photo credit: vernhart

Post written by Andre Kibbe, author of the blog Tools for Thought.

When trying to solve a problem or design a solution, there’s often some root certainty that frames our thinking about it. We need to explicitly identify ideas we take for granted in order to think beyond them.

These ideas that we take for granted are called dominant ideas. They’re presuppositions that slip by our analysis unless we make a conscious effort to prevent that from happening. Dominant ideas need to be identified explicitly; otherwise they contour our perception of what we’re examining and limit our options.

The dominant idea behind a telephone is having a microphone, speaker and numeric keypad. As an alternative, we could design a cell phone with a qwerty keyboard, but with no microphone or speaker. It would be used strictly for text messages, and be cheaper to make and buy than conventional phones.

The dominant idea behind an RSS reader is collecting feeds. For the sake of provocation, we could posit that the point of an RSS reader is rejecting feeds. We want to keep irrelevant information to a minimum. This might lead to using an RSS add-on to an email client, taking advantage of the email client’s keyword filtering capabilities. A Mac user with no interest the iPhone or Linux could set up the reader to trash feeds from a particular tech blog with those keywords. Switching the perception of an RSS reader from being a collector to being a filter shifts the user’s priorities.

As an exercise in lateral thinking, spend a minute or two with each of the following items. Identify the dominant ideas and see if there aren’t alternative ways of looking at the items.

• Parties
• Cameras
• Nonprofit corporations
• Batteries
• Vacations
• Greetings
• Alternatives

There are no right answers. The object is to develop the habit of reexamining perceptions we take for granted. Someone might point out that the dominant idea behind a telephone is “to communicate.” You might think that the dominant idea behind a vacation is “relocation.” I might argue that the dominant idea is “two weeks,” or some similar block of time. Both perceptions have the potential for developing alternatives.

Alternatives to “relocation” might entail staying at home binging on DVDs, spending quality time with friends and family in town, or finally starting that backyard garden. Alternatives to “two weeks” might entail redistributing the time over a series of three-day weekends, arranging to convert the time into half-days at work, planning blocks of time off according to personal projects (e.g. a one-day project, a four-day project, etc.).

The dominant ideas behind any object, institution, concept or concern can always be reviewed, questioned or challenged. We only need to make the proactive effort to do it.

Andre Kibbe is the author of the excellent productivity blog Tools for Thought. Tools for thought examines new directions and currents in self-development.

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photo credit: chanzi

Working from home has many, many advantages. Comfy environments, no commute, to name a few. However, working from home also comes with just as many disadvantages. It’s easy to become distracted, the pay is never guaranteed, and it can get quite lonely. However, one of the worst parts about being a home worker for me are all the stereotypes that follow people who work at home. Here are few that I run into all the time.

1. You’re ALWAYS open for business.

It seems that once people learn that my “office” is in my house, that I can answer work-related calls, IM’s and emails whenever is convenient for them. I’ve managed to curb this pretty well by using away status messages and not picking up the phone after 5pm, but it’s still annoying.

Home workers need to have standards like everyone else. You don’t work 16-hour days. Why should we?

2. “You’re at home. How can you be working?”

To this day I still have to answer this question. You’d think with the Internet establishing itself as, well, a huge business opportunity, people would catch on that you don’t have to drive to an office to actually work. We can turn on computers at our house or a coffee shop just as easily as we could in a cubicle, thankyouverymuch!

3. You take too many breaks.

Never. Ever. Will I take too many breaks in a given working day. I’ve found (time and again) that taking breaks is a boon for productivity. It’s at the heart and soul of my productivity plan, and I will always center my day around them.

Breaks keep me sharp, energized, and most importantly, sane.

4. You don’t NEED decent office equipment.

Sure, I can work on a couch just as easily as a nicer desk. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have that flexibility. However, the home worker should never skimp on office equipment. You need to have a place that you can call your own work place that isn’t a part of the living room seating. It’s a psychological edge more than anything. Having a place that is associated with working/thinking allows you to enter the zone much quicker.

5. You never have to leave your home.

Leaving your house is incredibly important to the home worker. It’s easy to get used to the work environment of your home, and your productivity will lag. Or you’ll get sidetracked easier. At your house, there are way to many things that could easily distract you. For me, that would any of the seasons of The Office. Or my guitar. Or other household chores.

If you’re really wanting to buckle down on a project, leave the house and go to a coffee shop. Moving to a different environment keeps you focused on the task at hand, and quickly removes all of those temptations.

6. You can work whenever you want.

It’s no surprise that for most people, the most productive times of the day are in the morning. This is when the rest of the world works. That means that it’s even harder to work when the rest of the world isn’t working.

7. You’re rich.

Maybe this is just my own experience, but it seems that when I tell people that I’m my own boss, I must be making bank. Completely untrue. Although I think I do pretty well, I’m not by any standard wealthy. I pay my bills, and that’s about it.

8. You work in pajamas, don’t brush your teeth, and never see the sun.

Oh, and we only eat delivered foods, shower bi-weekly, and have no “real” friends. Just because we work at home doesn’t mean we aren’t humans, people! I make it a point to take a shower, go for a run, eat a great breakfast and read every day before I start work. Also, all bragging aside, I lead a decent social life with many friends outside of the online world.

If you do find yourself living an unhealthy lifestyle without physical friends and decent habits, start working on them. You’re missing out on one of the greatest aspects of being a home worker. You have more freedom to do the things you love apart from work, making it much easier to lead a social life.

9. You only work 45 minutes a day, and the rest of the time is spent playing video games.

Yup. As soon as I tell people I work from home, they automatically think I’m a slacker. In reality, I usually put in a fairly productive 6-8 hour day. I am constantly learning, and I hardly ever feel like I would work less than someone in a cubicle. Actually, I’d guess home workers are more productive because they have more motivation than a cubicle slave.

The traditional office worker is guaranteed a paycheck, even if he doesn’t work as hard as she could. The home worker has much more pressure and motivation because her paycheck is not guaranteed. If she doesn’t perform, rent isn’t paid. Plain and simple.

10. You know everything about computers.

Anyone else out there like me who doesn’t know squat about the workings of a computer? I have a passing, if not barely passing knowledge of computers. I know a decent amount about software. Yet people always assume that because I work on the “Internets” all day long, I can fix their computer. Or configure their home network. Or some other computer hardware problem.

It must be a lot like the assumption that if you own a truck, you’d love to help everybody move.

So carry on, self-employed warrior. Wear these misconceptions as a badge. Some day the world will understand that we work just as hard, if not harder, than every one of those office-bound serfs.

Some day.

As always, I’d appreciate a Del.icio.us or a StumbleUpon, but only if you enjoyed the article. Thanks everyone!

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photo credit: Thomas Rockstar

Creative individuals have plenty of ideas. Great big, earth-changing ideas. Unfortunately, not many of them ever evolve into anything fruitful. Why? Because having an idea is only half the battle. The real challenge is refining the idea into something more than a vapor of your imagination.

There is a fine art when it comes to refining an idea. It’s what separates good ideas from great ideas, and will ultimately define your success.

The Life of an Idea

The lifecycle of an idea is a long one. It starts as a rough conception, and then goes through a lengthy refining process that constantly improves the idea. Refining the idea may change a little, or it may change so much that it has evolved into something completely different.

Yes, the success of the idea is mostly in the refining process. Refining an idea is hard work, especially when you don’t know what the outcome will look like. But there are some steadfast rules you can always reference when refining your idea that will greatly help the process.

Make it usable An idea is worthless unless it’s put transformed into something useful. Incredible ideas can turn into stupid ones very quickly if the idea isn’t doable. I’ve had plenty of ideas that would be great… if only there was technology available to make it happen. But this is part of the process of refining ideas. Separating the wheat from the chaff, and only working on the ideas that are viable.

What makes an entrepreneur great isn’t necessarily the greatness of the idea he has. A special entrepreneur is one who can make the idea happen.

Define it. To refine the idea, you have to first define the idea. By creating a definition for your idea, you’ll make a clear focus on what the idea is going to do. How is it going to help? What will it do? How will it do it? These are things that have to be carefully thought about in the early stages.
You may find that you’re constantly changing the definition to your idea, and that is totally normal. You might change the definition many times before the project is done.

Make it sellable. If you’re going to invest time, sweat and money into an idea, it needs to have a business plan. In other words, can it make money?

If you’re a web developer, this is especially important. While some Web 2.0 businesses have found a way to sell the company without a business plan, you’re much better off creating something that can make money from the start. Instead of having a “valuation” and hoping to be purchased quickly, you can have some real dollars in your pocket. If your goal is to someday become acquired by Google or some other Largeco, your idea will be much more attractive if it’s already making money and out of debt.

Money plays a huge part in refining ideas, whether creative types want to believe it or not. The dollar is what gives you the ability to create the idea, and later to sell the idea. Some people don’t want their ideas to have anything to do with money, and that’s totally fine. You should figure out up front if you want to make money from your ideas or not. Most people do ;)

Does it makes sense? After you’ve done the other three steps, I find that if I can explain my idea to my parents or grandparents without them walking away scratching their heads, than the idea has been well defined. What may make sense to you might not make sense to anyone else. If you’re finding that nobody is understanding a) the core concept of the idea or b) how it improves something, you’ve got trouble.

I’ve already referenced a few other posts in this series, but if you’re interested in learning more about the process of refining ideas and completing them, check out my series Ideas From Start to Finish.

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Plan the night before. Planning the night before is a great way to really get focused on the next day. “Sleeping” on your tasks and goals for the following day can really help your mind expect what’s going to happen the next day. Essentially, you’re preparing your mind for the following day.

Hopefully my stumbling about to find focus can help some of you as well.

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Awesome Baseball Save By Pitcher - Watch more free videos

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So give it a test drive and leave a comment below!

Also, LifeDev has joined 9 Rules (see leaf in sidebar). My first love will always be LifeRemix, but who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? :) The 9 Rules guys have graciously invited me into the club, and have also relaunched their network to become more like LifeRemix, ironically. Other LifeRemix blogs that have recently joined include  DumbLittleMan and LifeClever.

(Oh, and don’t forget to check out LifeDev Links if you already haven’t. Good stuff, man. Good stuff.)

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photo credit: ryancr

It’s easy to think of ideas in terms of ownership. “I thought of it first so it’s my idea.” We cling to these ideas because we feel that if we share them, there’s a chance someone will steal them. Or worse… they might hate the idea. So we keep them to ourselves.

Did you know that the term for a “Creative Type” in Swahili translates to “Greedy Idea Monkey”?

Ok, totally made that up. But it should mean that.

As creative people, we tend to get lost in our ideas. We can become consumed by them, thinking that our ideas are the best thing since sliced bread. The next thing we know, we’re so attached to our ideas that any criticism we hear concerning them we take personally.

Yet criticism can sometimes be our best friend, allowing us to gauge what needs to happen before our idea can become really successful. Criticisms help us shape the idea. Yet creative people tend to take criticisms very personally. When it comes to criticizing our ideas… you best watch your mouth.

When Ideas Suck

I know, it hurts to think about it, but our ideas can sometimes just plain suck. It sometimes takes the gentle help of a good friend to point out why the idea was bad in the first place. And you will have bad ideas. Almost every successful idea is accompanied by around 10 crappy ones. It’s just the way it works. The trick is to separate the wheat from the chaff. We don’t always know if our ideas are going to be great, but a good measuring stick is always a second opinion.

All-Star Second Opinions

I’ve found that if I run the idea by a trusted friend, it’s usually a good indicator of how well the idea is going to be. As soon as an idea strikes, I share it with at least one savvy friend. Not only does their opinion count as to whether it’s a “good” idea, but if the person is knowledgeable, he/she can help you refine the idea. I’ll usually share my idea with up to 3 close friends, and bounce the idea off of them.

The art of refining ideas is something special, and sharing it with a friend is even better. Soon your friend will become almost as invested in your idea as you are. They’ll share in your excitement, and will continually help refine it as well.

The more people helping you refine your idea, the better. The more minds processing a concept, the better chance it has to become successful. The excitement about a concept is contagious thing.

Keeping an idea to yourself may be helpful in the very early stages, but once you can clearly define your idea, it’s almost always best to share it.

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This is part of the weekly series “Creatives Love…” which gives a satirical look at creative types.

Creative types have lots of ideas. We pride ourselves in the fact that we are idea “hatchers”, the heralders of new ideas. It is the Creative’s ideas that spurn innovation and world change, and he knows this.

Yet the ideas never seem to happen at an opportune time. While driving, in the shower, (God forbid) on the Johnny… when ideas strike, action is required. The Creative knows the idea has an average of about 3.6 seconds of life before it is lost forever.

Once these ideas are bestowed upon him, the creative will hastily scribble it on a piece of paper. Or any other kind of flat surface: Empty toilet paper roll, book page, french fry, bodily limb, smooth stone. Anything that will absorb ink long enough until the Creative can get the idea home.

The irony in all of this is that typically Creatives are quite messy and unorganized. Really messy and unorganized. So the crumpled receipt from 2005 that should have been thrown out when Dubya was being inaugurated for the second time, ends up being thrown in the trash two days later in a psuedo-cleanup while looking for yet another idea written on an old letter.

You’d think that if we thought these ideas were so important, wouldn’t we tote around something a bit nicer to catch them in? But that would take all of the fun out of it…

Photo by aplumb

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Photo by *betenoir*

Looking at the same boring things everyday can really stifle imagination and ultimately turn your brain into lifeless mush. (Well, it’s not that bad, but close.) Fortunately, the internet can help with this dilemma. By checking out sites that promote creativity, you can counteract the effects of having to look at the same boring things every day and get those brain juices pumping again.

The beauty of creativity is that random things can trigger it, without it making sense. Looking at creative things can stimulate more creativity. Here are some sites that I’ve found that spark my own creativity, with the aide of art, music, or information. You may not view these sites as creativity boosters at first blush, but they can really help inspire in times of need.

• Muxtape - Oh baby. It’s becoming less and less obscure, but this little website allows people to upload up to 12 songs, creating a digital mix mux tape. However, the real beauty is that the homepage of Muxtaple.com features random muxtapes. And they tend to be just eclectic and awesome. So many genres, so many different artists… you can’t help but feel a little inspired when perusing the muxtapes on the homepage. For example, I’m listening to a great blend of music on this muxtape as I write this post.For a little added bonus for Mac users, there’s a way to view the muxtapes in coverflow fashion.
  
• Quotations Book - Quotations Book is the most polished-looking quote site I’ve found, and even has
  a dashboard widget to boot. I find that looking at quotes from people much smarter than me is a great way to think creatively. Tapping into wisdom is a great way to evaluate ideas, and also gives inspiration. I’ve written whole posts based on being inspired by a single quote.
• Flickr Interesting - Great photography is a perfect place to find some inspiration for ideas. Fortunately, Flickr’s editors have taken care of digging through massive amounts of photos to showcase some of the best
  images.
• neat-o-rama - Neat-o-rama finds some of the most interesting links from around the web.
  You won’t find anything practical here. For example, one of today’s posts is about
  an Orangutan that spear fishes. Hrm.
• logopond - You might think that corporate logos may not seem that interesting or inspiring. And you’d quickly change your mind after visiting logopond. They feature some of the most beautiful and inspiring logos that will simply blow your mind. A great stop for any designer looking for some inspiration.
• Del.icio.us Interesting Tag - Popular bookmarking site Del.icio.us is a great place to find inspiring content, and a great place to look is the interesting page. The Popular page is great for interesting finds as
  well.
• 43 Things - Reading about other people’s goals and aspirations is an incredible creativity booster. Seeing what other people aspire to do and how they’re working towards them really helps define your own goals and dreams.
• Damn Interesting - The name says it all. This site is much like Neat-o-rama, except it tends to focus more on historical bits of interesting, as opposed to interesting news.
• Behance - A great online magazine about how artists, musicians and entrepreneurs use creativity in their work. Incredibly well written, the Behance guys know just how to fuse creativity with productivity. (They’re also a member of LifeRemix, the blog network I co-founded.)
• Wikipedia Random Article - If you’re looking for something interesting in a pinch, look no further than Wikipedia’s random link. Each time the link is clicked, a random Wikipedia article pops up. Incredibly
  interesting, and fun to use.
• Post Secret - Slightly more bizarre than the other mentioned sites, Post Secret allows people to anonymously mail their secrets on a homemade postcard, which are then posted to the site. For some reason seeing homemade material really brings out the creative side in me. Which brings me nicely
  to the next site…
• Etsy - Etsy is a site that features homemade crafts. You can find just about anything here, but I recommend looking at the gift guides for the really inspiring stuff. Need a Zune
  sweater? How about dolls of the members of the Ramones circa 1977? Creativity at it’s crafty
  finest.
• WebUrbanist - WebUrbanist is a great little blog that showcases some of the most interesting articles about urban art, architecture, and anything interesting about urban culture. Here’s an article that might inspire
  you: 7 abandon wonders of the former Soviet Union.
• Webupon - If you’re looking for interesting but helpful news around the web, Webupon is a great resource. A lot of great how-to guides and news for generating ideas.
• NPR’s “Day to Day” Show - Ok, NPR is not that obscure. But the “Day to Day” show is an incredible way to find interesting tidbits from society. For example, Friday’s show featured a San Francisco bar who was just certified as a green business. Each of the drinks is made from all sorts of organic ingredients.
  How can that not inspire?!
• FFFFound - Aside from having an odd name, FFFFound showcases some of the best photography and artwork from around the web. The site is similar to Flickr Interesting, but isn’t limited to just the Flickr site.
• Del.icio.us Popular: Creativity and Inspiration - Last but certainly not least, the Del.icio.us popular pages for inspiration and creativity are great resources for finding stories that have been recently inspiring other people and yielding creativity. Using crowdsourcing to find creativity-igniting content is always a great idea. If it’s inspiring to other people, odds are it will inspire you too.

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So if you’re feeling adventurous, check out LifeDev Links. You can also subscribe to the links feed.

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