One question every person in charge should ask

There is not much of a silver lining to the Gulf oil spill, but people in charge – whether entrepreneurs, executives or longtime business owners – can garner valuable wisdom from one of the many mistakes that made the disaster more likely.

Potentially, busy with the severe recession, the financial sector bailout and the fight for a national health care plan, the Obama administration missed at least one ball it should have been keeping in the air: effective regulation of the oil industry in general and of deep-water drilling in particular.

The potent lesson for those of us in charge? There's a question we should ask ourselves often, and that we should grant ourselves the mental space and creative license to answer: What am I missing?

It's natural and tempting to get on a track and follow it, or to create a plan and execute it without taking the time and energy to step to the side and take stock - frequently. Are you missing opportunities? Not alert to certain dangers? Letting issues, people, money, or projects slide while you deal with everyday urgencies and tempests in a teapot?

It's true that people in charge have many of their best ideas while driving, showering or taking a vacation. Extend that freedom of mind into your everyday routine. Assign or put aside routine tasks to facilitate your own creative thinking. Read a business book on a new topic. Ask yourself if there's anything on your mind that you're not dealing with (it's often right there below the surface). Access your right brain.

What am I missing? I'm glad I asked myself. I'll ask again. And again.

The mind at rest, kind of.

[caption id="attachment_363" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="...dream on."][/caption]

My sister Molly sent the family an email that read:

Last night I dreamed that I had saved my dream as the wrong file type and I couldn’t open it.

First, I must express my admiration of a dream so terse and still so meaningful. It makes my recurring dream of being lost on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and knowing I need to walk the 90 miles home in the dark seem... well, rather stale.

More to the point, I think my sister just had the ultimate "I'm stressed and not exactly having the time of my life" dream that deserves the 2009 Great Recession Award.*

(*All credit for the term "Great Recession" is ceded to my older son, Zach.)

When I get stressed, I misplace credit cards, keys and other everyday necessities. Sometimes I misplace them in restaurants or public restrooms, which is unfortunate. My sister, apparently, mis-saves dream files.

When I get stressed, I can lose touch with my aspirations, my joys and my confidence. My sister can't even dream her damn dream.

On the other hand, don't you think the mind is a wonderful thing? What a creative way for her brain to say, "Hey kid, you could use some downtime and fun, because life is taking you away from yourself."

May she open her next dream file with ease.

Funny is good.

[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) explores brainstorming at its upcoming conference."][/caption]

Creative brainstorming is a part of what our company does. Oh, it's not as big a part as interns and other neophytes hope, as evidenced by our laughter when a bright-eyed young interviewee offers, "I can give you great ideas." (Actually, we were hoping she or he was a whiz with the postage meter, or perhaps calling to collect late payments.)
But, back to the point. Creative brainstorming is crucial, particularly in cases in which the soul of outreach is ear-catching words, innovative graphics, or some virtually unheard-of new interactive approach.

Getting there is fun. Humor and offbeat ideas are a surprising route to the really, really, great idea. Say we're marketing a new macho product and need a name for it. Generally, someone in our "creative brain trust" ends up laughing so hard his or her stomach hurts, shouting out ridiculousness such as "buzzcut!" or "dude!" until finally, 5,761 completely unusable ideas inspire The Answer.


Our work is serious. Really. But when we want to get to that part of the brain that yields wonderful, original concepts, we need to unleash childlike abandon.

Nice work if you can get it, eh?