Let's face it: some days start off as uninspiring. Whether it's because a looming deadline has paralyzed your creativity or the mid-winter blues have gotten the better of you or you simply can't find the spark that will light your fire.
For days like these, I have a couple of resources that help jump-start my creativity/productivity/brain. One of my favourites is the Creative Whack Pack by Roger von Oech. It's a deck of 64 cards with different strategies to help you break out of your regular thought processes and look at your project/challenge in a fresh way. There's an example on the right. Just a small thought to help reframe your perspective.
IDEO's Method Cards are another tool I use. Originally conceived as a tool that would help a designer choose the most empathic research method for her design project. These cards are now used in a variety of brainstorming and problem-solving situations where a way to challenge thinking is required.
But sometimes, I need more than a quick reframing of perspective. Often, a story of leadership or innovation will inspire. This is why I was delighted to discover Kevin Carroll's Red Rubber Ball at Work, a charming book I received through the MiniBookExpo: Business Edition hosted at One Degree last year.
Building on the success of his Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, Carroll's The Red Rubber Ball at Work is a collection of biographic vignettes. Subjects include people like Seth Godin, Irene Au of Google, Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes, Majora Carter (oh, talk about inspiration - watch Majora at TED in 2006. Amazing!!) and Vicki Phillips of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Each vignette describes both a childhood moment at play that crystallized a key idea or philosophy and then the subject's current vocation and how they bring this playful attitude to the work environment.
The book is organized around five key themes: Innovation, Results, Teamwork, Leadership and Curiosity. Carroll intros each section with his own observations about the topic, includes 6 or so vignettes and then tops each section off with a "Purposeful Play" list - further reading, watching and listening about the topic. If you visit the book's site, a number of these resources are included and hyperlinked there.
For me, The Red Rubber Ball at Work is a fun book to dip into when I have a few moments and need a little pick-me-up. It's full of great "Play is ..." mantras (a phrase completed by each interviewee). The childhood stories are inspiring as are the "application to work" scenarios - even if the writing is a little saccharine at times.
I like the design of the book very much. Reminiscent of a journal, it's inviting and tactile. If you're the kind of person who likes to make notes in your books, RRBAW is a good fit - lot of room in the margins as well as an actual "Notes" section at the back. Above is a pic of a 2-page layout, taken from the sample vignette (Peter Ruppe of Nike) that Carroll has on his site for download (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
The Red Rubber Ball at Work is around $15 - depending on where you purchase it. A nice gift for yourself or for someone who needs a little inspiration. Many thanks to McGraw-Hill for the review copy!