Ideasicle Podcast

Welcome to another episode of the Ideasicle Podcast, where we attempt to untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea. Today we have Edward Boches, Chief Innovation Officer at Mullen Advertising, with us. On the forefront of the social media space, Edward has strong feelings about how we need to live and think differently in this brave new world. And, coming from a guy who's seen it all, it's valuable advice for any idea person. SHOW NOTES: How does one make the transition from Creative Director to Chief Innovation Officer at an ad agency? Edward tells us. Great bit about how organizational innovation has to happen from the inside out. The people need to think differently and the culture has to reward people differently. And the company needs to practice what it preaches. Example: http://www.thenextgreatgeneration.com/ (invented by Mullen). Are you "T shaped"? Edward thinks being so is a very good thing in innovative organizations. Edward agrees with me that the act of creativity has changed and takes it a ste

Ever feel a strange “vibe” in a room, or know what someone is thinking before they talk, or even feel that jolt of inspiration when you have a great idea? Well, today we’re going to talk about an incredibly mysterious force, one that could unlock all of our creative potential, called “subtle energy,” with Dr. Synthia Andrews. Welcome to the Ideasicle Podcast, where we attempt to untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea. BIO: Synthia is a naturopathic physician with 30 years experience as a massage and energy practitioner. Through her practice, she realized that the body is a fully equipped vehicle for engaging energy reality. Understanding how to awaken this vehicle and facilitate people’s energy path is her life work. She uses the techniques in her book, “The Path of Energy,” personally, in client sessions and in meditation groups. She teaches energy awareness workshops and lectures around the world. SHOW NOTES: Dr. Andrews begins by defining "subtle energy" and "life force" for us, as well as explains th

Welcome to the Ideasicle Podcast where we attempt to untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea. Today we have advertising giant, Jon Steel. Learn why he gives his direct reports unlimited vacation (it's not why you think), how a baseball game was the impetus behind one of the great Goodby campaigns of all time, and get his view as to what creativity really is, among many, many other fascinating topics.  SHOW NOTES: To Jon, creative talent is about the process of reduction. Creativity is about making connections in your life. No one has ideas at their desk. Creative people tend to collect things, but also collect experiences. That's why he gives his planners unlimited vacation. You can't inspire all creative people the same way - great example with word man, Jeff Goodby, and the visual man, Rich Silverstein. Once again the topic of mundane, repetitive activities comes up as catalysts for creativity. Jon tells us why, and what he does to keep his own creative edge. Great bit about how Jon thinks the commun

Today we have about ten creative people wrapped up in one. We’re talking to a writer, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, poet, speaker and creativity teacher, Jamie Cat Callan. BIO: Jamie is the author of French Women Don’t Sleep Alone and the recently published “Bonjour, Happiness! Secrets to Finding your Joie de Vivre” She is the creator of The Writer’s Toolbox, and has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, the Missouri Review, Story and many other places.  Jamie is also an inspirational speaker, a total Francophile and an unabashed romantic.  SHOW NOTES: Jamie knew she was a writer when, as a child, her Barbie Doll went bad. Hilarious story. Jamie talks to us about embracing surprise and the concept of polarity in storytelling.  A well developed character tells the writer what he or she "wants" to do (same for brands). She does a product demo of her wonderful "Writer's Toolbox" extolling the virtues of play in creativity. We talk about what creativity is and what Jamie calls the "artistic

Welcome to the Ideasicle Podcast, where we untangle the mysteries of the elusive idea. Today, reality is taking a back seat. We are exploring a fascinating emerging category for marketing ideas called "augmented reality," also known as AR. We are very interested in augmented reality at Ideasicle because it’s such an unbridled expanse for new marketing ideas. And as the proliferation of smartphones, from Android to iPhone to everything in-between, continues, augmented reality is fast becoming a mainstream phenomenon. So it’s important as marketers that we understand it. Bio: Our guest today, Vivian Rosenthal, is going to help us out. She has been mastering this new medium for a decade now. She got her masters at the Columbia University School of Architecture in 2001. She is the founder and CEO of Goldrun, an augmented reality app that enables users to locate, interact with and take photos of GPS-linked virtual objects positioned in the real world. Vivian is also the co-founder of Tronic studio, a digital m

Today we are talking with someone who thinks about creativity for a living. As a writer and creativity consultant, Jeffrey Davis shows creatives and entrepreneurs how to rally wonder as an ally to stay open to possibility, persevere through creative challenges, and connect with what matters most. BIO: He is founder of Tracking Wonder Consulting and writes the Tracking Wonder blog for Psychology Today. He is President of Center To Page, LLC through which he has mentored aspiring and New York Times best-selling writers alike. He also is founder of the Yoga as Muse Programs & Training and is also author of the groundbreaking book The Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices as Muse for Authentic Writing. He has led workshops internationally at the University of New Mexico’s Taos Writer’s Conference, Kripalu Center in Western Massachusetts, The Omega Institute, the Writers Lab on the Greek isle of Skyros, and Nova Scotia’s Tatamagouche Centre among other places. He teaches at Weste

I’m not kidding around anymore. Today, I’ve brought in a knight to help us. Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture.  For twelve years, he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now Professor Emeritus. In 2003, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts. He speaks to au

Today we’re talking to a seasoned veteran in the advertising business, George Parker. This guy has spent more than thirty five years in the Madison avenue salt mines with such major agencies as Ogilvy & Mather, Y&R, Chiat Day, JWT and many others. He’s worked in New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Stockholm and Detroit. In the course of his career he’s won Cannes Lions, CLIOs, EFFIES, the David Ogilvy Award and several hundred other bits of tin and plastic. His blog AdScam, which was named one of the four best ad blogs in the world by Campaign Magazine, is required reading for those looking for a piss & vinegar view of the world’s second oldest profession. He’s also written a new book called, “The Ubiquitous Persuaders.” Show Notes: George begins by talking about the "creative rennaissance" that was the 1960's. We discuss how important it is to respect the audience. George challenges convention as to the "best TV commercical of all time" (it's not the one you think it is). Here's a concept fo

Today we’re going client side to see how transformative ideas and creativity can be on the inside of the house. And there’s no one better to talk to about that than Tom Butta.  Tom Butta has sat squarely in the hot seat of transformation for his entire career. As CMO or CEO he has helped public and private companies capitalize on critical moments and accelerate through opportunity.  He started in advertising at Hill Holiday and Y&R. As CMO of Red Hat where he helped position open source technologies as a viable alternative to proprietary one. He also helped drive the second highest IPO in NASDAQ history. As CMO of PTC Tom helped position product development as a value play with his seminal work around The Way to Product First. That work -- and the value roadmap he architected in 2002 -- is still in use today by PTC which is now the second largest independent software company in the world. As CEO of Superstock, Tom helped create a legitimate challenger to Getty Images in the digital creative content space 

Nick Egan was raised in the punk rock era. So it’s no surprise that his ideas on ideas are nothing short of beautiful anarchy. What is art? How is education failing the creative process? How did he almost fail out of art school and become a huge artistic success? Listen to this episode of the Ideasicle Podcast and find out. Nick Egan is a British-born director working since 1976 in the industry of art, design and film for music, as well as the advertising business. This includes album designs, art direction with photographers, music videos since the 1980s, TV commercials, and web design. In the 1970s Nick was well known as a record sleeve designer connected with the Punk Rock Movement, designing sleeves for The Clash and, Bow Wow Wow and later for Dexy's Midnight Runners. He established a long lasting working relationship with Malcolm McClaren, manager of the Sex Pistols and Vivienne Westwood. He worked on McClaren's Duck Rock and Fans album, with art direction for Westwood's early fashion shows in London and

Dr. Chalko lives in Mt Best, Victoria, Australia and holds a Masters degree in engineering and a Ph.D. in physics (laser holography). His professional interests span from lasers and vibration engineering to physics of consciousness. His passions include meditation, exploring limits of human perception, awareness and self healing. He plays classical guitar, enjoys windsurfing (he calls himself a speed addict), takes time to practice meditation, telepathy and astral travel. His hobbies include challenging paradigms and paradoxes in science on Earth, studying puzzling properties of stimulated electro-photonic glow around living organisms, using a Kirlian camera, discovering purpose of life, as well as organizing controversial seminars. Dr. Chalko is from Poland, married a Russian woman and now lives in Australia. We cover a lot of fascinating ground: Dr. Chalko shares with us a letter he wrote for his children on Christmas. A wonderful lesson to all of us - the greatest gifts come from within. We discuss the u

David and I have known each other a long time. And whenever we get together we always gravitate back to one topic: The Beatles. We're both big fans, but we also both study the band, admire their creativity and love the ingenuity they consistently presented to the world. We don't always agree as to which Beatle is the most talented or important, or which song is the best, but we do always have a provocative conversation. During this podcast, I loved how David was able to apply the Beatles' prowess to our marketing lives today. David Lubars is the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO North America. For those not in the ad biz, here’s a run down of David’s storied career. He began his career in 1981.  He has since won every major creative award in the world several times over.  His work has been written about in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business 2.0 and Time, and has appeared on the cover of Archive magazine twice. He has been named Creative Director of the Year in the trade

Alyssa Toro is uniquely equipped to answer the following question: can food affect your ideas? She has not only made a career out of creativity, she is also certified as a Holistic Health Coach.Alyssa is a Senior Partner and Creative Director at Connelly Partners in Boston. She has almost twenty years experience in advertising and design at some of New England's most creative agencies, including Leonard/Monahan, Ingalls and Hill Holiday. For as long as her agency has been alive Alyssa has been overseeing all things creative for her clients. With an unparalleled passion for design, Alyssa and her creative teams approach every job with a unique perspective offiering solutions that range from brand identity to TV, digital and grass roots programs. When not chasing creative or her two children, Alyssa has found the time to get certified as a Holistic Health Coach. Oh, and she was a professional gymnast. Show notes: Alyssa begins by educating us on what the brian needs for deep thinking. She talks about the diffe

Seth Schulman has made an art out of inspiring authors to better ideas. He believes anyone can do it, but that not everyone gives themselves "permission" to do it. The "professional" environment doesn't help with its overlay of expectations, fear and posturing, all filtering the ideation process. But fear not. Seth has some tangible tips and tricks that you can do to help with your own ideation. And you can start by getting rid of the ping-pong table. Show Notes: We start with a description of the writing process and the typical problems writers face. We discuss fear in the corporate environment and "professionalism" and how both get in the way of pure ideation. Fear comes up as an enemy of ideation (again). Environment is an important contributor to inspiration and ideation - Seth explains why and how he uses the environment with his clients. The ad agency's typical pool table, ping pong table and dartboard have become part of the professional environment, which means they don't work as well to spur ide

What does a pig auctioneer, Jane Goodall, Vaclav Havel, a billiard ball and Paul McCartney have in common? They were all brought up as examples to explain and bring to life Dr. Bob Deutsch's fascinating views on ideation, creativity and the human condition. Show notes below. But first, Dr. Robert Deutsch is a specialist in communication and culture who has worked on Pennsylvania Avenue, Madison Avenue and in the primeval forest. The Ad Club of New York has referred to him as “a truly revolutionary thinker.” And Adam Morgan, in his book, Eating the Big Fish, has called Bob a profound analyst of human nature and American culture. Dr. Deutsch has written and spoken widely on what one sees when casting a “primal eye” on modernity, including its rituals and mythologies. He has contributed articles on human nature, the cultural moment and marketing to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe and The National Geographic Magazine. His commentaries have appeared on ABC’s Nightline, Good

David Baldwin is one of the most awarded copywriters and creative directors in the business today. Among many other things, hear him talk about his new company, Baldwin&, and how he's creating a creative environment, the importance of authenticity in communications, his concerns about how pitching is affecting the advertising industry, and, of course, his view on how to come up with better ideas (including the role of shitty ideas). Prior to launching Baldwin&, David was the Creative Director for McKinny, Chairman of the One Club in NYC, the force behind The One Show. Alongside his creative advertising exploits, David is an executive producer for the film, Art & Copy, now available on DVD and premiering on PBS this fall, and was a guitarist/songwriter for the band Pants who’s CD, Twice the Snake You Need can be found on iTunes or Amazon.com. Show Notes: New original music intro for the Ideasicle Podcast from Joe Kowalski.  This guy rocks. Check out more of his work here: http://soundtrack.onlyone

We continue our Ideasicle Podcast series with Gaurav Suri, author and fMRI specialist at Stanford University. Mr. Suri is the author of "A Certain Ambiguity" (Princeton, 2007), an award winning novel that examines how we know what we know--and if we can be certain about it. His next novel, in progress, examines the mechanisms of the human brain. How do we decide? Where do ideas come from? What makes us who we are? Mr. Gaurav is involved with several fMRI studies at Stanford University that seek to isolate the drivers of human preference in the brain. He has also driven significant research on the role of emotion and affect in decision making. Show notes: We begin by discussing how Gaurav became interested in the brain in the first place, and his book "A Certain Ambiguity." He discusses the mechanics of the brain - neurons, synapses, electric impulses, etc. He goes into fascinating detail about the difference between the cerebral cortex (the conscious brain) and the more primal brain (the unconscious). He giv

In this first episode, Will interviews Tom Monahan, a true expert in the field of ideas.  Tom is the founder and head creativity coach of Before & After, Inc. and a leader in the field of applied creativity. He does private consulting and ideation training for a list of leading companies and professional organizations. Tom's unorthodox approach to training has had toy designers doing origami, engineers playing mental leapfrog and media executives throwing rotten tomatoes.   Show notes: Tom starts by describing the prolific ideators he's worked with - David Lubars, David Baldwin, Kara Goodrich, Jim Garaventi and others. The balance of confidence and insecurity in creativity and ideation. Importance of talented people these days versus a "creative department." They discuss the impact of the democratization of executional tools.  Is a million dollar production necessary today? Tom talks about his company, Before & After, and techniques you can do to your mind to increase the chances of coming up with gr