Good Morning Thinkers!

American Inventor Begins

Mark your calendar:  Thursday, March 16 at 8 p.m. (7 central) the series premier of ABCs American Inventor begins, featuring Doug Hall, one of the leaders in the field of innovation and creativity,
as one of the judges.

"American Inventor, the embodiment of the ultimate American dream, will uncover the hottest new product and make one struggling inventor's dream come true. With one million dollars at stake, American Inventor will celebrate the best in homespun American ingenuity."  From the official  website.

Here's how ABC describes Doug:

Doug Hall began his inventing career at age 12, inventing and selling a line of magic and juggling kits. After earning a chemical engineering degree from the University of Maine, he joined Procter & Gamble, where he rose to the rank of Master Marketing Inventor -- inventing and shipping a record nine innovations in 12 months.

Hall is the founder and CEO of the Eureka! Ranch, located in Cincinnati, with offices in London, UK and Monterrey, Mexico. The Ranch is an "invention & research think tank" that specializes in igniting bold thinking on new products and services for corporate clients such as American Express, Ford, Nike and Walt Disney. It seems to work -- the Ranch has a world-class 88 percent client repeat rate, and surveys indicate the average American home uses 18 products or services that Hall and his team have invented or reinvented.

Dateline NBC described Hall as "an eccentric entrepreneur who just might have what we've all been looking for... the happy secret to success." (More about Doug and the other judges below.)

Many of us have had the opportunity to meet Doug when he shared his thoughts with us at Convergence or at his remarkable Eureka Ranch! where he helps clients develop new products and services.  It will be great fun to watch "one of our own" light up a new reality series ... plus we might even learn more about the invention process which is a close cousin to innovation.

Tune in and then post your comments below.

Have a creative week!  Joyce Wycoff

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. -- how young he was when his work began: 26; how young he was when his time was over:  39; but what's truly important was the vision he gave us in the 13 years in between. Thirty-eight years ago he told us he had been to the mountain and had seen the promised land. Fully aware of his own mortality and the enemies around him, he knew that he might not make it there with us but he had seen it and he gave us a glimpse of it.

Tragically, we haven't made it to that promised land where every person is "not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  We have made progress -- the "whites only" drinking fountains of my youth are gone and the doors of commerce are open if not wide open.

But too many doors are still closed to too many people.  In this country of great riches too many people still go to bed hungry, too many people still lack adequate health care and shelter, too many
young people see gang membership as their only option, and too many bright students are lost before they graduate high school let alone college.

Three nights ago we saw the movie "Glory Road" about a small, unremarkable school in west Texas in 1965.  In this mystical story, ordinary elements intersect in a extraordinary way that tilts the world in a slightly different direction:  a losing basketball team in the midst of football territory; a girls' basketball coach with an unrealistic vision; and a bunch of farm boys and hope-less street kids with talent and passion.

In some ways, it's a familiar story -- the little engine that could. In spite of the odds and all expectations, the Texas Western team works its way into the basketball championships.  It is here that destiny and character team up to change history.  Don Haskins chose to make a difference by starting an all-black team against Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky team.  It could have cost the Texas team the championship; it could have cost Haskins everything.  But, they won and the televised game became one more note in the song of freedom and equality that was sweeping the country.

For me, the most remarkable part of the story was the epilogue that recounted the productive lives of the players, each at a level of success as previously unexpected as the outcome of that championship game.  Each changed by hard work and the expectation that they would succeed.

On this day of remembering Martin Luther King, Jr., I also think of Don Haskins and the countless people like him who made, and make, a difference.  Then I wonder what's my role in moving closer to that promised land ... that color-blind world of hope and peace?

May Martin's spirit be with us all ... Joyce Wycoff

Poetry Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.thinksmart.com/bios/poetry6.html

Peter Drucker

"Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two -- and only these two --  basic functions: marketing and innovation.  Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are "costs."
-- Peter Drucker, Ph.D., from People and Performance

Another giant has left us but what a legacy he provided.

My favorite Drucker book is Adventures of a  Bystander which gives a glimpse of the development of a man who was far from a "bystander."  I was especially struck by his description of his elementary school education and the learning contracts he wrote. 

Kyle Maynard: No Excuses

Lots of us working in the field of innovation and creativity have a litany of excuses - no time, no resources, no support, no interest ... and on and on.   This refrain also runs through our personal lives as we find reasons not to do the things we say we want to do ... whether it's getting a better job, taking that special family vacation, finding time for art, or even cleaning the garage.  I'll do it tomorrow ... or ... I'd do it "if only ..." freeze us in the patterns of today.

As he often does, my friend Jerry McNellis blew away my encyclopedia of excuses when he passed along a story about Kyle Maynard, a nineteen year-old wise man, and author of the book, "No Excuses."  It may seem strange to think of someone not yet twenty as a wisdom keeper, let alone as the author of a book that those of us who are older and more experienced could learn from.  Yet Kyle's story is a silver bullet to the heart of the excuse vampire that drains us of our dreams.

On the surface, the story seems ordinary enough - a young, gifted athlete who triumphs in wrestling, football, weightlifting, and pretty much anything else he attempts ... except maybe typing.  His typing is only a respectable but not stellar 50 words per minute.  That seems rather lackluster until you learn that he was born without hands or feet and types this speed with elbow stumps.  Plus, he's already in the Wrestling Hall of Fame and is recognized as the World's Strongest Teen, bench pressing almost 400 pounds.

Desire and Belief

So, how does someone without hands or feet become a winning athlete?  Success is born in desire.  Kyle decided at 12 that he wanted to be on the high school wrestling team.  He lost all the matches his first year and most of them his second year.  But he persisted and wound up as a runner-up in the regionals, only one match away from state championship.  Success is also fed by belief.  Kyle states in his book, "I knew it didn't matter how much I was afraid, how much I was in pain, or how impossible the situation appeared to me. I knew the obstacles. This was no different from the rest of my life. We all have challenges to face and to overcome. No obstacle would keep me from accomplishing my dreams."

Success is never a one-person drama.  There is always a supporting cast.  Kyle's parents and family were determined to help him lead a normal life.  Teachers and coaches helped him devise methods to overcome his handicaps.  However, the story is a reminder that the world responds to our passion and belief.  If we want something badly enough to begin the journey, our passion will attract supporters and resources.  Joseph Campbell called it "following our bliss" and said that doors would open when we did.

This story came to me as I was trying to find a place for art in my life.  My handicaps are not as visible as Kyle's but they are real in their own way and have thrown up a spray of excuses - no talent, no art training, not enough time, no place to work ... and so on.  Suddenly, I could hear Kyle laughing at my wimpiness.  It's my choice - I can face the obstacles and "just do it" ... or I can bronze my excuses and let my dream pass on by.

One amazon.com reviewer of Kyle's book said it perfectly, "This book leaves you no wiggle room."

If there is something in your life you truly want, perhaps Kyle's story and this book will help you start your journey today.  Kyle's motto is, "It's not what I can do; it's what I will do."

Thanks, Kyle, for the inspiration ... and thanks, Jerry, for sharing it.  Wishing all of you "no excuses" and a direct path to your dreams ... joyce

Harnassing Magic

Until recently, innovation was treated as though it were magic, something that either happened or didn't happen but couldn't be controlled.  We are now beginning to realize that, while we can't "control" innovation, we can create a culture and context where it is more likely to happen.  And, we can use processes that increase the innovation success rate, which, according to Larry Keeley at Doblin, can be as low as 4%.  One organization that has worked very hard for the past several years to learn how to replicate and sustain the process of innovation is Best Buy and one of the primary players in this initiative is Kal Patel, Executive Vice-President of Strategy and International.

Patel is an advocate for quickly testing new products and services, stating, "Every one of our associates is trained in a method that starts with a hypothesis, and then proceeds to stages like test and verify.  At the end of the experiment, the Associate who undertook it reports out on what he or she has learned.

"These are quick ‘popcorn-stand’ like experiments.  If we want to try something new, we might pitch a tent in the parking lot of one of our stores and test an idea out with our customers." 

In addition to leading the innovation initiative at Best Buy, Patel finds time to contribute on a broader stage.  He accompanied a Red Cross mission to tsunami-impacted Sri Lanka to distribute needed supplies.  He stated, "Although the lives of the people here may be devastated, their spirits are not broken,  What we are doing, in addition to providing relief supplies, is part of strengthening their spirits."

Patel will be a keynote speaker at "Unblocking Innovation," the 11th annual Convergence of people, ideas and great practices related to innovation to be held in Minneapolis, September 21-23.

Convergence Blog -- get the latest here.

Three Levels of Sustaining a Culture of Innovation

W.L.Gore is widely noted for its innovation, and its relationship oriented culture.  Bob Henn, former  head of global R&D for Gore was interviewed by Victoria Cooper and Michael Lecky for PTRM and explained three levels of culture:

"We work differently than many companies who simply tell people what to do. Within the last few years, in fact, we've established three governing bodies within the organization. One is the Operations Committee, which pays attention to the business and the metrics that go along with it. Another is our Intellectual Property Committee, which pays attention to our patent estates, our trademarks, the generation and use of our know-how. And the other one is our People Committee, which attends to our culture. It's on the same level as the other two.

"One of the things I've learned in my years at Gore is that culture is not static. The reality is that work is a social activity, and every time we bring on a new person, our culture changes. When I was recovering from an illness some time ago, I read a lot of the work of Edward Schein, who was a student of Douglas McGregor [a social psychologist who described the "Theory X"; and "Theory Y"; manager in his seminal 1957 treatise]. Douglas McGregor was a person who Bill Gore heard speak in 1954 at DuPont, and a lot of Bill's philosophy came out of the same school. In Schein's model, culture may be viewed as essentially having three levels. At the topmost are "artifacts."; One artifact of our culture is the lack of hierarchy. Everyone at Gore is referred to as an Associate. Another artifact is our lack of corner offices. These artifacts tell you something about our culture. They're the easiest things to observe, but as you dig further, you begin to gain more insight.

"At the middle level are "espoused values": the things we say about ourselves. An example of one of our espoused values is that no one here is free to impair the growth of others. Additionally, no one can make a waterline decision himself, for instance, about whether we relocate people to set up a new operation in another country. The espoused values are easy to discern because they're voiced, but they're often difficult to interpret. At Gore it can take people a couple of years to understand or interpret the espoused values and translate them into applications.

"Digging deeper, the third layer of culture is "underlying assumptions."; This is the most difficult, because it's unarticulated, although it drives everything. One example here at Gore is trusting relationships. That's really important. Another underlying assumption at Gore is the belief, fundamentally, that the individual can make a difference."

Henn will be a keynote speaker at "Unblocking Innovation," the 11th annual Convergence of people, ideas and great practices related to innovation to be held in Minneapolis, September 21-23.

The entire interview with Henn can be seen at http://www.prtm.com/insight/article.asp?insight_id=3305  (Free, but registration is required.)

Convergence Blog -- get the latest here.

Becoming Your Own Trendmaster

Recently profiled in "Fast Company," Robyn Waters brings over 25 years of experience tracking and translating trends into sales and profits, primarily during her years as Vice President for Target.  She recently published a book entitled "The Trendmaster’s Guide From A to Z," a practical and fun handbook designed to simplify and demystify the art of trend tracking. 

In a recent interview with "The Creative Group," Waters stated, "I have a very nonlinear, nonscientific approach to tracking trends. My book, The Trendmaster’s Guide from A to Z, is a simple, visual handbook that demystifies the art of trend tracking. Most tracking is really just common sense. For instance, A is for Antennae. That’s about awareness, opening your eyes, taking off your blinders and being open to what is really happening in the world around you. I like to quote Yogi Berra, who said, ‘You can observe a lot, just by watching.’ Trends are really just signposts and indicators pointing the way to what’s important in the lives, hearts and minds of consumers. If you look for the meaning behind the indicators, you’ll get to a much better place. I’m very different from a ‘coolhunter’ in that I’m not looking for ‘the next big thing.’ I believe there are many ‘next big things’ and that it’s more important to try and find out what’s important, not just what’s next."  The full interview can be found at:
http://www.creativegroup.com/Dispatcher?file=/TCG/Interview1104

Waters will be a keynote speaker at "Unblocking Innovation," the 11th annual Convergence of people, ideas and great practices related to innovation to be held in Minneapolis, September 21-23, where she will help people develop their own strategy for becoming their own trendmaster.

Throughout the retail world Waters has been described as an "Ambassador of Trend", a "Champion of Design," a "Builder of Brands," a "Purveyor of Passion," and a "Cheerleader of Possibilities."  Previously, Robyn headed up Trend, Design and Product Development for the $48 billion upscale discount store Target. Under her direction as Vice President, the trend and design team traveled the world tracking and translating trends into unique product designs that enhanced Target’s upscale brand image of "Expect More, Pay Less." One of Robyn’s core beliefs is that good taste and great design don’t have to be expensive.

Convergence Blog -- get the latest here.

Applying the Innovator's Solution

Two of the most influential books in the innovation field are "The Innovator's Dilemma" and the "The Innovator's Solution."  "Dilemma" outlined the sometimes counter-intuitive conundrum of innovation and "Solution" provided ideas for how to handle the complexities of innovation.

Michael Raynor, co-author of "The Innovator's Solution" with Clayton Christensen is a keynote speaker at "Unblocking Innovation," the 11th annual Convergence of people, ideas and great practices related to innovation to be held in Minneapolis, September 21-23.

After observing numerous successful and unsuccessful companies, Raynor and his co-author, Clayton Christensen, theorized that innovation is a process that can best be realized in a four-step approach:

1. Identify overshoot: When an industry-leading product enters the mature phase of its lifecycle, it reaches a point where it improves past the expectations and needs of consumers. Unwilling to pay the extra money for extra features they don’t need, customers are open to cheaper or easier-to-use products ... the problem is, these products don’t exist.

2. Find a foothold: Once slivers of the market’s needs are unfulfilled, a disruptive company comes up with something to fill that hole. In "low-end disruption," this can be a cheaper, inferior product targeted at the current incumbent’s lower-end consumers who are willing to pay less money for less quality. In "new market disruption," this means altering a product to better suit a new market that is not being addressed by the current incumbent.

3. Improve what matters: As the new product begins its lifecycle, it has to get better while keeping in mind the needs of its consumers. This usually means improving quality while keeping costs low.

4. Catch up with the needs of mainstream consumers: Eventually, a disruptive company develops until it reaches a point of contention with the product leader. Its disruptive business model gives the new company the power to surpass the old one.

A brilliant and galvanizing speaker, Raynor is a uniquely qualified expert on creating and sustaining business growth. In addition to his work with Christensen, he is a director for Deloitte, the global profesional services firm, and part of Deloitte Research, the thought leadership arm of Deloitte.  He has a great depth of experience and theoretical understanding of the innovation field and will share best practices from around the world with Convergence participants.

Convergence Blog -- get the latest here.

McNellis on Meetings

"Executives average 23 hours per week in meetings...
7.8 hours of the 23 are unnecessary and poorly run...
This equals 2.3 months per year."
-- from http://www.mcnellisco.com

Last week we talked about lost productivity especially as it related to meetings and asked for your thoughts on why meetings are still so ineffective when we have such a plethora of books, article, workshops and techniques to make them better.

I decided to ask one of the wisest people I know (Jerry McNellis, founder and director of the Compression Planning Institute) why we’re in this state and, as usual, he had a perspective worth thinking about.  "First of all," he said, "the problem isn’t with meetings."

That was enough to grab my attention, and, perhaps yours.  Here are some of Jerry’s thoughts:

Even worse than the statistics on meetings is the data about projects.  There are many studies about the dismal rate of success for projects.  One that I use a lot comes from the Standish Group which tracks information technology projects.  There findings are that 23% of the projects were outright failures, 49% were over budget or didn’t meet the deliverables and 28% were deemed successes.  94% of all projects are restarted and average $2.22 spent for every dollar budgeted.

The results for all projects in general are probably pretty similar.  And the question is "Why?"  Why is the success rate for projects so low?  And, why do meetings tend to be so ineffective?   The real issue is an organization’s thinking system.  Meetings and projects are simply a reflection of the ability of an organization to think collaboratively.  We spend very little time improving this ability and almost no effort measuring it.

Annie Robinson Hospitalized

"I am that I am,
a shining being and a dweller in light
who has been created from the limits of the devine."
-- Egyptian Incantation

We heard yesterday that Anne Durrum Robinson suffered two heart attacks this past week and is not expected to recover.  Annie recently celebrated her 92nd birthday and continued to create, train and inspire everyone around her.  Her Christmas letters were gifts of whimsy and delight and her insights into creativity and life were bottomless.  Annie has always been a "shining being and a dweller in light"  She will be missed.

Some time ago I posted some of my memories of Annie and would like to invite any of you who knew her to share your memories in the comments section below.  While there are many ways we could remember Annie, I think she might like the idea that each of us would make a little more time in our lives for creativity ... perhaps we could call them Annie moments.

Annie's website:  http://www.io.com/~stellar/

Her products are featured at
http://store.yahoo.com/innovationroadmap/ancost.html

Micro Lending Miracles

A few years ago, I had the good fortune to hear Mohammad Yunus, pioneer of the microlending program, speak in Argentina.  Not only did all 6000 of us in the audience fall in love with him, we were awed by the power of his program to help people lift themselves out of poverty.  Click here to buy the book.

His book provides a glimpse of this powerful program and the editorial review includes this statement:  Yunus's theories work. Grameen Bank has provided 3.8 billion dollars to 2.4 million families in rural Bangladesh. Today, more than 250 institutions in nearly 100 countries operate micro-credit programs based on the Grameen methodology, placing Grameen at the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through micro-lending.

Grameen is profiled by Fast Company in the January issue of Social Capitalist awards.

Also, here is a link to a fascinating interview about this program.

Grameen Foundation USA.

Nelson Mandela: The Prison

In the winter of 1964, Nelson Mandela arrived on Robben Island where he would spend 18 of his 27 prison years. Confined to a small cell, the floor his bed, a bucket for a toilet, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He was allowed one visitor a year for 30 minutes. He could write and receive one letter every six months. But Robben Island became the crucible which transformed him. Through his intelligence, charm and dignified defiance, Mandela eventually bent even the most brutal prison officials to his will, assumed leadership over his jailed comrades and became the master of his own prison. He emerged from it the mature leader who would fight and win the great political battles that would create a new democratic South Africa.

From: The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela the Prisoner

The Human Face of Outsourcing

Kudos to Fast Company (issue: April, 2004) for putting a human face on the complex and controversial issue of outsourcing.

And, jeers to Michael Mullarkey, CEO of Workstream, Inc., a Canadian-based tech company, for saying "I'm paying $65,000 Canadian for developers that were making $147,000 [in California], and they're smiling ear to ear. People are a dime a dozen." (Quoted in the same Fast Company article)

I highly doubt that anyone working for a CEO who views people as a commodity is truly "smiling ear to ear." Workstream's website bills it as a "full talent management solution" and "the business of people" and "targets the major stakeholders in building employment relationships." Hmmmm ... someone's not walking the talk.

Compare this leadership Neaderthal to Costco's CEO Jim Sinegal who refuses to ship his call center offshore because he doesn't think it would create the right image in the minds of his customers and employees.

As some economists have noted, offshoring stops making sense when everyone is doing it. Not only does the cost advantage go away, but so also do the customers who no longer have salaries and money to buy the products and services made by all the cheap labor.

In freshman economics, I learned the principle of ceteris paribus (defined as "With all other factors or things remaining the same.") However, the most important part of this principle is that it doesn't happen. All other things are never ever the same. You can't change one thing and hope that nothing else changes. All actions have reactions. And most of us are having the same corporate reaction these days: they (big corporations) just don't care about us as employees or as customers. Even Delta Airlines, once a paragon of service, is now rated #14!

The Fast Company article states that 1,000,000 Americans have had their jobs sent offshore. Think about the math. That probably turns into 5,000,000 close family members, 25,000,000 friends and relatives, and 100,000,000 friends, relatives, neighbors and working associates still sitting at their desks wondering when it's their turn. One contagious strategic decision is spreading a virus that affects one third of our population.

Are more cheap goods really worth this?

50 Greatest Business Thinkers

If someone asked you who the greatest living management thinker is, you'd probably respond: Peter Drucker. And, according to "Thinkers 50, the Original Global Ranking of Business Thinkers," you would be right. But would you be able to come up with the next 49? And, what criteria would you use to judge them?

Using a combination of interviews, web surveys and press listings and judging by an expert panel, Thinkers 50 created an interesting list that tilts toward published thinkers (Tom Peters is #3, Bill Gates #20) and men (only 3 women: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Naomi Kleinand Lynda Gra tton).

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the list is the criteria used to judge the selection as listed below.

Check out the list at and then think about the criteria below ... would you add or change anything? Is
there someone who should be on the list but isn't? Please add your thoughts in the comments section below.

Something about Will Hung

"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."
-- Albert Einstein

For any of you who aren’t pop culture fans, here’s the scene:

In an attempt to attract young viewers and ratings, a television show is created to find the best new singers in the U.S. (called American Idol). Televised over a series of weeks, the latter part of the series features some credible talent performing in various ways with all of the drama and tears of winners and losers. The early part of the series is a humorous romp through the antics of clueless wannabes. The beginnings of this season’s series showcased a cross-country parade of people who should have been given some honest feedback years ago. To say that they lacked talent doesn’t begin to explain how some of the contestants could even have thought about performing in public.

But, like creativity in general, how do we judge talent? And, what does it take to be an American Idol? In San Francisco, a seemingly untalented young man stood up in front of the notoriously harsh judge Simon Cowell and began one of the most eccentric performances seen in the nationwide talent search. Or was it?

Heron Dance

Egret Dance by Rod MacIver

Sometimes creative work sounds a note that is so pure it vibrates through your entire being. Each of us respond differently to different notes which is one of the reasons creativity is such a fascinating and slippery subject. Several years ago, I discovered Rod MacIver's small magazine Heron Dance. It was, and remains, that clear note that takes me to a place of peace and spirit. It is a breath of wilderness on paper joyously illustrated by Rod's watercolors. If you love nature and the writings of people who love nature, give yourself a treat and subscribe to Heron Dance. Rod's story is inspiring and you can read more about him and his equally interesting wife and partner Ann O'Shaughnessy at their website.

I hope you'll give yourself a small present of time with them ... and help support their creative endeavor.

Wellington: Film Center of the Universe

This piece comes from an article by Richard Florida. There is a political tone to the article but it is important to think about how our political environment impacts our ability to innovate. The following story about Peter Jackson's film studio in New Zealand is just one example of the shift happening in the world. Richard Florida is the Heinz professor of economic development at Carnegie Mellon University and the author of The Rise of the Creative Class.

From Richard Florida:

Last March, I had the opportunity to meet Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, at his film complex in lush, green, otherworldly-looking Wellington, New Zealand. Jackson has done something unlikely in Wellington, an exciting, cosmopolitan city of 900,000, but not one previously considered a world cultural capital. He has built a permanent facility there, perhaps the world's most sophisticated filmmaking complex. He did it in New Zealand concertedly and by design. Jackson, a Wellington native, realized what many American cities discovered during the '90s: Paradigm-busting creative industries could single-handedly change the ways cities flourish and drive dynamic, widespread economic change. It took Jackson and his partners a while to raise the resources, but they purchased an abandoned paint factory that, in a singular example of adaptive reuse, emerged as the studio responsible for the most breathtaking trilogy of films ever made. He realized, he told me, that with the allure of the Rings trilogy, he could attract a diversely creative array of talent from all over the world to New Zealand; the best cinematographers, costume designers, sound technicians, computer graphic artists, model builders, editors, and animators.

For a great insight about why Peter Jackson has succeeded, keep reading.

Thank You, Martin!

Numbers

by Joyce Wycoff

Twenty-six he was when destiny crooked its finger,
beckoning the still-green minister-scholar into the world.
Forty-two she was when she pounded on the door
Theoretically opened ninety-four years before.

It was the first of December, 1955, when history wove
Their fates together into a multi-colored tapestry of change.
“Tired,” she said, “Bone tired. Tired of giving up.
Tired of giving in,” she said and sat in the front of the bus.

Montgomery, Alabama, shivered as the temperature rose.
The old ways could be heard keening long into the night
As 42,000 people left the buses to stand by Rosa’s side.
381 days they walked: nannies, maids, carpenters, all.

Two hundred years of anger rose up to shatter the silence
And from this deafening roar came a molasses-rich voice
Spinning a song of hope with a melody of peace and love.
“I have a dream,” boomed and echoed across the land.

The young minister-leader painted a picture of a life
without color lines, a world without violence.
His voice lifted the dream: Richmond, Little Rock,
Dallas opened their buses, took down their signs.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter," he said, never silent again.
He took our hands and led us step-by-step onto a new path,
Brothers and sisters connected by heart rather than skin.

“Always avoid violence,” he said.
“If you succumb to the temptation …
unborn generations will be the recipients
of a long and desolate night of bitterness,
and your chief legacy to the future will be an
endless reign of meaningless chaos."

Thirty nine he was when one man with a gun silenced
The voice, but not the words …
Those four words branded into our brains:
“I have a dream …,” saffron-rich messengers left behind
To carry forward the dream of a color-blind world
Of hope and peace.

Dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. born January 15, 1929;
Assassinated April 4, 1968.

Celebrating Annie Robinson

Annie Robinson Read more about Annie here!

Many years ago, just a few weeks before the contract for my first book fell apart, I received a call from a woman who had been receiving my newsletter. She said she "just happened" to know an agent if I needed one. At the time I didn't but a very short time later, I was more than interested.

I called Annie Robinson back and we began a friendship. As we talked on the phone, I kept thinking what an interesting, dynamic woman she was ... full of energy and doing a dozen different things including creativity training, poetry, politics and more. What a surprise when one of her friends contacted me about attending Annie's 80th birthday party! (That was 10 years ago.)

We met in person for the first time several years later when she attended Convergence and it was love at first sight! Annie continues to amaze me ... here's an email message I received from her this morning ... I can only hope I'm half as vibrant as she is when I reach 90.

From Annie:
I'm still doing some training (two groups recently in train-the-trainer sessions on my CREATEAMS), mentoring my Hunch Bunch at Lunch on the many uses of intuition, playing a little bridge, reading at intervals, struggling to get time on my three books, distributing my new poetry volume,and seeing husband Harold through severe dementia. Praying for divine order in our turbulent world. Annie R.

If you know her or want to say "hi," send a message to Anne Robinson [anniecreate@hotmail.com]

At Convergence 98, Annie received a life-time achievement award ... along with Ned Herrmann and Betty Edwards. Annie's Store is now open, come see her treasures.