ThoughtSpurs

A friend recommended that I watch the BBC show Dragon's Den , she absolutely raved about the progamme and insisted it would be a perfect fit for Idealog . When I finally got around to watching an episode I was immediately hooked. Wannabe entrepreneurs vie for venture capital from a panel of proven entrepreneurs. Some applicants have business acumen to the same degree that sad sacks who try out for American Idol have singing talent. Others are persuasive and have genuinely good ideas. The show can be cruel. But, then, so can life. The show is compelling for its human drama. There is also the opportunity to pit one's own analytic skills against the Dragon's - would I invest in the idea? In something of a coup Idealog has scored the sponsorship right to the Australian edition of the show, starting tommorow night on TVOne at 8.30. Mark it in your must see TV diary. We have done a couple of little spots to promote the mag, which I present to you now for your viewing pleasure. S...

She's one of the most successful dance exponents in the world and continues to earn royalties for over 130 works she has created. But, unlike the meteoric upward path of Mozart, one of her touchstone influences, she knows the dull thud of failure. In 1966 in England one of her performances was met with the following review in the Evening Standard: "Three girls, one of them named Twyla Tharp, appeared at the Albert Hall last evening and threatened to do the same again tonight." In her book - The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp, the renowned choreographer describes three dimensions of failure: 1. The failure of nerve When you have everything going for you but the guts to support your idea and explore your concept fully. Do you worry about looking silly? "...looking foolish is good for you says Tharp (isn't that a great name?). 2. Failure through repetition Do you keep doing what you've always done because 'it works'? Tharp says its a problem when you cling...

Here's a thoughtspur from creative thinking pioneer Roger Von Oech: "The human mind," notes scientist W.I. Beveridge, "likes a strange idea as little as the body likes a strange protein and resists it with a similar energy." When you judge new ideas, focus initially on their positive and interesting features. This will counteract a natural negative bias, and help you to develop more ideas. What are two positive things you can say about your problem? We tend to try to preserve equilbrium or status quo. It is a way of eliminating risk and the remorse of choosing the wrong thing. It is a paradox in business, though. Clinging to the accepted or conventional ways of doing things allows upstart competitors with nothing to loose to steal markets from right under your nose. Perhaps it is more useful to build up a high threshold to anitigens. I suggest playing in the dirt, eating loads of mental roughage, sleep as much as you can - and write down your dreams.

Joe Duffy is a legend in design circles. I like the concept of this book, pehaps because it reinforces The One & Only(TM) concept. Message to marketers. If you want to own a brand, then get with the programme. You can't be like your competitors. What competitors?- the lines a re so blurred now that supermarkets sell TVs and the real business of big box retailers like The Warehouse and Farmers is consumer credit....being yourself is a strategic imperative, focusing on who you think are your competitors makes you a tactition. You'll get steam rollered by some thing you simply couldn't see or hear coming.... becasue you didn't perceive it as a threat. I recommed Duffy's book. (I think Duffy Design is part of the Saatchi empire. Auckland's own Derek Lockwood is Worldwide Head of Design for Saatchi & Saatchi). Brand Apart