creative ideas Archives - Connect the Dots

How To Make Your Team Hate You In One Easy Step

A friend of mine has a cat that she affectionately refers to as her “barnacle,” because he’s always there. Wherever she goes, there he is. The kitchen, the living room, the office, on the stairs—he is constantly underfoot. Sometimes literally.

That’s kind of endearing in a cat. Not so much in a boss.

Nobody wants to have the boss constantly hovering around, looking over their shoulders, meowing for food (or the boss equivalent). In fact, here’s how to make your team hate ...

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26
APR
2017

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Communication, Leadership, Producing Results, Teams, Work Ethic

attitude, award winning performance, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, customer service, diversity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, inspirational speaker, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, leading through change, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

How to Be a Great Little-Known Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

John Wooden. Nelson Mandela. Richard Branson. Abraham Lincoln.

Great leaders, all of them. Their words and actions inspired and motivated thousands upon thousands of people.

But probably not you. At least, not directly.

You never met Abraham Lincoln. (And, if you did, you need to contact the Guiness Book of World Records people immediately.) And, although I may not know you personally, I’m guessing that you’ve never had any of the other three on your speed dial either.

Sure, you’ve read their words and ...

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19
APR
2017

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Leadership, Producing Results, Work Ethic

attitude, award winning performance, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, customer service, diversity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, inspirational speaker, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, leading through change, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

Breakthrough Ideas Are Not Created In a Vacuum

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Your next great idea will not come to you out of thin air.

I can say this with near 100% certainty because that’s not how ideas work. That breakthrough idea—the one that will make you rich and famous by Thursday—will not be created in a vacuum. More likely, it’ll be the result of a collision. A collision of dots.

Huh?

Let me explain. Creativity (which is simply the process of coming up with ideas) is all about connecting dots. These dots can be ...

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12
APR
2017

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results, Videos

attitude, award winning performance, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, customer service, diversity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, inspirational speaker, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, leading through change, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

Are You Missing Out On the Most Important Business Tool?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Quick Quiz: What do the following have in common?

The iPhone
The Tesla Model S
Spanx
The self-cleaning litter box
The Sputnik 1 satellite

Answer: They were all the product of a creative idea. As was every single other breakthrough that made a million dollars, cured a disease, or changed the world.

They all came from a creative idea.

Every company that exists—or that ever existed—originated with a creative idea.

Every billionaire on the Forbes 400 list is there because of a creative idea. (Sometimes that creative ...

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5
APR
2017

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results

attitude, Bill Stainton, business communication, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership speaker, leadership training, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

How a Different Perspective Can Make You a Better Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I spent several hours yesterday helping a colleague (whom I’ll call Poppy, because it’s fun) rewrite her website. She was concerned—rightly so—that her site was too wordy, didn’t really capture who she was, and just plain didn’t pop. (This is especially important when you’re named Poppy. Which she is not. But, for the purposes of this article, she is. So there.) So we spent several hours rewriting, revamping, and revising—after which we had a delightful Italian dinner.

Now, I’m not a ...

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29
MAR
2017

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Leadership, Producing Results

attitude, Bill Stainton, business communication, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership speaker, leadership training, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

How Bruce Springsteen Can Make You a Better Boss

Posted by: Bill Stainton

There’s nothing quite like seeing a world-class team operating at the highest level, is there? For example, let’s take Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The video below shows Bruce (“The Boss”) and his team working out an audience-requested song—not one of Bruce’s—live, in front of 45,000 people. Watch the entire video (it’s about 8 minutes—and turn it up as loud as you can!), and then read on for my thoughts on how what “The Boss” does with his ...

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22
MAR
2017

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Leadership, Producing Results, Teams, Videos

attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, innovation, innovative thinking, leadership speaker, leading through change, motivational speaker, professional speaker, running your business, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

TED Talk Secrets That Will Make You a Superior Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

A little over a week ago, I was on a stage in Vancouver, BC, giving a TEDx talk about creativity to 2,700 people. The video will soon be available online, where it could be seen by (fingers crossed!) millions.

The road to a TEDx talk—whether it’s seen by millions or just dozens—is a long one. At this point, of course, I don’t know whether my talk will hit millions of views, dozens, or somewhere in between. But I do know two ...

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15
MAR
2017

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Change, Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results

attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, small business success, success, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader

Where to Find the Idea That Will Make You Rich

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I can’t tell you what your next million-dollar idea will be—but I can tell you, with near 100% certainty, where you’re going to find it. And it probably won’t be where you think.

In order to understand this, you have to understand what creativity is—and what it isn’t. Because **your next million-dollar idea will be, by definition, a creative idea**. And creativity, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t come from nowhere.

Creativity is not the “lightning bolt” that comes out of the blue. ...

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1
MAR
2017

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Change, Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results

attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, small business success, success, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader

How To Be a Terrible Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

You’ve probably watched a TED Talk video or two (or ten) at some point over the past several years. But have you ever been to a TED/TEDx event in person? It turns out there’s a huge—and important—difference between watching one or two TED videos and being immersed in a dozen or so TED Talks over the course of a single day.

In just under two weeks, I’ll be standing on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver BC as the ...

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22
FEB
2017

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Change, Leadership, Producing Results, Teams, Work Ethic

attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, small business success, success, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader

The #1 Skill to Improve for Better Leadership Results

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I recently sent out a survey to over 600 leaders, asking them one question:

In thinking about your leadership, what would you most like to change/improve this year?

As you can imagine, the responses ranged widely, from “organize myself to be more productive” to “I’m retiring and want to leave my company in better shape than it was when I took over.” These are, of course, valid and important concerns. But one area of leadership garnered the biggest response. In fact, a ...

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15
FEB
2017

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Communication, Leadership, Producing Results, Teams

attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, small business success, success, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader

John Wooden. Nelson Mandela. Richard Branson. Abraham Lincoln.

They all came from a creative idea.

In order to understand this, you have to understand what creativity is—and what it isn’t. Because your next million-dollar idea will be, by definition, a creative idea. And creativity, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t come from nowhere.

In order to understand this, you have to understand what creativity is—and what it isn’t. Because **your next million-dollar idea will be, by definition, a creative idea**. And creativity, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t come from nowhere.