S: Substitute

Replace all or part of your product, service, or process with something else. Change out the people, place, time or situation with something else.

C: Combine

Put parts together. Mix and integrate typically unassociated parts. Bring together other ideas and situations. What ideas can be combined? What about a blend? What about an ensemble? What materials could you combine? What else can be merged with this.

A: Adapt

How can you alter, change, or use part of another element? Can you change it to meet your purpose? Is there something you could copy? What style could you emulate? What could you make it look like? What idea can you incorporate?

M: Modify

What if this were somewhat changed? How can this be altered for the better? How about a new twist? What change can we make in the process? What about changing its shape?

P: Put To Other Use

What are other ways you can put your challenge to use?

E: Eliminate

What can be taken away? What isn’t truly necessary? What isn’t required for functionality? What if it were smaller?

R: Rearrange

What if the order were changed? Where should this part be placed in relation to that? What other layout might be better? What about timing? Or a change of pace?

Facebook is a perfect example of a company trying to be all things to all people, while LinkedIn is a perfect example of a company that focused on a niche.

As a result, LinkedIn is building a loyal customer base, while Facebook is involved in an expensive and probably pointless quest to remain relevant.

Customers don't want you to be everything and anything to them. They want you to do one thing really well–reliably, predictably, and hassle-free.

Anything else, and you're at risk of being replaced.

brand relationships are very complex phenomena, much like human relationships. Marketers tended to think only of strong versus weak connections, wherein consumers were passionately committed for the long-term. The reality is one of a complex relationship space that exists alongside so-called "brand marriages" to include best friendships, childhood friendships, and flings. Most importantly, there exist negatively-toned relationships that received little if any research attention: dependencies, abused spouses, master-slaves, and adversaries, for example.

Space (“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”)

Time (“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”)

Time (“Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original,” and learning to tolerate the discomfort of pondering time and indecision.)

Confidence (“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”)

Humor (“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”)

Being constantly inundated with our social updates tires us out--we’re fatigued and we’re annoyed with each other. Here’s why: while it is true that no one care’s about your trip to Mexico, your weird tastes in music and the dinner that you just made, we still want to be involved. But we hate the self-serving. We’re re-pinning and re-tweeting without context, without collaboration. The Internet will always suffer from social media fatigue until it allows for seamless collaboration among multi-platforms, multi-dimensions, and multi-media. This may be idealistic view but it’s not impossible.

ideaphoria

You see, innovation is important, but rarely urgent.  The urgent stuff constantly creeps in to disrupt the important.

If you are in love with the perfect, prepare to see it swept away. If you are able to dream of the impossible, it just might happen.

 “Talent hits a target no else can hit.  Genius hits a target no one else can see.

the amount of space allotted to each employee shrunk 60% since the 1970s; and that open office plans are associated with reduced concentration and productivity, impaired memory, higher turnover and increased illness.

If you want a return to “pretentiousness” you need time, stillness, effort and less distraction from mutliple media platforms.

These six innovation questions are:

• What could I look at in a new way? (Steve Jobs looked at the computer in a new way, leading to the Mac and the personal computer revolution.)
• What could I use in a new way? (Paleolithic humans turned fire from a scourge into a means of cooking, heat, light, and protection.)
• What could I recontextualize in space or time? (The Sumerians moved language from spoken to written form, expanding its power and reach.)
• What could I connect in a new way? (Thomas Edison connected the light bulb to the electrical grid, leading to electrified cities.)
• What could I change, in terms of design or performance? (Nearly 3 million years ago, the world’s first “innovator” transformed a simple rock into a stone hand-axe.)
• What could I create that is truly new? (In 1776, American colonists created the first “intentional” nation, based on specific abstract principles.)

strategy should be about finding insights and then flipping them so that the key output of the strategy is an idea that will get someone to see themselves, the world around them, the product, or the brand differently. It was then the creative job to take this flip and bring it to life in an impactful way.

Putting people into big groups doesn’t actually increase the flow of ideas. Group dynamics themselves--rather than overt criticism--work to stifle each person’s potential.

But it's the feeling of getting somewhere that keeps people jazzed about what they do at work.

We have an economy where we steal from the future, sell it in the present, and call it GDP.

1. Steal like an artist.
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
3. Write the book you want to read.
4. Use your hands.
5. Side projects and hobbies are important.
6. The secret: do good work and share it with people.
7. Geography is no longer our master.
8. Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
10. Creativity is subtraction.

1. Steal like an artist.
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
3. Write the book you want to read.
4. Use your hands.
5. Side projects and hobbies are important.
6. The secret: do good work and share it with people.
7. Geography is no longer our master.
8. Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
10. Creativity is subtraction.

1. Steal like an artist.
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
3. Write the book you want to read.
4. Use your hands.
5. Side projects and hobbies are important.
6. The secret: do good work and share it with people.
7. Geography is no longer our master.
8. Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
10. Creativity is subtraction.

A fairytale.

I am so excited and grateful that I have three pages in the brand new “Vogue’s Best Dressed’ issue for 2011/12. Thank you, Anna Wintour and everyone at Vogue for including me, and Robert Sullivan for pulling the words out of me. I love it!

Nicola Formichetti/The making of Zombie Boy

#ytchallenge

You can do some drills that are easy to understand. If you march in place, you’ll notice that you’re lifting from the core. We have to lift our leg off the ground. It’s very stable and the ball of your foot touches, the heel settles and you lift again. That’s how you want to run. How do we go forward? March in place and then fall forward like a tree being cut at a lower level. Take short quick steps, lifting from the core. Now you’re just balancing instead of braking and pushing. Every track drill—high knees, butt kicks, skipping—is intended to have you land underneath your mass and quicken your cadence. Run like you’re running on hot coals. Lift quickly off the ground and touch quickly. Less impact, quicker speed. We’re trying to go back to one-legged balance as opposed to braking and pushing.

14 DAYS FOR 5-K
Long run-> 6 to 9 miles
Tempo run-> 3 to 4 miles at 30 seconds slower than race pace
Long intervals-> 3 to 4 x 5 minutes at 10-K pace with equal rest
Short intervals-> 6 to 8 x 400 meters at race pace, with 400 meters recovery jog

21 DAYS FOR HALF-MARATHON
Three long runs-> 10 to 15 miles
Short tempo run-> 3 to 4 miles at race pace or faster
Long tempo run-> 6 to 9 miles at 30 seconds slower than race pace
Tempo intervals-> 3 x 2 miles at 10-K race pace

Make Good Time
Key workouts to help you learn goal race pace for any distance

Race distance: 5-K
Workout: 6 to 8 x 800 at 5-K race pace with a 2:30 recovery jog. Do once a week.

Race distance: 10-K
Workout: 4 to 5 x 1 mile at 10-K race pace with a 3:30 jog. Do once a week.

Race distance: HALF-MARATHON
Workout: Five-mile tempo run at half-marathon race pace. Do once a week.

Race distance: MARATHON
Workout: Eight to 12 miles at goal marathon pace. Do every two weeks.

Do each exercise from 10-30 seconds, varying the length of time and order as you go. Cycle through continuously for 20 minutes. (Start with something more reasonable, like five minutes.) Concentrate on keeping light, active feet, a tight core and loose limbs.

JUMPING JACKS: Just like when you were 6 years old.

QUICK JUMPS FOR HEIGHT: Spend as little time on the ground as possible.

STRAIGHT LEG SHUFFLES: Keep your knees locked and shuffle forward in a scissor kick.

HIGH KNEE SKIPS: Try to bring your knee close to your chest.

HIGH KNEE HILL SPRINTS: Concentrate on your leg turnover rather than your speed up the hill.

BUTT KICKS: Raise your heel to your butt while bringing your thighs in front of you, parallel to the ground.

QUICK FEET: Cycle your feet as though on tiny wheels, aiming for minimal ground contact.

THE OREGON TRACK CLUB COOL-DOWN
Here's one example of Sally Kipyego's post-workout routine with the Oregon Track Club

Do each drill for 30 meters and walk back to the start between them. Cycle through the set twice. As you advance, try combining two drills at a time, continuing from one to the other for a total of 60 meters, or moving directly from drill to stride. Aim to land on the ball of your foot and dorsiflex between contacts.

PSOAS STRETCH: Stand tall with your hands on your hips and your tailbone tucked. Take a wide lunge step, maintaining a tight core and hold for a second. Keeping your hips facing forward, twist at the waist to the right and then to the left, and then step forward. Alternate legs continuously.

HIGH KNEE MARCHES: Standing tall, lift your right knee toward your chest as you go up on the toe of your left foot. Use your hands to pull your knee in a few extra degrees, being careful to keep the knee in line with your shoulder, angling it neither in nor out. Release the knee and step forward. Alternate legs continuously.

HIGH KNEE RUN: Jog forward slowly with an energetic bounce and exaggerated knee lift. Take very small steps and aim for quick ground contact.

HIGH SKIPS: Skip forward forcefully, aiming for height, a high knee, and a straight back leg. Use your arms and be sure to direct most of your movement up, rather than forward.

STRAIGHT LEG SHUFFLE: Keep your core tight and your legs straight, scissoring them forward in a quick shuffle. Aim for strong feet and quick ground contact.

Dr. Bill's Super Smoothie
8 oz green vegetable juice (or 4 Tbsp powdered greens with 8 oz water)
8 oz carrot juice
8 oz pomegranate juice or grape juice
2 c unsweetened organic Greek-style yogurt
1 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 c other fruit, frozen, such as strawberries, papaya, mango, pineapple
2 kiwifruits
3 oz tofu
¼ c ground flaxseed
¼ c wheat germ
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a high-power blender. Tastes best when it's fresh and still has that bubbly milkshake consistency. Makes 64 ounces.

For added flavor and nutrient power, add:

Dates, raisins, or figs for extra sweetness
1-2 Tbsp peanut butter
Organic milk instead of a juice
Organic spinach for an earthy taste
A multivitamin/mineral protein powder
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds for extra vitamin E and calories

Eat twice as little, twice as often, chew twice as long!

PREPARATORY TRAINING

It's important to note that, before his specific half marathon training, Martin completed 13 weeks of the base phase I've described before: building his mileage, aerobic threshold and leg speed. He also prefaced his half marathon block with five weeks of speed-building workouts at 5K to 10K race pace. (These were workouts like mile repeats at 10K race pace and other traditional "speed" workouts.) This preparatory training was essential to allow him to complete his demanding half marathon plan.

Here are the key workouts that Martin Fagan did in the six weeks before setting the Irish half marathon record of 1:00:57.

Week	Workout #1	Workout #2	Long Run
1	Steady State: 8 mi	Short Hills	18-20 miles
2	Tempo Intervals: 3 mi, 3:00 jog, 2 miles, 3:00 jog, 1 mile	Medium Hills	18-20 miles w/ last 4-6 miles at marathon effort
3	Steady State: 8-10 miles	Short Hills	18-20 miles
4	Steady State: 2 miles + Tempo Run: 4 miles	Medium Hills	18-20 miles w/ last 4-6 miles at marathon effort
5	Steady State: 10 miles	Tempo Run: 3-5 miles	12-14 miles w/ last 2-4 miles at marathon effort
6	Cruise Intervals: 4-5 x 1K @ 10K effort with 200m jog	Fartlek: 5-6 x 1:00 @ half marathon effort w/ 1:00 jog	Race: Half Marathon

"I'm never going to run this again."

Grete Waitz after the first of nine NYC Marathons