Nightshift

Catching up quickly with RSS readings this morning, I discovered a new blog on creativity thanks to Rubel’s Micropersuasion del.ico.us feeds. Well probably not exactly the kind of creativity blog you would immediately expect from my professional ’s point of view blog entries. Yet, if it does not sound related to our industry at first glance - except for the fact that its author is working at designing user experiences and interfaces at Amazon. The author is Tina, a Seattle based self-declared CHO (Chief Happiness Officer). Don’t be too quick to judge it is unrelevant

Because a majority of the personal development oriented posts at the very young but talented Think Simple Now blog do apply 100% to any company trying its best to focus on innovation as we’ve being doing all year long at Microsoft Advertising (just think about our Imagine 07 tour and our ‘if you can think it, you can do it’ campaign).

Go through how to build intimacy in any relationship, how to really listen to someone, the art of smiling or how to be naked like a baby posts and you’ll get a better idea on how you can connect them to your own business values. I particularly liked the ‘7 habits of highly innovative people‘.

The title of the post mirroring one of the most famous business book ever might be part of the successful recipe but the post in itself holds 7 appealing ingredients. Like for a lot of daily challenges - private ones like a diet or professional ones like speaking in public- the art of being successful is more about having the right mindset than being born with the right genes. So it goes with innovation. Here’s her 7 tips to create this new innovative mindset, inspired by the myhts of innovation, also available at Amazon :

1. Persistence - because “invention is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration“, Thomas A. Edison
2. Remove Self-Limiting Inhibitions - to consciously forge this new mindset
3. Take Risks, Make Mistakes - because failure is the most certain road to success
4. Escape - because unusual ideas are often prompted by unusual experiences
5. Write things done- because Moleskine notebooks are so very hype again
6. Find Patterns & Create Combinations - who said mash ups were a 21th century concept?
7. Curiosity

Why don’t we break the 7 ingredients’ recipe rule to add an essential 8th one: keep your child’s spirit - daring, adventurous, enthusiastic topped with endless eye-opener-why-questions. If you don’t feel reconnected with your talented being now, you might want to think about hiring a Chief Happiness Officer too.