CATS comes to the Books n Brew

At our recent Books n Brew we all met at the Hot House Cafe, had a few brews, and discussed Stephen Lundin's book CATS - The Nine Lives of Innovation. The overall consensus ~ the book's content is good and helpful but the use of cats is irritating! 


As Cheron Long-Landes (www.bodyfood.ca) wrote: Yes, I did find some good tips and information and have made notes of some of the ideas .... BUT it really bugged me that there really was no senses in the meaning of the word CATS. I honestly feel, had he parallelled how cats live or even made up an acronym, I would have accepted the frequent use of CATS. Having said that I'm glad I read the book!


Mette Keating, owner of InDeVision (www.InDeVision.com) and creator of "The Office Alive" Program, kindly "volunteered" to write this blog about the book. Thank you Mette!

CATS is definitely one of the better books that I have read lately.  Read it and use it to spark the curiosity and creativity within every employee and inspire innovation approaches to ordinary everyday situations.

Challenge yourself with these CAT Nips below:

Nip 1.

Think of a time when you were devastated by the comments of a thoughtless critic.

*What was your idea?

*What did the voice of judgment say?

*How did that feel?

*What did you think but not say out loud?

*What did you say?  What did you do then?

*Did you fight back or give up?

*What are the long-term effects of this drama if it is played over and over again?

*How can you stop the drama from playing in your life?

Now find someone to talk about this with, and see what his experience has been with critics.

Nip 2.

Try something that has the potential to instantly create spaciousness in your life.  When you find yourself evaluating or judging, redirect your attention to curiosity and wonder.  Try to see the same thing with the open interest of an infant.  The world looks different when you simply see it and don't judge it.

Nip 3.

Can you think of some personal examples of workplaces that seem, by the very nature, to breed fun and innovation?

*Ask yourself this question: "When do I have the most fun at work?"

*Now ask yourself: "When am I most innovative at work?"

Nip 4.

What are the names of the primary content files you have accumulated?  For example, you might have files for management, motivation, research design, metallurgy, leadership, astronomy, physics, math, change ... name yours.

*Do you have a Mind Map for each of these?  Make one, and keep it updated for the rest of your life.

*Prepare a place to keep neat ideas?

*Review your Mind Maps each week?  Do it.

Nip 5.

Consider putting yourself in situations that will stretch your boundaries:

*Travel, but without a tour group.  Have a personal experience.

*Read biographies of people in a variety of fields.

*Hang out with those who are not at all like you.

*Observe life!

*Try things just for the sake of experiencing them (legal things).

*Look for ways to walk in someone else's shoes.

Nip 6.

Here are some things you can tell yourself when you are stuck:

*How fascinating!

*It's not the end of the world, for goodness sake!

*I will live another day to tell the story.

*Let's backtrack and see what went wrong.

*It could have been a lot worse!

*Hmm, what can I learn from this episode?

*Adversity builds character.

*Five years from now, how important will this seem? 
  
Visit Mette's web site to see the fantastic work she does to make workplaces come alive! www.InDeVision.com