Why You Don’t Need to Solve Every Problem

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How much time are you wasting trying to solve problems that could simply be eliminated?

I once spent nearly an entire summer trying to solve a problem. But when I finally came around to eliminating the problem instead, the “solution” seemed so simple! Here’s what happened.

I was the producer of a sketch comedy TV show in Seattle called Almost Live! We were a one-hour show, airing Sundays at 6pm (a terrible time for sketch comedy, by the way). In addition to ...

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Change, Creativity, Sales, The Beatles

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How To Lead a Creative Team

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I’ve never run a pre-school daycare, but for fifteen years I was the boss of ten multi-Emmy Award winning comedy writers, which amounts to pretty much the same thing. As the Executive Producer of Seattle’s sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live!, it was my job to keep a highly creative team motivated and productive. I learned a lot of things along the way, but primarily I learned that a creative team needs two seemingly incompatible things in order to thrive: ...

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results, Teams

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Why Most People Miss the Brilliant Idea

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I’m tired of hearing people talk about “quantity vs. quality,” as if the two were mutually exclusive. [You: “Really? You’re tired of that? You’re hearing this conversation so much that you’re actually tired of it? What kind of lame parties are you going to, man? I never hear people talking about ‘quantity vs. quality!'”] Well, perhaps I hang out with a more erudite crowd than you. But the point is this: quantity and quality are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, when ...

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Creativity, Producing Results

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Do You Know What Your “Real” Business Is?

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A couple of nights ago I made sauteed chicken breasts for dinner, with a white wine pan sauce to make it a little more interesting. Briefly, here’s how you make a pan sauce (and yes, I promise this is going somewhere): you add a quarter cup of wine and a quarter cup of chicken broth to the pan, perhaps with a bit of mustard, and then boil it until the half-cup of liquid is reduced down to a total of ...

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Communication, Creativity, Customer Service, Leadership

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Are You a Leader or a Coward?

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I hate to be the one to point this out, but most of the corporate businesses in America are run by cowards. [You: “Wait a minute, Stainton. I run a corporate business and I’m not a coward!”] Really? You think not? Then answer this question—honestly: What drives most of your decisions? [You: “Well, let’s see. There are many elements: the profitability of the company, the cost/benefit ratio, consumer expectations….”] Bull. It seems to me that most corporate decisions made in ...

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results, The Beatles

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Why You Need to See Other People

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I think you need to see other people.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with your current relationship, or your current colleagues, or your current friends. I just think you need to see other people. We all do. Because if we keep interacting with the same people—just the same people—we’re going to keep hearing the same points of view, and sameness is the mortal enemy of innovation. Just this morning in Indiana, President Obama said, “The United States led the world’s ...

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Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

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In Defense of Creativity

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I’m currently developing a keynote presentation and supplementary workshop/breakout session on creativity and innovative thinking, and a friend of mine advised me not to include the word creativity in the title because “creativity isn’t a very in concept.” To which I respond: really? REALLY?

He said I might get somewhere with “innovative thinking,” but nobody’s going to buy a program on “creativity.” Now, bear in mind that my friend isn’t an idiot. (Many of my friends are, but not this particular ...

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Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

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How to Solve Your Problems…for Fun and Profit!

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You have a problem. I’m not being judgmental, just making an observation. You have a problem. (You: “Wow—it’s like you totally get me!”) Yeah, spooky, isn’t it? But how did I know you have a problem? Because you’re human, and all humans have problems. Bill Gates has problems (for example, he’s never really found a haircut that works). So right now you may be thinking, “All right, so we all have problems. What I really want to know is how ...

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Creativity, Producing Results

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You Need to Make More Mistakes

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Oscar Peterson was one of the greatest jazz pianists who ever lived. He could find chords on the piano that would just turn your heart inside out, and his blazing speed on the keyboard was legendary. A former piano teacher of his once said, “I don’t think Oscars’ fingers could make a mistake if they had to.” I had the privilege of intervewing Oscar once, and I mentioned this quote from his teacher. He gave me a huge smile and ...

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Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

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How Much Are Your Blinders Costing You?

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Don’t look now, but you may be going through life with blinders on. Actually, we all are to some extent—some of us more so than others. What do I mean by this? Well, I grew up in Amish country, where horses and buggies are a common sight. Because horses have amazing peripheral vision and are easily distracted, the Amish put blinders on the horses so that they can only see straight ahead. This is a very good thing for a ...

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Change, Communication, Customer Service, Leadership, Producing Results

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