Tuesday, January 04, 2011

N-of-8 book preview: love of a story

Most of you BrandInnovator readers know I am completing my new book entitled N-of-8.

It is about using the power of creative groups for innovation. Below is a raw preview of what has kept me working many weekends for the past year to advance it.

I welcome your feedback in the comments section.
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I love words, phrases, and stories.  I love seeing a story come to life in pictures, art, and movies.  I love hearing a story put to melody and performed with harmony and rhythm.  I love reading a story and eavesdropping on the dialogue between characters, listening the intonations of their voices.

Even more I love developing a story of a new medical advancement – an effective communication of an idea that can transform health, science, and technology.  Most of all, I love a story that can accelerate the adoption of a new idea.

And “faster” is what this book is all about.

People ask me all the time, “how did you get to be so creative?” And when I was much younger and my ego was much bigger, I might answer with a favorite motivational book (like Zig Ziglar’s See You At The Top which was given to me for high school graduation by family friends, The Lincolns, and that I feel most influenced my early career).  Or later, I might refer to a course I’d taken (like a week-long seminar at the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina, at which I learned many valuable facilitation techniques).

But by far my most “creative” ideas I’ve had came not from my mind, but from the customers’ voice.

Sometimes from an individual customer’s suggestion.

Often from a group of customers’ discussions.

Frequently from observing customers’ behaviors.

Always from listening, adapting, translating, and responding to the customers.

That is the inspiration for this tool I call N-of-8 and for this book which I espouse shifting from “focus groups” to N-of-8 groups.

1 comment:

Vincent said...

Sounds like a very interesting story!!!

think the value of self-help books or speeches really all depends on the nature of the self-help book or speech.

The problem with most of them is that you don't know that the person practiced or practices what he/she preaches, you have no idea how they truly got to where they are and they do not cast a wide enough net with their advice to truly reach the minds and hearts of the potential audience.

"Birth of a Salesman" by Carson V. Heady has NONE of these problems.

Not only is it spot-on, can't-miss career advice that is tested and triumphant, it is a book-within-a-novel about the author of the book. Unique spin from someone living in reality - it is a cut above all others.

http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Salesman-Carson-V-Heady/dp/193544431X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284000823&sr=8-1