Creating Blue Oceans

The rules, what rules?

We couldn’t agree more with the recent New York Times article “The Children’s Authors Who Broke the Rules,” which was brought to our attention by Slingshot Visionary Chip Conley. 

Via the New York Times:

The stylistic eccentricities of Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein and Theodor Geisel, a k a Dr. Seuss, are so much a part of the childhood vernacular today that it’s hard to imagine their books were once considered by some to be wholly inappropriate for children.

Yet these three authors — who each have a new book coming out this month in what can only be described as a Seussian coincidence (“But, see! We are as good as you. Look! Now we have new books, too!”) — challenged the conception of what a children’s book should be. And children’s literature, happily, has never been the same.

How did Theodor Geisel redefine a whole entire segment of the book industry and significantly grow its target audience in the process? Read the inspiring case study in Gabor’s new new book Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life.

 

 

Defying Conventional Wisdom to restart an economy

With talk of another recession on the way, smart leaders will embrace the idea of challenging traditional assumptions. This perspective of defying conventional wisdom goes hand-in-hand with the process of Blue Ocean Strategy, which is a systematic approach to turning unconventional ideas into winning strategies. 

For inspiration, see how the country of Samoa is restarting its economy via defying conventional wisdom, by creating a veritable time warp. From CNN:

If you attempted to visit Samoa, do not plan a celebration there on December 30th. Why? Because that day will simply not exist there. The calendar will jump from the 29th of December to the 31st. "What in the World?", right?

Why? 

It's actually a smart economic decision.

See how the perspective of Deyfing Conventional Wisdom can help you to start re-imagining in Gabor’s new book Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life.

[Image via Maps International.]

Creating your own country

Unconventional wisdom has been a critical driving force for great accomplishments during the course of human history… inspiration is all around you (from Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life by Gabor George Burt). 

And here is a powerful dose of Defying Conventional Wisdom via Yahoo!:

Pay Pal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to an initiative to create floating libertarian countries in international waters, according to a profile of the billionaire in Details magazine. 

"There are quite a lot of people who think it's not possible," Thiel said at a Seasteading Institute Conference in 2009, according to Details. (His first donation was in 2008, for $500,000.) "That's a good thing. We don't need to really worry about those people very much, because since they don't think it's possible they won't take us very seriously. And they will not actually try to stop us until it's too late."

[Image via Parabolic Arc.]

How can you harness the power of unconventional thinking?

 

Head on over to Gabor’s regular feature at Business Insider for the answer. 

Article preview from the Business Insider:

Unconventional thinking means looking at the world through an inquisitive, investigative lens, like you did as a child. And this perspective should not be limited just to your work, but permeate your general outlook on life. After all, some of the greatest inspirations and most profound unconventional ideas will come to you in moments and situations completely removed from your business. The whole world is your reservoir for unconventional ideas… 

[Image © 2011 Slingshot]

Where Are You Hiding Your Trojan Horse?

Enjoy the latest contribution from Gabor, “Where Are You Hiding Your Trojan Horse?” via the CBS Radio Altitude Group blog. Our resident Blue Ocean Strategy expert has been called on by CBS Radio Altitude Group to explore how you can use your dormant youthful creativity to re-imagine your business and re-imagine your life in this featured series. 

From the CBS Radio Altitude Group blog:

In my last article I challenged you to look back in history and to think of your favorite examples of people daring to defy conventional wisdom.

Here are a couple of mine. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries BC, one of the great epic wars of ancient times was fought. The Greeks assembled a massive flotilla of warships and brought its might against the city of Troy. Their mission was to take back Helen, the abducted Greek queen, and to punish the Trojans for the fiendish act. But the city had formidable defenses, and the two armies remained deadlocked. There they stood, shield to shield, lance to lance, neither able to budge the other. The siege went on for ten fruitless years.

[Image © 2011 SLINSGHOT]

Defying Conventional Wisdom: Lessons of the square watermelon

Does your business have a distinct and unconventional strategy? Are you content with reaping the benefits of some past innovation, or are you continuously re-thinking your business? Especially in today’s environment of accelerated life cycles, market convergence, and the inundation of consumers with overwhelming choices, challenging conventional wisdom and pursuing innovation must both be ongoing processes.

Just look at the valuable lessons learned from the story of the square watermelon via Hard Knox Life:  

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than their  US counterparts and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach.  ”If the supermarkets want a space efficient watermelon,”  they asked themselves, “How can we provide one?” It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon.

If you enjoyed this inspiring story, then you will want to pick up a copy of Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life.

[Image via Tradekool.]

Defying Conventional Wisdom: Kid-Powered School Bus

No matter what your market position is, whether you are an established market leader or a newcomer, it is to your strategic advantage to continuously challenge and redefine market standards. 

Just take a look at how one Netherlands company is challenging the status quo of transportation by harnessing the abundant energy of children for its kid-powered school bus.  

From one of our favorite AllTop features, the Holy Kaw!:

There is one renewable resource that shocks and awes people the world over, is abundant at all times and of which one company in the Netherlands plans to take full advantage: The energy of children.

This kid-powered school bus can accommodate up to ten children and one adult, plus might even burn off enough energy to make them sit still for all of ten minutes once they get to school.

Now there’s the perfect way to nip that obesity epidemic in the bud and save a bundle on transportation costs!

[Image via Holy Kaw!]

 

The Indispensible Ingredient: Unconventional Thinking

Enjoy the latest contribution from Gabor, “The Indispensible Ingredient: Unconventional Thinking” via the CBS Radio Altitude Group blog. Our resident Blue Ocean Strategy expert has been called on by CBS Radio Altitude Group to explore how you can use your dormant youthful creativity to re-imagine your business and re-imagine your life in this featured series. 

From the CBS Radio Altitude Group blog:

Today, I’d like to look at unconventional thinking as it relates to market leadership.

It is unrestrained, unconventional thinking that we see in children when they are exercising their imaginations. It is this ability to challenge conventional wisdom, to think counter intuitively, that enables businesses to be market driving. Let’s explore the power of unconventional thinking more deeply….

[Image © 2011 Slingshot.]

 

Defying conventional wisdom to create a new national security strategy

Here is a rather powerful and provocative observation by Steve Forbes: “Anyone who accomplishes something great or unique, whether in business or politics, often does so by defying conventional wisdom.” But if you think about it, it seems perfectly true and accurate. Just imagine how profoundly different our world might be today if the American Founding Fathers didn’t have the vision and audacity to create an entirely new model of government based on the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and on the principle of checks and balances (excerpt from Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life by Gabor George Burt). 

In this continued spirit of deyfing conventional wisdom, see how two American military stategists are creating a national security strategy that doesn’t focus on the threats. From the New York Times: 

A paper written by Captain Porter and Col. Mark Mykleby of the Marines, which calls on the United States to see that it cannot continue to engage the world primarily with military force, but must do so as a nation powered by the strength of its educational system, social policies, international development and diplomacy, and its commitment to sustainable practices in energy and agriculture.

“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

[Image via USAGeorge.]

Mickey Mouse and the Blue Ocean Strategy connection

Up until the Fastpass, everyone assumed that waiting in line was an immovable part of the overall experience of visiting a popular theme park like Disney World.  Even though people spent an overwhelming portion of their time waiting in line, and it was the subject of most visitor complaints.  For over forty years nothing was really done about it. Everyone operated within the traditional boundaries without challenging conventional wisdom. With the arrival of the Fastpass however, visitors’ waiting time was cut to a fraction, allowing them to have a profoundly more enjoyable experience (excerpt from the forthcoming book, Slingshot: Re-Imagine Your Business, Re-Imagine Your Life, by Gabor George Burt). 

And now the FastPass can even be used to meet with high-ranking officials at the Magic Kingdom, including Mickey himself! 

From Disney Dreaming:

One of the things we have noticed changing over the years at the Disney Parks is that the lines to meet our favorite Disney character Mickey Mouse get longer and longer every year. Whether you want a picture or an autograph, or you just want a hug from the Mouse himself, you could be stuck in line for an absurd amount of time. Thankfully though, Disney has realized the problem and has rolled out a new plan to fix it.

There will now be a Fastpass option at the park to meet Mickey Mouse at the Walt Disney World resort. The new program will role out this spring and guests will be able to reserve a one-hour window to come back to the meet-and-greet location to meet the popular star of Disney at the Magic Kingdom without having to wait in line.

[Image via Google Images.]