Creativity + Organization = Impact

Making Ideas Happen is a brilliant book that had me thinking every page along the way! Written by Scott Belsky, Founder of Behance and the99Percent.com conference series (and one of my favorite websites), this book takes tons of research of successful creative minds and breaks down some key strategies to leverage creativity and organization to bring ideas into action and maximize their impact!

Are Creative Minds Different From Others?

This book really gets its competitive advantage, or unique selling position, from the hypothesis that “creative minds” operate differently than others. “Creatives” are notoriously known for not being particularly organized, but Scott points out that successful creatives — the ones we all know by name — use very similar sets of organization tools and processes to turn their creativity into impact. But the organization strategy put forth by Scott and his Behance team, called the Action Method, is eerily similar to David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I will admit, however, that the stories, case studies, and explanations of how the “creative mind” works really resonated with me unlike any other book I’ve read.

The Action Method

The first section of the book is focused largely on “The Action Method” — Behance’s version of the productivity method extremely similar to David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy. The premise is that we need to look at our lives as a collection of projects — both personal and professional. Some are long-term, some are short-term. Each project consists of Action Items, Backburner Items, and Resources. And this is how we must capture and categorize the content in our lives. Everything should result in a series of action items, and these should be well organized! Then its all about pumping out results!

Throw Into the Mix: Community and Leadership

While I found the Action Method interesting and immediately applied it to my life, the real value in the book came from the following sections about community and leadership! It really resonated with a lot of what I’ve been going through and figuring out lately as a business owner and emerging entrepreneur. The “creative mind” tends to be fairly introverted, keeping ideas close to the chest. However, a lot of critical value comes from surrounding yourself with a community, exposing your ideas early on to build on feedback, and be held accountable by your peers. There’s a really interesting process in how ideas develop and evolve, and this was broken down into a science at Disney (an interesting story shared in the book!).

When it all comes down to it, though, it rests on your shoulders to bring your ideas into action. This is where the leadership comes into play. You have the responsibility and obligation to take control of things, inspire others to buy-into it, and to “make ideas happen”.

Who Should Read This Book?

I’ll admit, I had never really thought of myself as a “creative” before reading this book. But, as I mentioned before, everything in it from the case studies to the explanations of how the “creative mind” works really resonated with me on a deeper level than most books. I almost felt as if the author knew me! So its hard to say, “if you have a creative mind you should read this book.” I’ll break it down and say, instead, that if you have an idea or something you are passionate about getting done or seeing come into fruition — read this book! It will give you inspiration and the tools that you need to move forward! I’m sure of it!

I tend to have a hard time reading books by bloggers about blogging, because they tend to be a lot of rehashing the same principles and are targeted at an entry-level audience. Having said that, I have always been inspired by the raw passion and energy that Gary Vaynerchuck has and his desire to help others take advantage of the internet and social media tools to monetize on doing something they love!

My first introduction to Gary was in this YouTube video of a talk he gave back in 2008 at the Web 2.0 Expo:

You can clearly see that he’s a passionate guy, and can breed a massive following online by building a brand around authenticity (and controversy). I think this is a great book for somebody considering or just starting to break into the world of social media or capitalizing on their passion. His key points are pretty much nails on, and not reflected in a lot of entry-level social media books:

• Passion is Everything
• Build Your Personal Brand (Carve your niche)
• Create Great Content
• Be Authentic
• Build Your Community, and
• HUSTLE!

If you don’t feel jazzed to “make things happen” after seeing this video and reading this book, you probably can’t be saved! (Actually I still think you can! Let me know what your thinking in the comments of by email!)

Quick Thought on Building Community

Something I think about a lot is the community that we build around our content as bloggers. If that isn’t there, we’re just talking to ourselves! (Granted, my archived content still gets hits that surprise me — so always produce great content!) But building a community around your blog requires you to add that personal touch that Gary talks about: meeting your readers in person, on the phone, connecting 1-on-1 on Twitter, and everything you can do to surpass their expectations. This is the most important thing in the world is creating and maintaining authentic relationships.

Where I disagree with Gary is that this requires you to slave away in front of your computer screen all day. I’m a big advocate of dividing your time between:

• Personal Development (Physically, Mentally, Intellectually, Socially)
• Maintaining relationships with friends, fans, and colleagues
• Developing your business ideas and working on revenue generation, and
• Creating content for your blog, e-mail lists, etc.

All of these elements come into play when it comes to creating a kick-ass personal brand! Yes, you have to work hard! Yes, you have to hustle! But don’t forget that you can’t create awesome content and maintain a strong audience if you are not active in learning, growing, and doing interesting stuff!

Bounce was a nice and quick one-night read, written in the fable style of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and integrating many of the same business principles as can be found in Jack Stack’s The Great Game of Business. The book progressively lays out a set of management principles designed to help structure your business so that when inevitable hard-times come around, your company is able to respond with resilience (a.k.a. Bounce).

It’s probably a good book to keep on the bookshelf for future reference and inspiration! It’s definitely a book I plan to pick up in the future when things get rocky! Also, as I mentioned above, if you don’t like the fable-style of writing then be sure to grab a copy of The Great Game of Business for many of the same principles and concepts!

This is a book that every entrepreneur should just keep by his or her bedside! Packed with uplifting and insightful stories that help put a face behind some of the major brands of our day, 100 Great Businesses opens a door to part of the business world that is rarely seen by outsiders: the initial ideas, the perseverance, the struggle, the doubt.

I’ve kept this book by my bedside for the last year, and it has provided a ton of inspiration and plenty conversation! The individual company histories written within have a short-story feel to them, making them enjoyable to read and not overbearing with excessive information. And now that I’ve finished the book, I’ve already started from the beginning again!

I hands-down recommend this book over others (eg. Founders at Work, which is just hard-to-read interviews). Read it at night before bed, in-between bouts of work to relax and re-inspire, or when you wake up in the morning to energize yourself for an awesome day!

George Foreman’s book, Knockout Entrepreneur, was a surprise knockout on my reading list! I’m often wary of books written by athletes or salespeople, but Foreman really nailed this book. His warm, enthusiastic, and optimistic personality and character come right through the pages as he delicately blends autobiography with life lessons and business principles.

What comes across most in this book is the interrelationship between success in business and success in life. Foreman’s personal brand is founded in his own selflessness and integrity. Success in business, he reminds us, comes from serving others and connecting on a human level.

One of the points that stood out most to me was that success, at its core, is rooted in our everyday behavior: Whether we make our bed in the morning or pick up a piece of litter on the ground is symbolic of the fact that successful entrepreneurs see a need and they fill that need. Now, I make my bed EVERY morning!

Knockout Entrepreneur teaches us not only how to be successful in the business world, but how to lead good lives – because when it comes down to it, the two really are one and the same! I’m confident you will enjoy the read and draw value from the stories and lessons that are shared within the pages of this book.

Click Here For An Exclusive Peek Into “Knockout Entrepreneur”!

Side Note:

And to add icing to the cake, this book is part of Thomas Nelson’s “Nelson Free” program – meaning that you are not only purchasing the hardcover book, but the content inside. Once you’ve bought the book, you can download just about every format imaginable from .PDF to .MP3 to .MOBI for Kindle!

Disclosure:

This review was written as part of the Thomas Nelson Publishers’ “Book Review Blogger” program, where they send you a free copy of the book in exchange for a review. Everything I’ve written, however, is my own personal and unqualified opinion about the book! To learn more about the program visit: http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

Check out this 3-part Bloomberg interview with Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools / Founder of the Central Asia Institute. (Note: This interview is from September of 2008, prior to the publication of Stones into Schools.)

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Stuart Hart’s book, Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity, is a very well written and insightful look at why business should be at the vanguard of social, environmental, and economic development.

Over the course of the last 10-20 years, our generation has born witness to one of the most rapidly changing societies ever in history. Unfettered capitalism and rapid globalization has, over the span of such a short period of time, completely changed the global economic landscape – and the wealth disparity within.

• Multinationals (MNCs) account for more than 25% of world economic output.
  • However, they employ less than 1% of the world’s labor force.
  • 1/3 of the world’s willing-to-work population is unemployed or underemployed
  • And less than 1% of the world’s population participates in the financial markets as shareholders.

These numbers alone are self-evident of the growing wealth disparity between the rich and the poor. Among a plethora of other factors, the fact that 1/3 of the world’s willing-to-work population is un- or under-employed illustrates the rationale behind growing discontent over globalization.

And today, the world is facing a global recession. Large corporations are collapsing (or are on the brink of collapsing). The world’s poor are seeing the greed that is taking place globally and in their own countries, while they live in squalor. This is leading to a rise in political hostility that, in this new world-order we have created, does not remain geographically isolated.

The blame can go around, but the question in looking forward is who is in the best position to effect large-scale change. And the answer lies within the private-sector. During the 1990s, FDI by MNCs overtook official development assistance (ODA); by 2000, it exceeded ODA by more than a factor of 5.

The private-sector has the resources, the breadth, and the long-term incentives to help the world achieve “sustainable development” – defined by the Brundtland Commission as that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

We often talk about the triple bottom line in the social entrepreneurial space: profit, planet, and people. Hart drives home the fact that these three values are not at conflict with one another, and when looked at with the right perspective are quite aligned. The first half of the book focuses largely on environmental policy and business strategy, while the latter part of the book focuses on the bottom of the pyramid and poverty alleviation.

Note: Who Should Read This Book

If you’ve already read C.K. Prahalad’s Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, this book will not offer a whole lot more unless your interest is in environmental social innovation. If you’re interested in or work with environmental policy and/or environmental business strategy, Hart offers one of the best overviews I’ve ever read – making this a must-read book.

After stumbling into the small village of Korphe upon his descent from K2 in Pakistan, Greg Mortenson set out on a mission to build schools and bring hope to children (girls in particular) across Pakistan and eventually into Afghanistan. The wildly acclaimed bestseller Three Cups of Tea invited us on this journey, imbuing us with a sense of frustration at the preexisting conditions and excitement surrounding the hope and opportunity brought by these schools. Stones into Schools picks up where Three Cups of Tea left us, and focuses largely on the Central Asia Institute’s efforts in Afghanistan.

Stones into Schools definitely does not suffer from “sequel syndrome”, in fact it was arguably even more captivating than Three Cups of Tea! Written in the first-person, Mortenson really builds a story-arc around what has happened since the last book. The success of Three Cups has drawn massive support for CAI, but also bares the burden of speaking engagements and book signings that take Mortenson away from his family and work. When he isn’t traveling across the country promoting and fundraising (a job he despises), Mortenson is being rushed across Pakistan and Afghanistan by a quirky and enthusiastic staff of locals who you get to know and love throughout the book.

As Afghanistan returns to the forefront of the “War on Terrorism”, Mortenson’s experiences in the country show a whole other war brewing. A war being fought with books rather than bombs. A war by the Afghani population to close the chapter that has been 3 decades of conflict, and to reclaim their hopes and aspirations for a prosperous tomorrow. Fighting to bring education and literacy to girls in their communities include ex-mujahadeen and ex-Taliban. It’s really amazing the strong yearning for education that exists even in the farthest corners of the country, and the barriers that are being broken to achieve it. This is the war that does not capture the media headlines, but in many ways is more important to the success and future sustainability of Afghanistan than anything else.

It’s Our Turn to Eat, by Michela Wrong, tells the story of John Githongo — the famous whistle-blower of corruption under the Kibaki Administration in Kenya. Before picking up the book, I was concerned that I would be reading a lot of what I already knew — considering A. I wrote a paper on him several months ago, and B. I had explored a lot of the inner-workings of Kenyan politics during many-a-nights after Kiswahili class at a nearby bar with my professor going hours-on-end. As I began reading, however, I was enthralled by the insider and historical perspective that Wrong presents. I suppose to be expected, given Michela Wrong is a longtime friend of John Githongo and the first person he reached out to in his self-imposed exile in London.

The book contains a pleasant balance of story-line and history, culminating in one of the best overviews of Kenyan governance I have ever read. It’s Our Turn to Eat is a damning account of not only the Kenyan government, but of the international aid community that has completely failed to hold the Kenyan government to account — and in some cases is seemingly complicit in the massive-scale corruption taking place. The scale of the Anglo-Leasing scandal (the government contracting scheme uncovered by Githongo) amounted to 5% of GDP, over 16% of government gross expenditure in 2003-4, outstripping the country’s total incoming foreign assistance for the year (which was $521 million), and represented 3/4 the amount of incoming remittances from Kenyans abroad. In fact, the amount stolen would have been enough to supply every HIV-positive Kenyan with anti-retroviral for the next ten years.

However, concerned Ambassadors were pressured by their respective governments and aid agencies to take a sideline because they were under pressure to INCREASE aid in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The coziness between the government and the aid community is illustrated by the fact that two consecutive World Bank country chiefs lived in a guest house on the Kibaki compound! The latter even after the Githongo Report was released and Anglo-Leasing was out in the open!

Wrong points out that China’s African policy inhibits the West’s ability to take a hardline on corruption:

“The media in Kenya were increasingly complicity, the political class supine, and what did the donors’ reaction – if there was any – matter when China stood ready to lend to African governments, no questions asked?”

A quote from John Githongo resonated with me:

“There’s a condescending, implicitly racist argument with regard to Africa, which says that “excesive enthusiasm” in the fight against corruption somehow undermines the task of fighting poverty. But corruption, systemic corruption, is the most efficient poverty factor on the continent.”

As many economists and advocates call for a full-on cutting off of foreign assistance — to hold African governments to account to their people — Michela Wrong writes:

“This book does not seek to argue that donors should cut all aid to Africa, on the ground that ‘It’ll only be stolen,’ as the cynics claim. It does, however, hope to alert Western readers to the damage well-meaning thoughtlessness routinely causes.”

This is another quote that resonates with me, given my work with Transparency Solutions — donors MUST do their due diligence and have the oversight mechanisms in place to hold their programs accountable and ensure they are achieving the appropriate outcomes and not only emboldening corruption! I’ve read and have witnessed so many cases where money was sent to an NGO in Kenya that either didn’t exist (was a front) or that diverted those donations!

A Kenyan journalist, Kwamchetsi Makokha, says:

“Fundamentally the West doesn’t care enough about Africa to pay too much attention to how its money is spent. It wants to be seen to do the right thing, and that’s as far as the interest goes.”

I really hope that we can grow awareness of these problems among the donor and aid communities, and encourage THEM to be more accountable to the programs they fund. By not doing so, they are running the risk of doing more harm than good. I set up Transparency Solutions to help provide investors and donors with the tools they need to do this, it’s just a matter of generating the will-power on their part to invest in them!