We live in a world of continual innovation. Innovation is the new benchmark of business success. It is the driver of increased efficiency and quality in just about everything we do. In short, innovation defines our contemporary experience.

This is a good thing, right? Every moment of every day a better mousetrap is revealed to us. We now have virtually unlimited choices in every area of our life, often where just a few years ago we had just a few, or one, or even none at all.

Are you on Facebook? MySpace? Do you “Tweet?” What blog platform do you use? How about newsletters? How do manage your calendar, your contacts, your tasks? Mac or PC? Windows or Linux? What about cloud computing?

How do you deal with it all? How can you possibly select, much less master, the technologies, techniques and methodologies  that can help you work, play, communicate and live most effectively and efficiently, when a whole new batch debuts every few days, or even minutes?

And what if you are an innovator yourself? How can you possibly stay ahead of the curve? Certainly there must always be someone better, faster, brighter or more informed.

This is actually a very interesting problem we have today, one we face for the first time in human history. Our challenge isn’t that we don’t have the ability to do things as quickly or efficiently as we’d like; it’s that we have too many ways to do them. The net result, for many, is paralysis.

If you’re old enough to remember such things, it used to be pretty simple to pick out a new television to buy. You’d go to the department store, compare all the pictures and price tags, and then choose the set that looked best to your eye and your wallet. Not any more. Today you’re faced with a seemingly endless list of decisions, from display technology to connectivity options – and yes, even picture quality and price.

If you’re a card-carrying tech geek, none of this concerns you. Such things are your life, your passion, your hobby, your whole world. But if you’re one of the poor schlubs who is just trying to function with reasonable effectiveness in this dizzying innovation-drunk world, here are a few thoughts to help clear your head.

1. ACCEPT DEFEAT. Well, not literally, but start off by simply understanding that you will never be an expert at everything. No one is. Again, years ago there were simply not that many things to be an expert at. Most of us were lucky if we mastered one thing. Today we are expected to be proficient at many. Simply by recognizing and accepting that knowing everything isn’t possible, it frees your mind and attention for strategizing how to best tackle your challenges.

2. GET HELP. Fortunately, while you can’t be an expert at everything, there are experts at everything you need to know about. Everything you require, someone else already does. And never before has that expertise been more available to you than it is today. Getting help can take many forms, from hiring a consultant or service provider to simply doing some good old-fashioned online research. A world of assistance and information is literally at your fingertips. If you need cost-effective, expert help, try Elance.com. You can find really smart, talented people who will compete for the opportunity to assist you.

3. DON’T BE FICKLE. Find something that works for you and stick with it. One of the most dangerous, time consuming and costly mistakes you can make is constantly changing the technology or methodology you use to do something. Find solutions that meet your needs, become as proficient at them as you can (or line up the help you need) and then stop looking elsewhere-at least for a while. At the same time, try to remain aware of what’s going on in the world. When a paradigm-changing innovation appears (like the iPhone, for example) consider making a quantum leap, and starting the process again.

4. GET YOURSELF TOGETHER. Every day our attention is pulled in countless directions. Literally thousands of tasks, bits of information, messages, and sales pitches compete for our time and focus. Take a proactive approach to organizing your activities. There are many ways to do this. One of the best is the “Getting Things Done” (abbreviated as GTD) time management program by David Allen, which you can learn all about in his book by the same name.

Despite the numerous challenges facing many of us today, this is an exciting time. Never before has so much been possible. Open your mind to the opportunities around you, stay focused, choose your challenges carefully, and you’ll be able to make innovation your greatest ally.

We are thrilled that this question has elicited so much response.

First, to date, of those who answered the poll, almost 1/2 (47%) believe creativity can be taught, 29% think this is “somewhat” the case (that people can improve their creative ability), 24% feel you’ve either got it or you don’t.

Perhaps more interesting, however, is the number and variety of responses we received when we posted the question on LinkedIn. In just one day the question received 23 answers from business professionals of all kinds, from different industries. Many were extremely thoughtful and provocative. We hope to use highlights from several in our article.

In the meantime, I’ll share an original poem offered up by Michael Lyubomirskiy, project manager, consultant and inventor at Lyubomirskiy Consulting.

Can creativity be taught?
Debate is endless. All for nought.
“Self improvement” so much fun
Run around, but nothing done.
Geniuses meanwhile left to rot…

More soon on this topic!

Innovation comes about in all areas. On this blog we often focus on innovative forms of communication, or design or advanced technologies that make life easier or more productive.

Of course, the area of health, fitness and wellness is always full of innovative processes and technological advances. But here’s an example of innovation that truly helps everyday people solve an everyday problem, utilizing bleeding edge technology that would’ve been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Not long ago, a friend told me about a revolutionary device he read about that tracks the number of calories your burn with unprecedented accuracy – not just while you’re working out (like a heart rate monitor), but 24 hours a day, even while you’re sleeping. Combined with a highly personalized website that allows you to easily input your personal stats, set weight and fitness goals, and track your calorie intake, this product represents true innovation in the area of health and wellness.

bodybugg is technological innovation at its best. It combines a sophisticated web-based user interface, an exceptionally “smart” device you wear on your arm that monitors FIVE different physical responses to accurately track calorie burn, and an optional digital display that reports it all to you in real time.

The bodybugg website describes it like this…

“The bodybugg armband calorie tracking device uses a patented process to monitor and interpret your calorie burn throughout the day or during your workouts. Using data from four physiological sensors in conjunction with your body parameters (age, gender, height, and weight), the bodybugg electronic calorie counter provides the most accurate estimation of energy expenditure available outside of a clinical setting.

“The bodybugg system uses a patented process for interpreting calorie burn. The process is based on:

• Steps: The accelerometer counts steps by measuring the distinct patterns created by running or walking.
• Galvanic skin response: When you sweat, your skin becomes more electrically conductive. This meas
• Motion: The armband contains an accelerometer that measures motion from multiple perspectives.
• urement helps the device understand how active you are.
• Skin temperature: There’s an electronic thermometer inside your armband that monitors how hot you are.
• Heat flux: When you move, your muscles produce heat. Your armband measures the heat that’s flowing from your body into the environment.”

The bodybugg is sold by a company called 24 Hour Fitness. You can learn more about bodybugg at the 24 Hour Fitness website.

In advance of a new article on this topic, we wanted to see what you think? We have our own very definite point of view. What’s yours?

[polldaddy poll=1537926]

As I type this post, I’m sitting in the Central Jury Room at the Queens County Courthouse in Kew Gardens, New York City. This is the start of my third day fulfilling my civic duty, which from what I can tell, mostly consists of sitting around in an institutional environment.

This is my first time in a jury pool. Ever. Not sure why I’ve been deemed undesirable for so many years; but I have been. Something changed recently, however, and now I’m apparently worthy of this ever-so-fulfilling experience.

What a great environment for the fertile mind! Imagine being suddenly teleported to the Dark Ages, or maybe caveman times. If you escaped death by the Inquisition or a sabertooth tiger, respectively, think of the changes you could initiate!

And so, after just two days of jury duty, it is glaringly obvious to me that the jury selection process is in need of a major overhaul. Not just a Maaco paint job. We’re talking a new transmission and at the very least an engine rebuild.

Already I could write a book. A very boring, annoying, humiliating, uncomfortable, sometimes surreal book. But since I may get called into a big criminal case at any moment, I’ll just give you the highlights.

Here are a few obvious ways in which advanced innovative thinking could dramatically improve the jury selection process.

1. PUNISH THE FELONS, NOT THE JURORS. There are eight plasma screens mounted throughout the central jury room. Nice touch, right? No doubt THIS was a big, innovative step forward not long ago. Unfortunately, at this very moment I’m watching Kelly Rippa do the two-step “LIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS,” while Regis chides her from off-camera. I know from my two-day experience that in just a few minutes, eight hi-def, cloyingly cute Rachael Rays will appear throughout the room This is torture, worse than Guantanamo. I never thought I’d be in a situation in which I’d look forward to The View. But there you go; at least they’ve got Whoopi.

2. MAKE BETTER USE OF TIME. So instead of the Regisian plasmas, how about a few Nintendo Wiis? Add some Wii Fit activities and you could do something about the obesity problem, as well. Or maybe foosball. Everybody loves foosball, right?  A cross between soccer and shishkebob. (Joke courtesy or Mitch Hedburg.) Other activities that come to mind – World of Warcraft, yoga class and a sushi bar (there’s a very nice corner to my left that would be perfect).

3. LAW & ORDER. Just run Law & Order all day. Everyone would know everything going on. Enough said.

4. RETHINK VOIR DIRE. Voir Dire, for those who don’t already know, is this really adorable process where the arrogant judge and the two arrogant attorneys (by definition, all three are infinitely smarter and better-dressed than you – except for the all-too-obvious fact that they’re lawyers) ask you questions to ensure you’re a suitable juror. Sadly, questions like, “Can you think?” or “Can you understand what I’m saying?” or “Have you smoked crack within the past 3 hours?” don’t ever seem to come up. Others like, “If I tell you something is true, will you decide in my favor?” do. And, at least in my experience, most of the jurors say, “Uh, can you repeat that?” and finally, “Uh, yeah.” I had the gall to respond, “Well, maybe.” They didn’t like that one bit. BUT I SWEAR,  I could think of at least a dozen circumstances in which I may not. Finally, I told them that I was born and raised in Louisiana. Voila! I could almost hear the Family Feud-style buzzers and see that big red X over my head. I was rejected. (“Louisiana? Maybe he’s a racist. Or in the NRA. Or he eats possum. Let’s cut him loose.”)

5. PROFESSIONAL JURORS. When the judge asked, “Who here has been the victim of a crime?” about 13 of the 16 jurors’ hands went up. UH, HELLO? THIS IS NEW YORK CITY!!!  Next, when he asked if anyone on the panel had ever  been charged or convicted of a crime, or if someone they are close to had, about 10 of the 16 jurors’ hands went up. UH, HELLO! THIS IS NEW YORK CITY!!! I was really hoping that the fact that my apartment was broken into 25 years ago might get me excused. Yah.  Not next to beatings, muggings, carjackings and Bernie Madoff victims. Thank god for the fact I was raised in Louisiana, right? Clearly if we were able to breed jurors, you know, have them born and raised on juror farms, never let them go out into the real world, maybe they could be unbiased about crime. After 2+ days in the Queens County Central Jury Room, I’m all for this.

6. TECHNOLOGY. Why not do most of this crap online? Let me tell them I hate anyone with a gun, or love anyone with a gun (I am from Louisiana, after all). Let me say right up front I have a hearing problem. Or an understanding problem. Or that I hate cops or love cops (they asked about this, I swear) or am pissed that I lost my job or got a ticket or tripped on a sidewalk in NYC and can’t wait to get back at that billionaire bastard Bloomberg. THEY WON’T EVEN LET ME USE MY IPHONE for god’s sake. (Yeah, that’s right, no iPhones.) Let’s infuse this already dysfunctional system with some technology. That’ll either streamline it or make it break down completely!

All said, I’m proud that I’m performing my civic duty. (The judge told me it’s a privilege – and he’s a lot smarter than I am. So I suppose it’s true.) And I’m elated that once this medieval torture is over, I’ll be exempt for SIX YEARS! A lot can happen in six years. Lots of change. Lots of innovation. Lots of better ways of doing things.

Until then, I wonder what’s on Rachael Ray today…

The thing I love the most about living in NYC is the surprise of running into something very cool and unexpected with regular frequency. The city seems to be the testing ground for tomorrow’s new media innovations.

Until not that long ago, about the only way you could deliver brand messages to consumers outside the home was on a billboard or a bus shelter. Just like everything else, this has clearly changed. Last week, I had the unexpected pleasure of running into what looked like a science fiction scene straight out of Ridley’s Scott’s classic movie, Blade Runner.

On that rainy evening, I came face-to-face with four figures walking abreast identically clad in blue rain slickers holding large, white dome-shaped umbrellas. What made this sight so extraordinary was the front canopies of the umbrellas were lit up like a movie screen with projected photographs promoting a public service message for the Red Cross of New York. I had encountered the first-ever, world debut of the “Projectella.”

Upon closer inspection of the futuristic-looking Projectella, one could see the ingenious tiny projector mounted on the handle of the tricked out bumbershoot. This new promotional medium was so cool to behold, it literally stopped pedestrians dead in their tracks. How many experiential marketing professionals can make that type of claim?

The Projectella is the brainchild of JP Freeley, inventor and President of BlueBlastMedia http://www.BlueBlastMedia.com in partnership with National Media Services (www.nationalmediaservicesinc.com). To see a video of Projectellas on the streets of NYC, visit: http://vimeo.com/channels/blueblastmedia#3981816  

You can see more of JP’s innovative media ideas at: http://www.nationalmediaservicesinc.com/examples/programs/

One of the Best, Most Innovative Productivity iPhone Apps I’ve Seen to Date

At the risk of over- overstating the obvious, the iPhone is a paradigm changing device in so many ways. No more on that. But one of the most remarkable thing about it is the opportunity it provides for others to develop truly innovative (see our earlier post, “Innovation Plain & Simple” for a good definition) applications.

reQall

Here’s one I came across today. I actually saw it profiled on the morning news — reQall — described on their website as “…a voice-enabled memory aid that seamlessly integrates your mobile phone, email, text messaging and IM into a powerful organizer, reminder system and productivity assistant. reQall lets you capture your ideas, tasks and commitments before you forget, and it proactively keeps you well-prepared and memory-strong.”

Just as amazing is the fact that reQall is FREE, at least for its basic version. A more feature-rich Pro version is available with a monthly or annual subscription.

Considering the success of the Getting Things Done system, the need for automated task organization and reminders is huge. This app should be a very useful tool for many looking for just such automation.

Check it out, at http://www.reqall.com – whether you’re an iPhone user or not. It just may be the thing that convinces you.

In the Star Wars epic, Luke Skywalker was repeatedly warned by his Jedi Masters not to stray down the path to the dark side of the Force. He was instructed to only use his powers for good, not for selfish gain.

The power of Innovation has a lot in common with the Force; on the side of good it can save lives (antibiotics), transform cultures (the Internet) and even change the course of history (the Declaration of Independence). Over on the dark side, innovative minds can conjure up the atom bomb, credit default swaps and sub prime loans.

One of the benevolent hallmarks of Innovation is that it creates ideas, goods, and services that provide added value to the consumer. Qualities that makes those things “faster,” “better,” “cheaper,” “Longer-lasting,” “less expensive,” and “more comfortable.”

Today’s challenging economic climate is pushing companies to, in the words of Apple, “think different.” To stay competitive (or survive), most companies are looking at ways to maximize the value of their goods and services to attract consumers. In other words, they are bending over backwards to offer customers MORE bang for their precious buck.

However, companies on dark side are finding nefarious ways to do the exact opposite. Instead of engaging in value-adding creative thinking, they spend their time and resources plotting and scheming ways to profit by actually subtracting value! In other words, by finding ways to charge customers for things that used to be FREE, or the same amount for diminished value.

Leading the way down this slippery slope to customer alienation is the airline industry. They seem to have perfected the art of offering low fares to attract customers… and then nickel and dime them to death for things that used to be free. Check that bag…$15 please! Your kid wants a soda…$3, and that seat cushion that can be used as a flotation device should the plane need to ditch in the Hudson River… hummm $$$.

No Federal bailouts for these Bozos to restructure.