How To Be Ingenious

I have a friend who frequently tells me of a new and exciting idea he's had that can make money. My usual response is to say that I think it's a great idea and that he should do something with it. This in turn tends to produce a look of disappointment which he explains is because what he wants is someone to take his brilliant idea and make money with it. And then, if successful, they'll reward his brilliance with a nice meal or a house depending on how great the realisation of his idea has been. I suspect we all know people like this and will ourselves indulge in the game of 'creative thinking' from time to time. But my friend kept coming to mind as I read How to be Ingenious by Jamie Young of the RSA recently.

The central tenant of the paper is that creativity and creative problem solving are all well and good but that things don't really get going in a meaningful way until one gets ingenious. And that real ingenuity involves a 'frugal elegance' which thrives in an environment of mild deprivation, as it is only then that we are forced to look at what we have in a different light. Young and his colleagues go on to define the ideal environments in which ingenuity can be fostered.

This seems largely to consist of being mindful of the human instinct to resent being deprived and to foster team work and a sense of collective endeavour so that any potential resentment is swept aside in the tide of battling-the-odds. Having endless resources at your disposal, they suggest, leads to lazier thinking as one is not forced to adapt to the challenge.

There seems to be much work still to do, this paper is just the start of project run by the RSA's Design Team, to try and work out how to enable more ingenuity. A resource that could make a meaningful difference in the current climate as an alternative to 'doing less as there's less money' is worthy of further study. I for one will watch their progress with interest.

Also, what I really liked about it was that I could read the paper in one short sitting, get loads of helpful examples and have to option, as an RSA Fellow, of engaging in the learning process.

However for my ideas-rich friend I can see little cause for optimism. For what these guys are really saying is what any experienced business person knows only too well. Working stuff out is hard, you never have enough resource and there ain't no short cuts.

Web TV - Old into New

Went to the launch of something called Policy Review Interactive last night. A political gathering more than anything else given some of the attendees/speakers (Ed Vaizey MP and Derek Draper) and its location in Millbank Tower, previous home to the UK Labour Party now the base for Conservative election planning. Ironic?

Policy Review is an interesting biz in that it draws heavily on the conference work of its parent company Neil Stewart Associates (NSA). [I was once the publisher of Policy Review Magazine and worked for NSA so I have some insight into the biz.] Neil's premise is that the time is now right to start making money from digital content of this type (mainly speeches from public policy conferences). He's a successful biz-man so I have to assume he knows what he's talking about. And it appears that there are many public sector professionals who will pay £150 to see or hear a conference they couldn't attend for £450. But it seems to me, forgive me Neil, that this is old biz thinking imposing itself on new biz models. I may be wrong and maybe it doesn't matter as Policy Review will generate more interest in the conference biz, so job done. But I think I still see a lot of existing businesses trying to tack web apps onto their existing model, when surely what we've learnt to date is that you need to start from scratch when doing biz on the web isn't it?

WWGD

Having taken a 'concerned' view of all things Google in a recent blog I now find myself recommending what can only really be described as a disciples' guide to the phenomenon. Jeff Jarvis's book is filled with thought provoking ideas for anyone engaged in the frontier world of business online. If you're trading online or thinking about it, I'd say you have to read this. Alternatively you could just read Buzzmachine the blog from which the book is derived. The only reservation I have about making such a recommendation is the risk that others will use the ideas and become my competitors. But, as Mr Jarvis might say, that's not good google think.

UK SMEs not on blogging-line

I keep digging around trying to find fellow biz owners and runners who want to share their pain and stories but surprisingly they don't seem to be on-line. Just the long list of (forgive me) non-business people trying to give advice to people who are actually doing it.

I know Business Link are trying much harder these days, especially now their funding cut has been put back due to the recession, but to my mind talking to their agents is like taking to an MBA pre-graduate who's never actually had a job never mind run a biz.

So where are you fellow sufferers out there?