day 149 - Better than a kid playing in a bucket..

Is there no limit to the warnings they need to give to protect us... from ourselves?

You'd like to think that the folks smart enough to work at these places would be able to make these decisions on their own!???!

I guess this one is just for the irony.

day 148 - Old things new...

Sometimes it's about taking something (like a window from an old pharmacy), making a few modifications, and giving it a new life. In this case a message center here at home.

The original glass makes for a good dry erase board, I had a piece of metal cut for a magnetic note board, and cut down an inexpensive cork board and inserted it. Also, found a nifty little magnetic box to hold the pens etc. at Ikea.

day 147 - Your own inspiration... 'Get IN / Get OUT'

This little diagram should sum up where our own inspiration *should* come from. Unfortunately we live in a world that usually favors the head over the heart. Trust me-- no, better yet, trust yourself.. this is where your gold truly lies.

day 146 - A little bit of inspiration...

Some times we're so close to our work (and ourselves) that we can't see our own skills and greatness.

Someone printed this quote out and shared it with me years ago. Ever since it's been a nice little addition to my work space as well a darn good reminder.

day 145 - 'Where ideas come from' (one more link)

Another link talking about creativity and how innovation happens...

Kevin Kelly and Steven Johnson on Where Ideas Come From

Two lines from this article that make complete sense to me (yet somehow seem to escape most business/corporations),...

"If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect."

And,...

"the idea that the most creative environments allow for repeated failure."

For what it's worth-- the world desperately needs more creativity,.. as it's the way to solve practically any problem.

Day 144 - My version of Day 142

A few days ago I posted an animation/video, 'Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation' (by Steve Johnson), and mentioned that it reminded me of something I had done a while back. It's a static illustration I had done to help communicate my thoughts with respect to creativity and innovation within the workplace/business environment. It took me a while to get my head around it, and I think I did a pretty good job (if I do say so myself ; ) of capturing and communicating the issues at hand. So much so, as soon as it was done, I saw more clearly than I ever had-- where and why the challenges reside.

Keep in mind there's a lot of story to be told in order to fully explain this-- the diagram itself could easily aide a full presentation, and if the details were expanded, practically each item illustrated here could be a chapter in a book.

Take a look and let me know your thoughts-- as always please share the good, bad, and otherwise.

Thanks-

Dave