Innovate2Create

Since my business partner and I have been focused on researching the retail clothing market, I thought I'd take a deeper look at one of my favorite clothing companies to see how they stack up on a value curve. Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft are sister clothing lines. Ann Taylor is the older sister and is more up-scale and usually appeals to the career woman in need of tailored business suits or looking for the perfect dress. Ann Taylor Loft is the cute little sister that offers a more casual and affordable line of clothing usually targeting women in their mid-20's to their late 30's or early 40's.

They are standard retail clothing stores in a lot of ways but where they stand out on the right side of the value curve is in three main areas. First, their style and designs appeal and fit a very wide audience of women but their stores are small and it is easy to find things. The shopping experience is much more relaxing, convenient and fun than a department store where you have to dig to find something cute.

Second, they have a very clean and easy-to-use website that as of the last few months is integrated with style sections of magazines women read. So, online you can specifically look at pieces and outfits that have been featured in style sections of magazines or you can browse clothing and see labels like "Featured in Real Simple this month!". A very smart idea to differentiate themselves and bring deserved attention to the great styles at a very affordable price!

So, third, is affordability. Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor loft have amazing sales, coupons and even now a credit card where shoppers earn points. I feel these marketing programs are done in a very tasteful way that brings a new level of strategy to my shopping experience that I find challenging and fun!

Great companies that keep providing stylish choices at a great price and are actively involved in giving back by donating part of their proceeds to the breast cancer research effort. A socially responsible company with a focus on style, service and great prices. I am a loyal shopper and there are many more women like me who agree!

Check them out online today. New look's for Fall now available:

Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor Loft

An expert is someone with depth of knowledge and ability to execute on that knowledge. A lot of what they are able to do has become automatic because they have practiced so much. A great example is my friend who plays the drums. He is an expert and so his arms and legs can go different directions in corresponding rhythms. I cannot even hardly keep a beat with one drum- stick in hand!

It is great to be an expert when you can become better than others at a particular skill or task that might give you access to money, scholarships, additional job opportunities or make you famous! It can be limiting to be an expert when your life lacks balance since it requires so much time and energy to become and maintain expert status. Also, you may know a lot or be able to do one thing really well but you lack breadth of knowledge and skills. I usually find myself in more of the breadth category where I know a little about a lot of topics so I do not consider myself an expert in very many areas. I think I'd like to become an expert teacher that is able to customize learning to students and create fun and memorable experiences that make learning stick! I am pursuing my PhD as part of this quest and I take advantage of all kinds of opportunities to design instruction and to teach in order to keep practicing!

1. What lessons can you learn from this book about creativity and innovation?

• Innovation in education is no different than any other type of innovation. It begins with a paradigm shift or change in the way we think about education and an ability to expand our vision of what is possible.
• Customization is key in the way the world's consumption is changing. Learning can be customized and still be well managed and measured.
• Collaborative learning is where the most creative and customized tools will occur. Education cannot be created in an administrative vacuum any longer.

2. Give an example of how creativity or innovation occurred in this book.

I am intrigued and excited about the idea of deploying innovations against non consumption. It its the idea of becoming a trend setter by targeting a niche or need that is not currently being met and not trying to stand up to the Goliath companies that you just can't compete with head to head. This theory or approach is creative and innovative in terms of how most people think about business development. It begins with thinking outside the box and is how most of the revolutionary inventions and innovations occur. One fun example I enjoyed in the book was of Thomas Edison and the phonograph that allowed people to listen to music in their own home any time they want. This innovative spirit continues today with the Ipod and the option to choose your own songs rather than buy a whole album. Innovation of musical variety and customization competing with non consumption or no existing option.


3. What is one creative thing that education can do to embrace disruptive innovation?
What is most meaningful about this book is it really shows that individual teachers and administrators can make a big difference by being willing to explore new technology tools and create environments that allow for better collaborative learning. Students have great ideas and talents and can be part of the learning and teaching process. They learn better when they teach a concept and put it into practice immediately. They have the skills, talents and technology interest and prowess to contribute greatly to the process of improving education. The most creative thing that can be done right now within the current educational structure is for teachers to continue to use their incredible talents and skills to reach students in new ways while still meeting the requirements of the AIMS and other standardized tests. Most are overwhelmed and say it can't be done but it looks to me like a job for some disruptive innovation!

I've been working on creativity in serveral different areas of my life from teaching to designing dresses and it has been such an incredible change from my task/process orientation. One tricky thing is that I find I want to make being creative a process too which I think limits my ability to be truly artistic or innovative. I want to look for simple ways to do things differently and continue to incorporate more creativity in a natural way. It has become a very nice outlet for me to blow off steam. Almost as good as running! :)

Key Steps in the Process of Innovation:

1. Collecting Information: What is going on in the world that influences your innovative ideas? Research, documentation and audience analysis.
   
2. Making discoveries: Moving past benchmarking or research of what has already been done to considering what could be done differently or better. Synthesizing what you've discovered in the collecting information phase and starting to consider your new take on this combination of information.
   
3. Creating Opportunities: Combining new ideas, new projects, new people and networking it all into opportunities to innovate and contribute in new and better ways. Generate ideas collaboratively.
   
4. Developing Concepts: Start creating new approaches/developing ideas generated in creating opportunities phase
   
5. Finalizing Solutions: Polishing prototypes by working out the bugs!
   
6. Delivering Innovation: Providing a new solution to the market

This process continues in a circular, continuous improvement cycle as things continue to change. Some areas of innovation move faster than others and require constant connection to the latest in new information, new opportunities and new concepts to allow true innovators to stay plugged in and effectively contributing!

This post includes my thoughts from the discussion questions listed in the Creativity Basics online module. Love the Prezi-based modules. :)

What evidence do you have from your past that you can be creative?
I am the oldest of six kids and was a natural leader in the way we played. We made up all kinds of skits and make believe scenarios that we would act out for hours or even sometimes days on end. We made up songs, we danced and nothing was "embarassing" or limiting. We created and it was really fun. We fed off each other's creative energy and always created even better ideas when we worked together than if I dictated the "script". :)

Has your creativity lessened over time? Why is that? What do you need to do to bring it back?
Yes. My creativity has definitely lessened over time. Especially as I became more and more involved in project management in all of my previous jobs. Project management focuses on successful completion of tasks and creativity usually results in chaos and confusion among those participating in the project. In my consulting position we did actually employ a lot of creativity when selling our services to prospective clients in order to differentiate ourselves from our competition. Innovation in the HR consulting space is a necessity but unfortunately few of my bosses/co-consultants felt comfortable with creative thinking. I had one boss that was incredible at it and we produced some amazing projects as a team. I am enjoying working focusing more on my creativity and a little less on the strict project/task orientation by learning how to blend my project management/task orienatation with a more artisitic, innovative and creative view of how to approach and complete each project.

Since I am now able to choose more of my own projects rather than be assigned them at work, I have a broader spectrum of projects, topics and ideas that I am involved in including a clothing business that a friend and I are pursuing as a hobby. It still requires project/task based thinking so we move forward on our business plan each week but it also allows for a ton of brainstorming, design and creative approaches to bootstrapping, problem solving, employees, etc.

Who do you consider to be the most creative person in your immediate circle of family and friends? What do they do that makes them creative?

One of my best friends is a 7th grade drama instructor. She comes up with skits often right off the top of her head very similar to the way we used to when I was a kid. She sees stories in everything and makes simple stuff very funny. She brings out the best in each student and helps them discover their talents through her creative approach to teaching, storytelling and writing. It is an absolute blast to watch her work with her students!

What would you like to learn about that would make you more creative?
I've been working on learning Photoshop and some other design-based software. I would love to learn more about how to create effective graphical design layouts, web pages and print pieces not from a technical perspective but more from the artistic process and way of thinking. I'd also love to learn more about creative ways to approach online learning and developing courses since I am now an online instructor.

I've gone to Lynda.com to learn more graphic design tools. I need to find a really artistic graphic artist and trade services or something to get an inside view of how to take a more visual, graphical approach to my life and the way I see and create things. I learned a lot last week from Phil Regier in the business school about approaches to online learning from a business perspective that are definitely different than the school of Education view. It is a great learning experience for me to start to hone in on the best possibilities from all perspectives.

What do you do that has worked well in the past but is now getting in the way of you being creative?
I need to have a lot more fun! I am too "work" or "productivity" oriented. I need to make time for a more visual, fun, artistic view of life. I'm not sure exactly how to do this but I am going to be thinking about it as the semester progresses.

This is a super interesting article with some great data to back up its statements. Below are my thoughts on the article discussion questions:

1. How would Florida define entrepreneurship? What would he think of innovative entrepreneurship vs. replicative entrepreneurship?

2. What lessons can you learn from the second article?

3. If Richard Florida and Ken Robinson were in a room together, what would they discuss?

Florida would define entreprenuership as clustering of creative people to innovatively solve problems. It seems that he is defining the shift between the Industrial Age of work and the new technological and knowledge-based economy that requires those who can think for themselves and provide new ideas, solutions, processes and products to an ever-changing business and education environment. As I was reading I kept thinking about Silicon Valley and how expensive it is to live there and yet how creatively productive that area has been for many decades. It attracts people who understand the mindset of technological problem solving and value creation.

It seems that Florida would correlate innovative entrepreneurship with this increase in creative clusters of knowledge workers such as university professors, engineers, scientists, artists, marketing professionals, etc. Replicative entrepreneurship he refers to as traditional corporate communities which makes me think of my grandpa who worked for IBM almost his whole career in a very replicative environment even though he was involved in high-tech. Now creative clusters of people can work together easily throughout the world and the geography is only one definition of the cluster. For example, many innovative college professors and even secondary teachers use blogs, wikis and other web-based tools to collaborate across the world and provide research, experience and solutions to the ways education can be improved to create more creative and solutions-oriented students. If Florida and Robinson were in a room together they would probably discuss how an increased focus on creativity and the clustering of creative, proactive, solutions-oriented, student-focused teachers could create real and lasting changes in education without the structure or system of education changing as quickly since that always seems to be the difficulty. In short, they might conclude that human capital plus encouraging creativity clusters form an impenetrable mass that will create radical shifts in the learning economy.

Wow. Great show. I was so nervous for each of the entrepreneurs! I had a hard time deciding who was the most motivated and passionate. They each had good ideas and seemed to be motivated. However, a lot of them lacked passion for their idea which I think made it hard for them to present and sell to the Sharks. Those with true passion received deals! The brothers from Brazil led with passion in their presentation and almost forgot to mention the business hook with health insurance companies. Cactus Jack oozed passion from head to toe of his outfit which was a risk! :)

I chose Cactus Jack as my example of a motivated and passionate entrepreneur who keeps trying no matter what happens because being entrepreneurial, creative and making money are so much of who is is. Cactus Jack has a passion for ideas, invention and creativity that has allowed him to create products across multiple industries even when he is not experienced in that industry. He has remained motivated and seems to have an incredible passion for the creative process even though he has experienced some rather violent financial swings that have caused stress for himself and his family. Ultimately, he is a problem solver and can see needs and determine ideas that fulfill needs. I liked his example of the cleaning product packaged like bullets. It's out there but apparently works! He has and is making money. I hope he is able to lose the 30 pounds to successfully complete his deal with the Sharks!

What I can and have learned from Cactus Jack is it is essential to discover your passion and do great things with it. His passion is solving problems with products/ideas. My main motivation for taking this class is to see more examples like this of people who are not afraid of the passion or intrinsic ideas they possess and who follow their dreams to create financial opportunity. So many people do things they do not enjoy because they think they can make great money and they expect that making great money ALONE will bring happiness. I see those that are the happiest are those who have created a career based on passionate application of talent, knowledge and understanding and that love for what they do makes hard work seem fun! This passionate pursuit is balanced with an understanding of market conditions and how money can me made in a changing economy applying skills and talents in new ways to continue to have opportunities to make money. Cactus Jack seems to understand this formula and it sounds like he maybe needs to balance the passion/risk taking with a rational view of how to best make and KEEP money.

I am really looking forward to understanding how the principles in this course can be applied in my teaching but also in my personal life as I determine how to best spend my time and what goals and projects to pursue. There are so many amazing things to do and be a part of and I don't want to let fear cause me to miss out on anything!

I found a great article in Fast Company magazine about Cirque De Soleil titled: Leading Ideas: Embrace the Lunatic Inside You "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." -- Robin Williams (1952- ) U.S. Actor and Comedian.


You can read the complete article at the Fast Company Website. The gist of the article is about not being afraid to discover your best ideas by allowing yourself, your company, your class or your own kids to think a little bit crazy or creatively to see what could come of it. Their primary example is Cirque De Soleil which completing reinvented the circus industry for adults and has turned it into a thriving business by integrating creativity into all their business practices from hiring to only producing one performance a year to keep people coming back for more!

 

Technology

• Run out of cell phone minutes
• Computer SLOWS way down for no reason
• Remebering a lot of passwords

Efficiency

• Time being wasted
• Poor processes for creating products or services
• Poor customer service
• Long lines
• Traffic
• Parking

Interpersonal Relationships

• Dating
• People expecting someone else to entertain them

Communication

• Impatient people including me!
• Poor listening

Money Management

• Direct deposit not working
• Bill paying
• Rent collection

This week for my AM class on Tuesday and Thursdays I decided to change where I park. I have parking access at the LDS institute on campus but often times the lot is full in the mornings. So, I started thinking about my options. This sounds like careful, methodical planning however really what happened was I left my house late on Tuesday AM was descending upon campus 10 minutes before class start time with the other 4 million people that have class at that time and started the parking panic!

I HATE being that person that runs sweating into class late and disrupts the very beginning of class. So, I drove into a lot where you pay to park in a numbered stall. It was full!!!! 5 minutes till class start across the street so I did something I normally would NOT do. I parked in a spot clearly designated as a resturaunt only parking space and ran to my class. I started calculating in my head how much the parking ticket would be, thought about what I would order for lunch there in exchange for using their parking space or freaked out a bit at the possiblity that my car would be towed. It was 10:00 a.m. and the resturaunt was not open yet so I crossed my fingers it would be okay. I ran out of class at 11:30 a.m.to my car and it was safe and sound with no ticket! I moved down the street to public parking and graetfully paid to park there for the day. This little event may be more of an illustration of being dishonest, increasing my risk taking or just plain idiocy but I did feel a bit of the creative juices flow as I brainstormed sitting in traffic how I would solve the problem of getting to class on time without leaving my car in the middle of the street. :)

This is not something I want to differently on a daily basis but it is good to shake up the routine and discover new solutions to old problems! :)

I thought the video was so interesting and the presentation of the subject of stifling creativity very thought provoking. I agree that when teachers use the dictator style and program kids to "do what they say" that creativity is not only stifled but punished. The perfect combination in learning to me is using projects and assignments that give students creative freedom to invest in the learning process. However, the way school has been done for so long it is really hard for both teachers and students to step out of this mold. I am teaching freshman in ASU 101 this semester and it is interesting to see the "programmed" effect of high school that causes them to worry about whether they are doing the assignments "right". The objective of this type of course is that they learn how to make the transition from high school to college. The only thing they can really do "wrong" is not participate or complete the assignments. So, I have been encouraging them to be creative and approach the assignments in a way that really works best for them!
Little kids before the "programming" begins are one big ball of creative energy. This reminds me of my nephew who is two and is process of figuring out how to dance. Whenever music plays, especially these days from any of his favorite Disney movies, he trys out a variety of his "groove moves". He changes them up if the song is fast and fun and switches to some kind of modern dance meets charades moves for the slow songs. One time one of his grandmas saw him and started imitating his moves which made him laugh and exaggerate his dancing even more. People clapped and enjoyed him being cute and trying new things. It was a creative moment for all who were there and you couldn't help but dance along! This is the opposite of the way schools approach ideas and learning by doing, trying and not being afraid of being wrong. My nephew doesn't every worry he isn't dancing "right" he just keeps trying out new moves!
I do not believe creativity is "learned" but is part of every human beings developmental process. Everyone is capable of creativity and when encouraged to use, develop and enhance creativity all people respond. It is what makes certain group games or improv comedy so much fun. These venues celebrate natural creativity and give it license to surface and grow. I agree with the presenter in the video that the educational system places overemphasized value on a streamlined process for learning and intelligence instead of being customized to the strengths and talents of the students and using their creative abilities to discover, problem solve, think big and not be afraid to be wrong.
The best classes for me in returning to pursue my PhD are those that encourage my creativity and critical thinking. I believe this can occur in any subject area and any class and is one of the most critical facets of being an effective teacher.