How to Disagree Productively and Find Common Ground
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November 25, 2018Give the Gift of Creativity This Holiday Season
With Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa fast approaching, I'd like to take this blogospheric moment to be the bearer of some good tidings -- especially if you are wondering what to get your significant other, friends, family, co-workers, boss, teammates, neighbors, clients, customers, or chiropractor.
Idea Champions (that's us) has just opened its online store and is happy to announce that we are offering a wide variety of mind-opening products to spark creativity, innovation, collaboration, storytelling, and reflection.
Click here to see what your choices are. Prices range from $9.95 - $129.00. NOTE: We will be donating 10% of all profits, this holiday season, to our favorite humanitarian charity, TPRF.
Our team
Our values
Our clients
Our blog
A holiday story about giving
Photo: Tim Mossholder
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November 24, 2018Unlock Human Creativity
Illustration: gaping void
That's what we do
Idea Champions
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November 22, 2018What Porcelain Dogs Can Teach Us About Brainstorming
Idea Champions
Brainstorm Champions
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20 Awesome Quotes on Beginning
1."Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
2. "There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth -- not going all the way, and not starting." - Buddha
3. "Be willing to be a beginner every single morning." - Meister Eckhart
4. "All great ideas and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning." - Albert Camus
5. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu
6. "Beginnings are always messy." - John Galsworthy
7. "When there is a start to be made, don't step over! Start where you are." - Edgar Cayce
8. "So many fail because they don't get started -- they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin." - W. Clement Stone
9."Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." - Seneca
10."The beginning is the most important part of the work." - Plato
11."The beginnings of all things are small." - Cicero
12. "What's well begun is half done." - Horace
13. "Every exit is an entry somewhere else." - Tom Stoppard
14. "The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." - Chinese Proverb
15. "No good ending can be expected in the absence of the right beginning." - I Ching
16. "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King
17. "Beginning is easy -- continuing hard." - Japanese Proverb
18. "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning." - Louis L'Amour
19. "The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette." - Henry Hoskins
20. "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - St. Francis of Assisi
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:26 AM | Comments (2)
November 19, 2018Testimonial from the Founder of Al Siraat College in Melbourne
"I had a strong desire to introduce a culture of creativity and innovation to our humble school in Australia. Being cash strapped as a new school (and knowing consultants were not cheap), I started following Mitch Ditkoff's blog, The Heart of Innovation.
After many years of reading his posts, I finally found an opportunity to invite Mitch to Al Siraat for a short visit to explore the possibilities of what our collaboration might look like. During that visit, Mitch opened my eyes to the fact that anything was possible. We then embarked on a wonderful, four-year journey of culture change, learning, innovation, transformation, and friendship.
The more we worked together, the more I realized that changing the culture of a school is not an easy task. There is no quick path. Culture change requires a long-term commitment and a large amount of visioning, planning, team development, role clarity, creative thinking, clear communication, community building, intrinsic motivation, risk taking, empowerment, perseverance, humor, and just the right touch.
Mitch has greatly assisted Al Siraat in our culture change ambitions which continue to be ongoing. I am very thankful for Mitch's coaching, guidance, inspiration, and support -- helping me and the entire staff of Al Siraat take this much-needed journey, which has only just begun."
100 educational innovations from around the world
Idea Champions
Storytelling for the Revolution
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November 17, 2018A Humble Request for Your Vote
GOOD NEWS! The authors of this blog (Mitch Ditkoff and Val Vadeboncoeur) are finalists in the 2018 Business Innovation Brief MVP Awards.
Our blog post, The Ten Personas of an Effective Brainstorm Facilitator was one of seven articles chosen (out of thousands) in the category of Innovation Strategies. Whoo hoo! Now comes the fun part -- voting. That's where YOU come in. Ready?
1. Click this link.
2. Scroll to the Innovation Strategies button and click it.
3. Scroll to the sixth entry -- our "Ten Personas" article
4. Click the title if you want to read our article
5. Click the voting box (if you like the article, us, or ice cream)
6. Enter your email address on the pop-up screen.
(PS: If you don't want to be subscribed to the sponsoring website's email list, just uncheck those boxes when the pop-up window appears.)
The value to Val and I if we win this competition? Lots of recognition, free promotion, and the possibility of at least a few companies buying our book (from which the article is excerpted) or bringing us in to train their facilitators. Voting will take you less than two minutes. No hanging chads. No voter suppression. No recounts. Just Mitch and Val asking for your support.
Idea Champions
Our brainstorm website
In defense of brainstorming
Our innovation-sparking products
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November 16, 2018Bring on the Learning Revolution
100 inspiring educational innovations
Idea Champions
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Transforming K-12 EducationA 4-minute overview of the leading edge work being done by the George Lucas' Educational Foundation. Much needed. Lots to explore.
Their educational philosophy.
Idea Champions
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November 14, 2018ANNOUNCING: Teamwork Cards!
If you are looking for a simple way to raise the bar for teamwork, communication and collaboration in your company, here's your ticket -- Idea Champions' newly launched deck of Teamwork Cards. These thought provoking cards help group become teams and teams becoming high performing teams. Easy to use. Clarifying. Behavior changing. A time-efficient way to spark the kind of conversations, insights and agreements that will get you and your team to the next level of excellence.
Idea Champions
Team Innovation
Launching Project Teams
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November 11, 2018Immersive Experiences in Education
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Babies Teaching Kindness and Empathy in SchoolsPosted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
Teach the Teacher!Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)
100 Inspiring, Global Innovations in the Field of Education, K-12Click here to read about 100 innovations that are changing the face of K-12 education around the world.
This year's list provide an opportunity to learn about the most innovative, impactful, and scalable examples of forward-thinking educational practices from around the world. It shows how the future of education is heading towards a more holistic, facilitator-based model, one that focuses on well-being, social skills, and gender equity. If you are an educator, parent, student, or simply interested in the future progress of our planet, this post is for you.
Idea Champions
MitchDitkoff.com
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November 10, 2018Oracy in the Classroom
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CREATE A HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM one conversation at a time
While it's true there is no "i" in "TEAM", there is definitely an "i" in INSIGHT, INTERDEPENDENCE, and COLLABORATION. Which is precisely what Idea Champions' now-available-for-the-first-time-on-the-internet Teamwork Cards are all about.
We created these cards for one simple reason -- to help our clients and the other 7.6 billion people on Planet Earth increase the odds of their collaborative endeavors actually bearing fruit.
Since 1987, when Idea Champions launched, we've heard the word "teamwork" bandied about thousands of times like some kind of medieval incantation. Inspired CEOs, Senior Leaders, and Human Resource Directors invoke the word religiously and God-knows-how-many hallways and conference rooms are plastered with cheesy posters of earnest looking people rowing a boat together. Help!
The actual amount of dependable, smooth-functioning, go-beyond-the-call-of teamwork in most organizations? That's a whole other story. We aim to change that. One Teamwork Card at a time.
We're not saying we've invented the magic pill. We haven't. But we have invented a way to invoke some magic -- especially when it comes to groups becoming teams and teams becoming high performing teams. Our Teamwork Cards spark reflection, insight, connection, clarity, meaningful conversation, and demystify a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo about what it really takes to raise the bar for teamwork.
No workshop is needed. No training. No webinar. No workbook. The cards are self-explanatory -- simple, engaging, conversation-starters for aspiring collaborators to identify exactly what they need to do differently, on the job, to make extraordinary teamwork a reality.
WORKSHOP: Team Innovation
WORKSHOP: Launching Project Teams
WORKSHOP: Agile Leadership/Agile Teams
Who We Are
Contact us for pricing and volume discounts
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2018How to Spark Breakthrough Ideas in 10 Minutes or Less Online
Looking for a simple way to spark big ideas without having to go to a meeting, training, conference, retreat, therapist, hypnotist, shaman, college, or brainstorming session? Here it is. Idea Champion's user-friendly, online FreeTheGenie app.
All you need is a question starting with the words "HOW CAN I?" or "HOW CAN WE?", an open mind, and 10 minutes. That's it. Knowing how time-crunched most people are these days, we've made our online Free the Genie tool super easy to use.
If you find it intriguing, feel free to sign up for a free, two-week subscription. Then, if you think it's worth it, you can get a year's subscription for $9.95. That's like... um.. let me do the math here... hmmm... 2.7 cents a day.
Who we are
Our clients
The creator of Free the Genie
What you see when you google "ideas"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2018A Simple Way to Spark Creativity, Big Ideas, Insights, and AHAS!
Given the fact that the human attention span (8 seconds) is now one second less than that of a goldfish (9 seconds), what better time is there to introduce you to our Free the Genie cards -- a creative thinking catalyst you can use faster than it took you to read this fabulous paragraph.
Works for individuals, groups, teams, and absolutely anyone looking to stir the creative soup. We know you're busy. We know you want results. We know you are open to new possibilities. Otherwise, you wouldn't be willing to read the last two word of today's blog post: Otis Redding.
Idea Champions
Our brainstorm workbooks
Free the Genie online
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2018We Need More Agile Leaders!
Each and every day in corporate America, new technologies, new world markets, and new competitors arise at a faster pace than ever before. Forget about 5-year strategic plans. Those days are over. These days, organizations barely take the time to look 12-months into their future. And, as a result, senior teams end up rushing through their strategic planning process. Indeed, all-too-often, the so-called light at the end of the tunnel is nothing more than an oncoming train no one has a ticket for.
Rushing through your company's strategic planning process just to keep the business afloat is not a good idea. Not only does it stifle innovation and stress people out, it threatens next year's profitability. And then? It's only a matter of time before stagnation sets in, 11th hour troubleshooting heads its ugly rear, and the predicable blame game begins.
The alternative? Help your senior teams become agile. In the immortal words of Charles Darwin, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."
Agile leaders are skillful at responding to the demands of accelerating change. They know how to deal with the inevitable uncertainty, ambiguity, and chaos that accompanies it. Dealing with change is not a problem for them. Nor is it a surprise or something to be avoided. Not only do agile leaders understand the phenomenon of change, they embrace it. And even more than that, they are able to help others navigate their way forward with clarity, insight, and a positive outlook.
Agile leadership is not a binary phenomenon. It is not an either/or phenomenon. Rather, it is a both/and phenomenon -- the ability proceed with clarity and power even when there is no path in sight.
Bottom line, agile leaders have the mindset, skills, and expertise to make wise choices on the fly. They know how to focus, empower, and inspire others. They are discerning, intentional, courageous, collaborative, and able to see the forest for the trees.
Simply put, agile leaders know how to balance the long-term with the short-term. And perhaps most importantly, they know how to create advantage in the marketplace by helping their teams bring their "A" game during times of transition, ambiguity, and change.
The Agile Leadership/Agile Teams workshop
The Seize the Future workshop
Idea Champions
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November 02, 2018Learn How to Facilitate Breakthrough Brainstorming Sessions in 10 Minutes a Day
Once upon a time donut manufacturers just sold donuts and threw the donut holes away, considering them to be disposable. Then, some donut industry genius realized that donut holes were also a product and there was a market for this so-called "disposable." Voila! A new product line was born. Donut holes!
Well, the good people at Idea Champions (that's us!) have just had our own donut hole moment. Historically, we have bundled our 142-page "How to Facilitate Breakthrough Brainstorming Sessions" workbook with our train-the-trainer program. In other words, you could only get the workbook if you bought the training. Those days are over. Now we are offering our Conducting Genius workbook as a standalone, "donut hole." You don't need to buy the whole donut to get the donut hole. D'oh!
And if you decide to buy five or more of our workbooks, we will be happy to discount our 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day training by 10%. Such a deal. Workbooks are $150 each, plus shipping. For more information, contact office@ideachampions.com
PS: You get your choice of eight different workbook covers -- any combination of them you like. Scroll down to see (and up, too).
Our brainstorm training
Client testimonials
Who we are
Our clients
THE IDEA FOR THIS? Val Vadeboncoeur, our Director of Training
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November 01, 2018HOW A SIMPLE STORY Can Elevate the Conversation
My storytelling blog
Storytelling for the Revolution
Storytelling Workshop
GlowDec
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