flowers. This time for your wife or sweetheart. Only this time you make sure the stems are long enough to go into a vase. Neotany.

Reading and our ability to learn Mike talks a lot about reading. When asked what he does he likes to say that he is a reader. He advocates that we should all read 300 books a year. That's pretty difficult. He dropped his recommendation to 200 books and was still criticized. So he again dropped his recommendation, this time to 100 books. When told that wasn't realistic he said that it made him mad so now he recommends 300 books a year.

I've tried to follow that advice. I've had to modify it a bit. My personal goal is to read 100 pages, from books, every day. I also read two newspapers and a variety of magazines that are not included in this reading goal.

The reason for reading so much is that Mike believes a person can't know anything at all without a great deal of input. That is the way our minds work. And he also doesn't believe that anyone can know anything until they are at least 45.

Creativity: Mike gives the following definition of creativity: Making something new or rearranging something old in a new way.

Thinking Out-of-the-Box: I can't describe it. Go to Mike's web site and watch the graphic. Mike was talking about out-of-the-box thinking many years before it became a cliche.

There are so many other ideas that have occupied my time because of Mike's teachings. I had the opportunity to meet Mike and get to know him about 10 years ago. I've also purchase a few sets his tapes. He is a great person and a gifted thinker. I'm glad that he has been such a big influence on my life.

He has also taught me to think differently. Sometimes that gets me into trouble. Most of the time it serves me well.

That's all for now.........
9:45:21 AM    comment []