Carl Setzer

A mediation on today's post by Seth Godin: "The respect of 'why'" . Questionsall was my first Twitter handle, and is the title of my poetry blog, and my very first site here on  Blogger .  I deeply value questioning, on probing. In not accepting things at face value. I believe the path to a great life comes through questions. What do I want to do with my life? What feeds my soul? What makes my heart soar? What steals my energy? My passion? My joy?  Hence, wise leaders accept the value of questioning. Everyone on the team needs to value the mission, share the dream and the goals. Then, and only then, will you have a team of innovators.  Obedient serfs don't innovate!

I adore Albert Einstein! And I appreciate the notion behind this. Change is challenging, and critical, and, well, hard.

I've been reviewing leadership and innovation. I see fear and creativity are inversely proportional. Creativity is critical for innovation. This reminded me of a Steven Covey story (from "7 Habits..."). A group of execs, are asked how to best motivate their staff. One quipped "hand grenades". I'm sure it's meant to be clever. However, that really captured a mind-set I've seen in stifling, bureaucratic environments. Fear, autocracy and micromanagement are the dominate tools. That's the realm of uber-short term thinking, and the antithesis of innovation culture. You can get mindless efficiency: no more. You'll get no creativity, no innovation, thus no agility. One can't bully your way into a culture of innovation and leadership.

I heard a great deal about Mr. Musk today, what with all the buzz about The Big D.  A few thoughts really strike me: When was the last time that an automotive announcement created such buzz?  How many CEOs (in any industry) can say, publicly, that they're colonizing Mars and not be laughed off the internet? Both of these got me thinking about Mr. Musk, the leader. Clearly, the greater world is invigorated by his style. He generates "buzz", and gets people talking. And audiences wait, eagerly, to eat up his words.  Additionally, he inspires confidence, to the point that disbelief is suspended. Outlandish claims, dreams, aspirations are considered with a level of seriousness I've not seen since Mr. Jobs. And this delights me. People inspired, innovation held up as wonderful; these are great things for us, for our culture. Things that bring our gaze upwards, cause us to think bigger are critical. Birthing happiness within me. 

A couple of months back I stumbled upon the Design Matters podcast . I'd utilize my commute to explore new and interesting ideas, and this is one that resonated well. Then my FM transmitter (which was how I played my podcast through the Prius' radio [no aux jack in my Prius...a 2005...none...in 2005 <wish I could all-cap 2005 here>...] died. I fell behind while I made my way through the holidays lacking one (I've been told that my propensity to buy stuff I need makes me a hard gift-shopper-for during the holidays. I really do try to be amenable to generosity). Currently, I've made my way back to November 2013 and have now discovered Dawn Hancock . Her blending of design, sustainability, social entrepreneurship just sings to me. One key thing driven home during my time at Starbucks: the power of these inter-related themes. This is transformative, and a key part of deep innovative thinking. She was a TEDx Speaker in 2010 (Chicago). Here's the video. Enjoy! ...

Last night I read, as I often do, a Kindle book on my Nexus ( The Manga Gen , if you care). The app magnified the particular frame I to be read. "Clever", I thought to myself. Yet, as I also do often, I wondered "what else can we do with these?" How can the devices transform the reading experience? Some ideas: animation, links within the document, perhaps an audio track? All kinds of quick, off the cuff possibilities. What would be wrought with a focused, detailed analysis? I know there are myriad opportunities, and think it would be grand to be part of that innovation. Who knows...

I want to dive a bit deeper into ThinkUp , but like what I've seen so far. Give Mr. Dash a few minutes of your time. Then let me know what you think. I'll be here...

Just read " Why Pierre Omidyar decided to join forces with Glenn Greenwald for a new venture in news " over at Jay Rosen's PressThink . So much of this makes me near giddy. The potential: amazing! Combining key stakeholders within both the online business sector ( Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, for you who don't know. And I'd like to think any reader here would know Glenn's work. If not, here's his Wikipedia article. These are the higher profile collaborators. Read the article for a more in-depth list). Not many details released yet, I expect that these are getting hashed out as we speak. their motivations, though, and the backgrounds of the collaborators are what give me the most excitement. This combination of talent presents an amazing opportunity to deeply innovate this space. Both from a financial side (let's face it, modern news has struggled with finding a sustainable financial model) as well as deeply utilizing elements of the modern web cult...

Just read another article about how some new device will be a "device x" killer. Over the years, the tech press has lauded PC killers, Office killers, Windows, and the ever present iPhone killers. Seems the underlying premise is that success requires the existing giant to fail. Seems that there's never considered the ability to coexist, to develop a new space. Zero sum games, not adding value or creating something new. 

"When you wish to achieve results that have not been achieved before, it us am unwise fancy to think they can be achieved by methods that have been used before." - Sir Francis Bacon It's critical, then, to expand knowledge. Study areas and ideas unrelated to your focus. Only by expanding your understanding of the world can you grab new ways of looking at the problems we are attempting to solve. A few thoughts for your Monday morning. May your week rock n' roll and transform the world.