<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:14:14 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>Creativity Matters</title><subtitle>Creativity Matters</subtitle><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/atom.xml"/><updated>2010-03-16T04:14:33Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>10 steps to customer journey mapping - Mapping out customer experience excellence</title><category term="customer experience"/><category term="designthinking"/><category term="marketing"/><category term="storytelling"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/10-steps-to-customer-journey-mapping-mapping-out-customer-ex.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/10-steps-to-customer-journey-mapping-mapping-out-customer-ex.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-15T11:57:23Z</published><updated>2010-03-15T11:57:23Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[A product or service is merely a means to an end. The real deeper value lies in the story attached.

I don’t want to own a coffee maker - I need to wake up early with a little help from a cup of coffee. I don’t want to use a train - I want to get home to my wife and children. I don’t want to go to a store and buy a stereo set - I just want to listen to my favourite rock music when I’m home, it makes me unwind after work.
Unfortunately, most organisations are not capable of listening to stories. And this is why the gap between "inside and outside" has grown too wide. To stay competitive and survive the changes organisations are presently facing, they need to reassess the way they are structured, function and build relationships with customers. Closing the "reality gap" between organisations and people (employees and customers alike) should be the number one priority. And for this we need a new set of skills, methods and tools.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Break Group Think, Outsiders Can Help You to See Things - Paul Sloane</title><category term="Paul Sloane"/><category term="Philips"/><category term="creativity"/><category term="designthinking"/><category term="leadership"/><category term="management"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/break-group-think-outsiders-can-help-you-to-see-things-paul.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/break-group-think-outsiders-can-help-you-to-see-things-paul.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-15T09:52:11Z</published><updated>2010-03-15T09:52:11Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[How can you break out of the group-think that affects most large organizations? How can you escape from the corporate frameworks that shape discussions and ideas?

Philips is moving from a high-volume electronics manufacturere to a design-led, lifestyle technology company. It needs help to get there so it set up a 'simplicity board'. Philips reckoned it needed a fresh perspective

 from creative types with no ties to the company. So it formed the simplicity board, a group of external specialists in health care, fashion, design, and architecture. "Philips was too inward-looking," says Andrea Ragnetti, Chief Marketing Offier. "To really embed simplicity into the company's DNA, we needed an element of vision."]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Must-See Movies for Entrepreneurs - Harvard Business Review</title><category term="Inspiration"/><category term="Motivation"/><category term="entrepreneurs"/><category term="films"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/must-see-movies-for-entrepreneurs-harvard-business-review.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/must-see-movies-for-entrepreneurs-harvard-business-review.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-14T13:38:45Z</published><updated>2010-03-14T13:38:45Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[After the Oscars last weekend, I started to think about which movies have really inspired me as an entrepreneur. Here are three films I believe that you should not only see, but also share with your teams. Each ties to an important entrepreneurial and leadership lesson.

Man on Wire
A story of the fanatical pursuit of a dream. Philippe Petit, a French tightrope walker, was consumed by the idea of walking a wire between New York's former World Trade twin towers. To do so, he would need years of planning and would have to do it as a covert mission. When I first watched this film, I did not know if it was based on a true story or not. The narrative and grainy black-and-white shots made me constantly question whether I was wishing for this to be true or if it was just brilliant story-telling.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Eleven Tips for Boosting Your Sense of Quiet Focus | Psychology Today</title><category term="Focus"/><category term="Psychology"/><category term="behaviours"/><category term="meditation"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/eleven-tips-for-boosting-your-sense-of-quiet-focus-psycholog.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/15/eleven-tips-for-boosting-your-sense-of-quiet-focus-psycholog.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-14T13:33:07Z</published><updated>2010-03-14T13:33:07Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[We all know the feeling of being overwhelmed, of being beset by distractions.

The problem is – too many things are clamoring for your attention. People are trying to reach you, by phone, email, text, Twitter, IM, or old-fashioned yelling up the stairs. There are the interesting subjects you want to learn more about, on the TV or the internet or the newspaper. Noises in the background occasionally catch your ear, from the TV or radio. Your kids all talk at the same time. Colleagues interrupt. You need to update, check in, post, or ping. Ads jump at you from the most unlikely places. Devices buzz, ring, chirp, and vibrate.

It’s enough to drive you crazy. You lose your train of thought, you forget what you’re doing, you have trouble re-engaging in a task, you feel besieged.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>The 7 Principles of Improvisational Theater as a Complex Adaptive System</title><category term="Arts"/><category term="Work"/><category term="business"/><category term="improvisation. complex systems"/><category term="presentation"/><category term="theatre"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/14/the-7-principles-of-improvisational-theater-as-a-complex-ada.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/14/the-7-principles-of-improvisational-theater-as-a-complex-ada.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-14T12:38:20Z</published><updated>2010-03-14T12:38:20Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[I am in an improvisational theater performing group. We improvise full-length plays with nothing planned in advance. No structure. No outline. No character or plot development. Nothing, except for two locations we get from the audience at the beginning of the play. The play is then titled, "The Space Station and the Bathroom," or whatever locations we get from the audience. Two of us then run on stage and start interacting, and thus the play begins.

When the play goes well, the audience says, "That HAD to be scripted. At least some part of it had to be scripted. It looked too easy." It was easy. When the performance does not go so well, the audience says, "That looked hard." It was hard.

I became fascinated by what makes it work. What creates peak level creativity in our group? What allows a complex, coherent, sense-making structure to emerge from nothing but a simple location? What is the "magic formula" that allows a fully formed, organized play - with believable characters and plot - to emerge before the audience’s (and our own) eyes? And what gets in the way? Why does it work seamlessly sometimes and not so well other times? I became a serious student of improv theory - reading the seminal books in the field and observing the patterns in my group and other groups.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>2010 Nobel Prize Winning Political Economist Identifies 8 Ways For Groups To Manage Their Own Affairs Sustainably and Successfully</title><category term="Sustainability"/><category term="behaviors"/><category term="diversity"/><category term="economics"/><category term="institutions"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/14/2010-nobel-prize-winning-political-economist-identifies-8-wa.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/14/2010-nobel-prize-winning-political-economist-identifies-8-wa.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-14T01:33:29Z</published><updated>2010-03-14T01:33:29Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[A lot of data interpreted by the right kind of theory was required before Lin Ostrom's could identify the eight ingredients that enable groups to manage their own affairs. A warning is in order before I proceed: After you learn them, you are likely to think "Of course! Aren't these obvious?" The answer is "Only in retrospect". The ingredients did not emerge from neoclassical economic theory, a long intellectual journey was required for Lin to discover them, and all successful explanations, obvious or not, must be understood in terms of a formal theoretical framework.

Without further ado, here is Lin Ostrom's recipe for success, taken from the final chapter of her book Understanding Institutional Diversity.

1) Clearly Defined Boundaries. The identity of the group and its rights to the common resource must be clearly delineated.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>OKGo shows true creative leadership and innovation</title><category term="Innovation"/><category term="Music"/><category term="OKGo"/><category term="businessmodel"/><category term="creativity"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/12/okgo-shows-true-creative-leadership-and-innovation.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/12/okgo-shows-true-creative-leadership-and-innovation.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-12T04:59:16Z</published><updated>2010-03-12T04:59:16Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[The story behind our featured video of the month is the perfect example of generational change. A perfect case study in what happens when organisations fail to recognise the changing nature of the market and fail to adapt their business models to suot the market. It is OKGo that has shown creative leadership here, not EMI. It is worth reading their blog to see how well they handled this.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Groupthink, Self Serving Subordinates and Uncertainty - Can They Be Overcome</title><category term="Martin Evans"/><category term="OD"/><category term="behaviours"/><category term="groupthink"/><category term="leadership"/><category term="management"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/11/groupthink-self-serving-subordinates-and-uncertainty-can-the.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/11/groupthink-self-serving-subordinates-and-uncertainty-can-the.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-11T08:28:46Z</published><updated>2010-03-11T08:28:46Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-AU"><![CDATA[In this article, Martin Evans considers the barriers to accurate information gathering in large organizations.

“I expect to get valid information … I can’t make good decisions unless I get valid information” George W. Bush, April 13th 2004.

George Bush’s cry is echoed by every organizational manager in the world. Looking back on the Presidency of George W. Bush we can see many information failures. Every manager would like to be sure that the information received was both timely and accurate. Every good manager knows it’s their responsibility to make sure that information received is timely and accurate. Despite his Yale education, George W. Bush did not learn this. Every good manager knows about the three major barriers to the realization of good information: group think, self-serving subordinates, and uncertainty absorption. Despite his Harvard Business School Education, George W. Bush failed to grasp this. Good managers are proactive to ensure that these barriers are overcome. Despite his years of management experience, George W. Bush did not learn this.

In this article I will deal with the three barriers:]]></summary></entry><entry><title>We are What We Measure</title><category term="Innovation"/><category term="Measurement"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/8/we-are-what-we-measure.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/8/we-are-what-we-measure.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-08T12:06:53Z</published><updated>2010-03-08T12:06:53Z</updated></entry><entry><title>Building Organisational Capabilities - McKinsey Global Survey 2010</title><category term="HR"/><category term="McKinseys"/><category term="OD"/><id>http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/8/building-organisational-capabilities-mckinsey-global-survey.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/creativity-matters-blog/2010/3/8/building-organisational-capabilities-mckinsey-global-survey.html"/><author><name>Ralph Kerle</name></author><published>2010-03-08T06:04:17Z</published><updated>2010-03-08T06:04:17Z</updated></entry></feed>