Coming up with new, non-traditional and/or innovative ideas… has never been a problem in my professional world. However, when the time came and I was trying to figure out the best and most promising way to get the concept moving… very often I “hit” a roadblock. And I am not talking about money or even staffing… rather it was a matter of surrounding myself with common-minded people anxious to do something new.

So with that thought in mind, I want to toss out a solid, fun progress TRIPLE III TIME action: Try “Crowdsourcing” Your Idea. And just to get everyone on the same page… the definition of Crowdsourcing is:

“The practice of obtaining information or input into a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the internet.”  (Oxford Dictionary)

Today, Crowdsourcing your ideas is not just an imagination-spreading way of garnering support for your project/plan, but an additional way of “testing” its support-ability in the public or private business sectors.

While in my Inspiring Innovations consultant role, I have spent additional customer time stressing that no one achieves progress alone… even during the project development stage.  Idea-blending, market-targeting and customer-attracting are all Crowdsourcing activities that can make or break your new hopeful creation.  Whether in-person or online, by Crowdsourcing your idea, the potential for gaining extra, unique, manageable information as you move forward will have real high-value impact.

Bottomline:  If you have not considered it before:  Try “Crowdsourcing” Your Idea.  Or if you have only tried it on a small scale… give it a larger try!  With the complexity of today’s product/service markets… having a group of interested, caring minds willing to contribute… is a great opportunity you don’t want to pass up.

Last week our TRIPLE III TIME message was all about:  Quality Control – The Little Things Matter.  In it I talked about a TOP 10 list of very basic, common sense and professional courtesy driven actions… that if employed regularly, would heighten personal and organizational quality outputs.  Ultimately, it was/is my hope that if appropriately applied… all aspects of one’s operation would improve!

Now as a next step in professional positioning and growth… I want everyone to think about:  Disruptive Innovation.

“Disruptive innovation, a concept developed by Clayton Christensen, describes a process where a simpler, cheaper, or more accessible product/service starts in a small or new market, eventually moves upmarket, and displaces established competitors.  It typically targets underserved customers and makes a formerly complicated or expensive product affordable for a broader audience.  This process leads to a new market and value network that ultimately disrupts an existing one.”  (Google-AI)

Consider the product you produce or the service you provide.  Has it been impacted by Disruptive Innovation?  Consider the job search arena. Has Indeed, Trillium, Kelly Services, and Monster changed the government funded employment services system?

Has simple cost and convenience altered how citizens search and find new jobs?  This example of Disruptive Innovation is just a means of getting your professional development attention and in some way energizes a little creativity in your worlds-of-work.

Disruptive Innovation most often asks you to first return to the service/product problem you are trying to solve for your customers.  Can you break it into smaller pieces to ease understandability?  Could you make it easier to access…with or without technology?  Is it as customer-friendly as it can be…or has high-tech made it a “distant-reach” for your customers?  Does your service/product methodology ask customers (and even staff) to go too far too fast??

Finally, understand that Disruptive Innovation does NOT tell you how to do what you do differently.  Rather it just asks that you THINK DIFFERENTLY to maybe start new initiatives aimed at solving old problems in smaller, cheaper, simpler or in more effective and efficient customer service ways.

Hopefully this message helps with customers lost… customers missed…and new customer connections!

First, I want to be clear that I have not shared anyone’s email as complete a TRIPLE III TIME message before…only quotes and/or paragraphs.  However as you will read this email message from a very good friend, you will realize it is a unique testimonial to “my way of life”!  Therefore, for professional confidentiality sake and sharing it with total word-for-word accuracy… I have made no changes to JG’s excellent document! 

I feel privileged and proud to share this with you: 

Rural Michigan: The Next Great Frontier for Entrepreneurs  

 While the world races toward urban tech hubs, I see a different kind of goldmine, rural Michigan. 

 Not in the form of apps or algorithms, but in community-rooted entrepreneurship, in people with grit, creativity, and deep ties to their land and neighbors. 

 Rural Michigan is brimming with untapped potential: 

🌾 Family farms ready to diversify. 

🏪 Main Street businesses needing new energy. 

📦 Supply chain gaps waiting to be filled. 

📡 Tech deserts begging for innovative infrastructure. 

And above all, young people hungry to create, not just consume. 

 What if we stopped viewing rural communities as places to escape from, and instead saw them as launchpads for new venture creation? 

 What if we: 

1️⃣ Invested in broadband AND business incubators? 

2️⃣ Built entrepreneurship high school pathways in rural districts? 

3️⃣ Incentivized rural innovation zones, not just urban ones? 

4️⃣ Put real capital in the hands of rural founders, especially women, veterans, and first-gen students? 

 Entrepreneurship isn’t just for Silicon Valley. It’s for rural towns across Michigan! It’s for people with vision, values, and roots. 

 Michigan’s future will be brighter when we stop treating rural as a challenge, and start treating it as a competitive advantage. 

 Let’s grow the economy from the ground up. 

Literally.  

“Entrepreneurship is a way of life.” 

Have you ever asked GOOGLE for an Artificial Intelligence definition of an engineer?  If not, here is what you will find:

“An engineer is a person who uses their knowledge of science and math to design, build, and maintain machines, structures, and systems to solve problems and improve our lives.  They apply scientific principles and creativity to develop solutions for various challenges!”

So as we consider the title of this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message:  IDEA Generating Engineers and our AI definition, consider WHO would you think qualifies within your network of professionals as a true IDEA Generating Engineer??

I feel every professional needs to take part in this unique exercise to better understand who is someone you look to for new concepts and/or professional growth.  But also to take stock of those who may add little or no value to who you are and your potential innovative capacities.

Does that make sense?

When I consider IDEA Generating Engineers in my network… I think about impacting colleagues from various professional sectors.  Education, public services, manufacturing, entertainment, personal counseling, partnership building, entrepreneurship, health care… and more.  Each offers a different form of knowledge, experience and IDEAS specifically generated from their area of expertise.  The initial benefit for me that evolves from this network of  IDEA Generating Engineers is not only a consistent input of creativity… but also a level of confidence that every new concept has realistic potential!

So do you have your list of IDEA Generating Engineers yet??

People have heard me say:  “I like being with and involved… with MY OWN KIND!”  IDEA Generating Engineers… by AI definition are MY OWN KIND.  Give this TRIPLE III TIME message a little extra thought and let me know what you come up with.

This week I had the privilege and honor to be a judge at an annual wonderful “shark-tank” event!  More than fifty (50) teams of primarily college students had the unique opportunity to “PITCH” their new business/product/service ideas to a panel of judges for a short five (5) minutes.  Each team’s goal was to obtain a spot for the next round of PITCH competition and perhaps win investor support including significant money awards.  The experience for me every year is new, fun, encouraging and professional network expanding.

So as I was driving both to and from the event…I found myself thinking about what special idea/concept would I PITCH today if given the chance?  Where would I start?  What problem needs a solution or what’s missing at home or at work to make something better?  Would I try to improve a current product or service…or would I create something totally new and different?  Other questions that entered my mind included:

• What could I PITCH that wouldn’t cost a ton of money?
• Could I create a new techno-APP that GOOGLE would buy from me?
• How could I improve the current products/services I currently provide?
• Who could I partner with to strategize together on building something special?
• What could I create that currently would have very little competition in the marketplace?

(A great way to spend extended road time!)

I know I have said it before but I believe everyone…yes EVERYONE has an innovator, creationist gene/bone inside of them.  And truly the only one that can (and must) exercise that gene/bone…is YOU!

This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message:  “The PITCH of a Lifetime!” is intended to re-ignite the creative potential “sleeping” inside of you.  Think about being in front of a group of shark tank judges…with some dollars to award and you need “The PITCH of a Lifetime!”

What would you propose??

Welcome to the first week of the new year 2024! Whether you traditionally make New Year resolutions and/or formulate a plan to do a whole bunch of things better…be totally aware that no matter what…things are and will continue to change all around you everyday!!

With this fact in mind, I want everyone to think about this IDEAL quote as a strong, continuous priority for our new year.

“Expand the way you think about the future…and it could also help you create better work in the present.” (Tom May, Great TED Talks: Creativity)

Please reread (at least twice) and grasp all of the importance of each word in this quote. There are so many innovation-driving factors that can and should be initiated based on the directives that can be drawn from Mr. May’s words.

Think about it!

If you are making a strategic plan for the next 5 years…why not try some of your 5 year ideas tomorrow?? Or if you are putting together a teaching plan for the next semester/term…don’t wait until the last weeks of the class to exercise creativity with the students. Or if you’re a leader/manager/advisor for a group of people…will you start the year by initiating changes in their workplace with minimal issues…or challenge them NOW with futuristic assignments for what could be?

Bottomline: INNOVATION & CREATIVITY will be a more regular TRIPLE III TIME topic focus in 2024. Not just because it is my life-long area of interest…but equally because it is a CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOL…which can make all tomorrows something to look forward to.

I guess I should feel lucky that lately INNOVATION has become a more standard topic both in my community college classes and as part of my consultant/advisor projects! Also, it is always a treat to be able to share INNOVATION concepts/ideas/initiative thoughts with everyone using this TRIPLE III TIME format…but often I feel like I may be repeating myself in some creativity areas.  Regardless now that I have gotten that concern “off my chest”…it is time to discuss the importance of utilizing Calculated-Risk “Pull-Ups” when beginning an INNOVATION option!

Ok…one more thing, before I get too far into this week’s message, I need to first explain the INNOVATION value of the TRIPLE III TIME subtitle:  (Not Going Rogue In the Workplace).  Good-to-GREAT innovations typically result from taking Calculated-Risk “Pull-Ups” (i.e. select improvements/advancements) based on an organization’scurrent way of doing business.  This means up and coming innovators thereby need to first allow themselves some extra “pull-ups” (think-tank) time before moving forward on their creativity plan-of-action.

Bottomline:  To undertake quality, meaningful INNOVATION and not go inventively rogue in the workplace…consider the following initial example “Pull-Ups” actions:  

If this TRIPLE III TIME message seems to indicate that I have learned from my historic “out-of-control”… “let’s just do it”, “innovation-for-innovations-sake” mind-set…you may be right.  However, also included in my career-long mind-set is:  If I/we don’t discover “there is always a better way”…who will??

 

 

Today:  “The INNOVATION Window Is Wide Open!”

First, let me say that my hope is that everyone reads and hears the title of this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message even louder than ever before.

As a career-long innovator…especially in the public sector, I believe that at no time in my professional life have I observed the collective need, desire, willingness and potential for INNOVATION acceptance.  It could be the ever-growing expansion of the internet and social media.  It could be the impacts of Covid and the desire to just “break-out!”  It could be the realization that all generations need to grow together to gain the maximum,  new-era advantages.  Or it could simply be that people are less resistant to hearing new ideas…big or small…and wish to embrace the sensation of positively moving forward.

Artificial Intelligence isn’t artificial…we built it.  Multiple versions of promoting and offering “Shark Tank” opportunities is not just a fad…it’s professional development!  Younger people learning more…faster is not a phenomenon…it is just basic progressive evolution.

Bottomline:  If you are not part of an INNOVATION movement, I encourage you to join somehow…some way.  If you have an INNOVATION idea…share it.  It may not be accepted as you see it…but even if a part creates an improvement movement…it’s a WIN!  Finally, if you are an innovator by birth or by experience…be an INNOVATION LEADER right now!

YOU are absolutely needed…and “The INNOVATION Window Is Wide Open!”

One of the most special career experiences I have had over the years was working with a small rural township community on “idea generation”!  The project lasted several months and included city officials, township board members, local business people and representatives from the area school district…including students.  My consulting service plan included several county-wide meetings, three IDEAS workshops, four in-school brain-storming sessions with students and finally an IDEAS booklet to inspire anyone and everyone to share and build on their community/business/education/entrepreneurship development concepts.

There are several stories I could share but this TRIPLE III TIME message will focus exclusively on a discussion occurring at one of the last IDEAS workshops.  There were about ten attendees including one older lady who always quietly sat in the back and took a lot of notes.  And if you know me and my classroom discussion style…no one can “hide” and not participate in the sharing of ideas and how to be innovative everyday…EVERYDAY.

So when I walked over to her and simply asked:  “Why have you attended all of these workshops?”  She did not shrink away…rather she nervously stated because:  “I’ve Never Told Anyone About My Life-Long Idea”.

Well as you can guess without much encouragement she told the whole group her entrepreneurial idea (which was GREAT) and the rest of the workshop was dedicated to helping her identify the best steps forward to possibly make her creative idea a reality.

The moral and TRIPLE III TIME message of this memory reflection is best explained in a quote by Harriet Minter author of GREAT TED TALKS:  Leadership.

“Don’t be afraid to put what you know out there.  The competitive advantage gained through collaboration is greater than when you operate in secrecy.”

And don’t wait 50+ years to tell someone about your idea(s).  Holding too tightly to your IDEA to keep it totally yours may have the reverse effect on it and unintentionally “strangle it” from growing.