Think Side Way

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This Is Not A Book

The bookshelves are full of them. Book after book

talking about the importance of creativity, imagination,and the need for innovation. This is not one of thosebooks.

Yes, these pages are about unleashing yourimagination, achieving a creative mindset, andharnessing the power of innovative thinking. But this is

not your typical book. Why? Because I think youveread enough books that tell you why innovation isimportant. Theyre great in the moment and then endup sitting on your shelves collecting dust.

This is a playbook. This is the how.

A playbook is a coachs guide. In football and manyother sports, a playbook includes the strategies anddescriptions of all the plays. Coaches and playersoften memorize the playbook at the start of theseason and then add to it as they encounter newsituations on the field.

In the game of disruptive thinking, a playbookis your personal guide. You can open it up to anysegment, any page, any visual, and apply that tool toyour situation. A playbook for both sports anddisruptive thinking is a living, breathing resource thatyou continually update, edit, and review.

This is your playbook for thinking sideways,

acting sideways, and believing sideways, andultimately for achieving sideways results. The tools here

will get you into the right attitude and mindset, and giveyou specific exercises that you can use to unleash newideas right now.

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That is how I approached Think Sideways:A GameChanging Playbook for Disruptive Thinking.

The words on the page, visuals between the text, theQR codes and links to online resources, and

webisodes of imagi-NATION: disruptive innovatorsroad tour will be added to as new ideas and resourcesare uncoveredby you! You will take notes andcustomize the exercises to meet your specific needs.

Awesome! Most authorswould shudder at the idea of areader editing their book, but I say go for it! (Im notso much an author anyway. Im more of a lover ofdisruption and sideways thinking.)

This playbook is a culmination of my years ofentrepreneurial know-how, corporate experience, and

personal knowledge. Years that have taught me thatdoing things the same as everyone else does gets you tothe same place everyone else is going. But doing thingsyour own way puts you on your own path.

Enjoy!

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There are so many moments when this playbook willserve you:

You may be stuck in a mental rut . . . No problem! Justwhip it open to any tool and get unstuck.

You may be sitting at the kitchen table with thatgnawing feeling that your big idea is out there

somewhere calling out to you . . . Get going! Any toolin this book will help guide you to it.

You may be frustrated because you are that sidewaysthinker in a sea of sameness . . . Rock on! Use these toolsto engage the crowd.

You may be yearning to disrupt the status quo thatbogs you down . . .Tackle it! You cant help butdisrupt with these tools.

You may know that what you are working on is goingto fall flat but cant figure out what to do . . . No

worries! Weve got some tools to help you shake

things up.

You may be getting a group of sideways thinkerstogether for an ideation session . . . Awesome! Useany of the tools to craft a fruitful day.

You can read this playbook cover-to-cover, frontwards orbackwards,or you can skip from segment to segment.

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There is no one right way to immerse yourselfin sideways thinking. What I can tell you is that once

you delve in, youll want to take notes as the innovativeideas and fresh thinking start flooding in. There arethought bubbles throughout the book for you to dojust that. They are for you to write down any and allsideways questions and ideas.

The bite-sized exercises spread throughout theplaybook are for you to literally photocopy and placeanywhere that helps youon your desk, refrigerator,back door.

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You can also download them and many other

resources on the website by following the many QRCodes in this playbook. The QR Codes take you to apassword protected area that has every worksheet,imagi-NATION episode, and more. Youll want tocheck back because well add more as we discover it.

The password is

theshuuk.com/think-sideways-playbook/

The only problem with this playbook is, with all theideas that will spring forth, even all those blank spaces

might not be enough room! Once you start engagingyou cant help but let the ideas flood in. Youll havemade a crack in the dam, and sooner or later yoursideways mind wont be able to hold back. Alwayskeep a pen handy because youre going to need it. As

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the segment on Popcorn says, sideways thinkerscapture all ideas without judgment or analysis. If an

idea of any kinda hint of an idea, a percolatingthought, an image, a sketch of a start of an idea, aquestioncomes to you, get it down.

My hope is that over time and many reads, youllfill all the blank spaces in this book with thoughts, andthat ultimately one of those thoughts turns into your

DREAM BIG path in life, andthat big dream makes abig dent in the world.

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If Im just getting started, how should I use thisplaybook?

Pick one sideways mindset from the segment onSIDEWAYSATTITUDES AND ACTIONS andone exercise from theSIDEWAYS EXERCISES todo daily. Its the combination that produces extremesideways results. Each day, thumb through and pick

two. You might decide to focus on LEAN IN andSMASH one day, and ANTENNAS UP andSPONTANEOUSCOLLABORATION on the next.

Youll notice places in the playbook that say jump toThe concept on one page links to another in some way, soget ready to take a journey.

You can open this playbook to any page andharness the exercises and ideas on that page, so do

what works for you. If it gets you to disruptivethinking, I dont care how you do it.

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Think Sideways

A game changing playbook for

disruptive thinking

By Tamara Kleinberg

Aka Serial Innovator & Founder @

The Shuuk

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Copyright 2012 by Tamara Kleinberg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form whatsoever, by photographyor xerography or by anyother means, by broadcast ortransmission, by translation into any kind oflanguage, nor by recording electronically or otherwise,

without permission in writing from the publisher,

except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passagesin critical articles or reviews.

ISBN: 978-0-9852447-0-5

Generally Speaking, Inc.Publishing Printed in U.S.A.

Book cover by Astrid KochInnovation super heroes artwork by MichelleKondrich Editorial assistance by Jed Heneberry

Research and assistance by Kelly OConnellThis book is dedicated to all of you that have everbeen told you are doing it wrong

and of course, my amazing family, friends, and dog.

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by smallmen who find it easier to live in the world they've beengiven than to explore the power they have to change it.Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is

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not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential.Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

Muhammad Ali

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Table of Contents

WHAT IS SIDE WAYS THINKING?........................... 15

BUT I DONT OWN FUNKY EYEWEAR! ............... 21

DEBUNKING THE MYTHS .............................................. 21

Small Insights ............................................................................ 36

SIDEWAYSATTITUDE & ACTION ............................ 41

Write a Manifesto ..................................................................... 47

Eternal Optimism ..................................................................... 58

Keep Your Antennas Up ........................................................ 61

Jump on Two ............................................................................. 68

Dont Step Outside Your Comfort Zone ............................. 70

Obsess ........................................................................................ 73

Follow Frustration .................................................................... 76

Believe You Can Defy the Odds ............................................ 79

There Are No Rules! ................................................................ 82

Learn in Motion ........................................................................ 84

Dream Crazy ............................................................................. 88Go in the Opposite Direction ................................................ 89

Seize Change.............................................................................. 93

Lean In ....................................................................................... 97

Create New Rules ..................................................................... 98

Get Emotional ........................................................................ 101S I DEWAYS EXERCISES............................................. 107

Ask ............................................................................................ 110

Break ......................................................................................... 115

Play............................................................................................ 117

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Smash ....................................................................................... 120

Throw Away ............................................................................ 125

Say Yes ...................................................................................... 128

Follow a Mutation .................................................................. 131

Go Wide ................................................................................... 135

Creative Productivity .............................................................. 137

Get Lost ................................................................................... 140

Spontaneous Collaboration................................................... 142

Idea-Cache ............................................................................... 145

Pull-Apart ................................................................................ 148

Build It ..................................................................................... 152

Wear Creative Armor ............................................................. 155

Sketch ....................................................................................... 157Scavenger Hunt....................................................................... 160

Create Space ............................................................................ 162

Shift........................................................................................... 165

Black Out ................................................................................. 167

Stalk .......................................................................................... 169Use Your Senses...................................................................... 170

Look Four Ways...................................................................... 172

Depart From the Text ............................................................ 174

The New Economy of Ideas ................................................ 177

Treat Ideas Like Popcorn ...................................................... 181

Playing On The Fringes......................................................... 183

ITS NO FUN BEING THE ONLY ONE OUTSIDE THEBOX .............................................................................. 183

CONVINCING SIDEWAYS ......................................... 183

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"What I Love About What You Said" ............................ 190

Exude Confidence................................................................... 193

Prepare To Be Spontaneous.................................................. 194

Throw Questions Back .......................................................... 195

When Words Arent Enough ................................................ 197

A CLOSING NOTE ..................................................... 199

Tamaras Story ............................................................. 200

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WHAT ISSIDE WAYS

THINKING?


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Thinking Sideways is NOT:

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Thinking Sideways IS:

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Thinking Sideways feeds your need to rebel against thestatus quo and put a dent in life-as-usual. This is your

chance to be disruptive.

I dont need to tell you that now, more than ever,we need sideways thinkers like you. We need more dentsin the status quo, more disruptions of business-as-usual,and more people realizing their dreams, large and small.

Thinking Sideways is about stepping off thebeaten path and carving your own road.

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Life is full of sideways thinkers who havedisrupted lifeas-usual. You know who they are. They

are usually labeled the rebels, the mavericks, thepioneers. They are all of these things and more.

They are seen in businesses like Square Inc.(challenged complicated and expensive paymentoptions by delivering a simple, minimal-fee app anyonecan use), Zappos (focused on happiness and delivered

customer satisfaction as if they were a brick andmortar store, totally altering our expectations of onlineshopping), and Massage Envy (turned a high-end treat,spa services, into a mainstream subscription business,making massages and facials part of anyones dailyroutine), and in people like Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler,and Charles Adler (founders of Kickstarter.com, anonline crowdfunding website for creative projects thatignores traditional investing protocols), Quentin

Tarantino (continually challenging how movie storiesare told, like telling it backwards and parallel in PulpFiction), and Sara Blakely of Spanx (pursuing an ah-hamoment and turning cutoff stockings into a body-

forming mega-business).They are the innovative business owners in

our communities, like Emma from The Shoppe(bucking the pretty little cupcake trend and creating aplace where anyone can go and feel like a kid again) orDan from Solid State Depot (a community dedicated

to innovation and turning wild ideas into reality).They are people like you and me who arent

satisfied with business as usualand they (you) areneeded now more than ever.

Lets face itwe live in crazy times. Im, how do

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you say,not as young as I used to be. Im not exactly old either,

but I do remember when cell phones were the size ofa loaf of bread, microwave cooking was all the rage,and the video game Pongwas totally radical.

Funny, it wasnt that long ago. It didnt takegenerations for a cell phone to go from a 10-pound

behemoth to fitting a Space Shuttles worth ofcomputing power into the palm of your hand. We livein times of lightning-fast change, and the truth is thatit will probably never slow down. I think thats good.

With constant change comes constant opportunity.There will always be something new to learn,

something interesting to try, and something excitingto pursue. Like my experience as a kid changing schoolsevery few years, when change comes about, so doesthe opportunity to chart a new path.

Now go make a big @#*

dent!

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BUT I DONT OWN FUNKY EYEWEAR!

DEBUNKING THE MYTHS


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There are a lot of myths when it comes to thinking

sideways. Those myths keep sideways thinking at bay.They hold you back from reaching your creativepotential because they perpetuate an incorrect set ofrules that exclude instead of include. You haveprobably believed some of these in the past and mayeven hold on to a few right now. Lets shatter thosemyths and create a clear path for you to think sideways.

Myth #1: You have

to be a hip, glasses-

wearing freelancer

with a blue streak inyour hair to be

creative.

Yes, that guy is probably creativebut so are you.

Creativity isnt just for the elite few who know all thenew dive bars. Its for everyone, and its inside all of us.

The proof is in your life. If youve ever gone to thetheater and enjoyed a great movie totally based in afantasy world, like Avatar, Harry Potter, or Lord of theRings, then you are creative. The funny part is that we

often abdicate creativity to others. In conversations welook to them instead of ourselves for sideways thinking.We shut up and let them do their magic. What if youexpected the same from yourself? Because you havejust as many good ideas as they do.

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If we ever meet, youll find that, while Imconsidered an innovation and entrepreneurial thought

leader, in no way do I fit the stereotype, and Imguessing you dont either. If you look up a picture ofany of your favorite sideways thinkers, Im betting thatmost of them dont fit the stereotype either.

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Myth #2: Creativity

is about painting a

beautiful piece ofartwork or being

able to dance

effortlessly.

Creativity is, in fact, not about output at allits about

the process. Yes, painting is a creative process, but sois creative problem solving, looking for newopportunities and adapting to the unknown. If youfocus on being creative in the process, then the output

will always be creative. I get really frustrated withbooks about unleashing creativity that only tell you tolearn to play an instrument or take a class in

watercolor. Id encourage you to do both, but creativityis so much more than that. First, that kind ofcreativity leaves out the two other pieces in the puzzle:imagination and innovation. Second, it leaves out thegoalthinking sideways. The goal should be aboutthinking sideways every day, not just when you are

engaging in creative activities. So expand yourdefinition of creativity beyond how to draw and thinkof it as a way of being (note: sideways attitudes andactions will show you how to do just that).

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Myth #3: Being

creative is hard

work.

Not really! In fact, it can be quite easy if you allow it to be.The problem is that we shut down our sideways thinkingday-to-day, and then expect it to kick into gear in a pinch.No warm up, no exercises, and it fails. So we think its hard

work. The truth is that the sideways thinking mind is a lotlike the muscles in your body. It needs regular exercise andnutritious fuel to get stronger. If you wanted to get fit andstrengthen your muscles, you wouldnt go to the gym once ayear and expect results. No, you would set that alarm clock,get up, and go to the gym five days a week. In 60 minutes, 30minutes, or maybe just 10 minutes a day, your body will feel

better and, over time, get stronger and stronger. Its thesame with sideways thinking. If you commit just 10minutes a day to creative exercises youll soon have moresideways thinking than you know what to do with. Its aninevitable output of a creative routine. An article in FastCompany (How to Lead a Creative Life, December 2011)highlighted brilliant creative minds like film director Martin

Scorsese. Thesepeople engage in creative exercises intuitivelyas part of their day-to-day routine. That is part of whatmakes them so creative. This book will give you tools so youcan do the same.

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Myth #4: Creativity is a point-in-

time exercise.

Quite the opposite. Creativity is an ongoing state ofmind. I like to call it creative kaizen.

Creativity is part of who you are and how youact. Over time you evolve and sharpen those skills.Saying that creativity is a point-in-time exerciseimplies that you only whip it out for creative tasks likebrainstorming, painting, or arts and crafts. Interestingly,some of the best creative problem solving happensduring the least creative tasks. Never underestimate thepower of sideways thinking when working on aneveryday challenge or big dilemma.

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Myth #5: Ah-has are these

magicalmoments thatrandomly come to you.

Not exactly. Ah-ha moments arejust the tip of the iceberg. They are the culmination ofengaging in sideways exercises daily. Ah-ha momentsfeel magical because theyre a mashup of experiences,knowledge, and data. Because its not linear we cantalways explain it, which makes it mysterious. If you

want more Ah-ha moments, all you have to do isengage in more sideways activities (jump to Build It).

Youll see Ah-ha tips of icebergs at every turn.

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Myth #6: People fight innovation

because they fear change.

This is an interesting one. In Chip and Dan Heathsbook Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard(Crown Business, 2010), they talk about the fact that ifyou take a step back and look at the humanrelationship to change, we actually voluntarily sign up

for change all the time. We have children, we move,we switch brands, we take new jobs. So if we actuallydont fear change, why do we resist innovation?

As someone wise once said, Its not that I dontlike change, its that I dont want to be changed.

Nobody likes someone else telling them whatto do or how to act. Think about yourself for amoment. Do you want someone else, even me, tocome and tell you how to be creative? Or would yourather find and harness your own creative strengths? Icall them hot spotstiny little things that you alreadydo that are innovative. If we can discover and harnessyour innovative strengths, then there is nothing to

fight, because its all bubbling up from within you.Thats why this playbook has a wide range ofmindsets, tools, exercises, and ideas for you. Chancesare a few of them speak to your strengths, and you canuse them as a springboard for unleashing even more

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sideways thinking.

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Myth #7: The

best ideas are

totally new-to-theworld, blue-

sky innovations.

Not always. Take a look around your office or home.

Some of the best innovations are tweaks on whatalready exists. The iPod was a tweak on the early,difficult-to-use digital music players. Remember those?

You dont always need to comb the world for whatsnot yet been done. Sure, its nice to find those things, butof equal importance are those tiny shifts. Takingsomething you use every day and tweaking it just 2%

can make a world of difference. Tweaking led to thebendy straw, bar soap, and cup holders in cars. Takecomfort in the fact that your big idea could come froma tiny but innovative tweak, or a new-to-the-world idea


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Myth #8:Imagination is

purely forplaytime.

So not true! It is

your ultimate superpower, and to only bring it outduring moments of play is a shame. You are doing

yourself a huge disservice. The imagination is whatallows you to create things that have not yet been

created. It helps you fill the gaps and create meaning outof seemingly disparate dots of knowledge.

The Lincoln Center Institute in New Yorkrecently launched Imagination Conversations, a two-year initiative where people across the United Statesjoined in panel discussions on how imagination,creativity, and innovation work across sectors, and howthey can be cultivated in schools and communities.

The panelists, who ranged from successfulentrepreneurs to academics, discussed the critical roleimagination has in todays society and in their success.

Thats how critical imagination is beyond theplayground.

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Not even close!

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Myth #9: Imagination, Creativity, and Innovationare part of a linear process.

Imagination > Creativity > Innovation

These words get used interchangeably and oftenincorrectly. Many speak about it as a linear process.

Theyll say it starts with imagination, which unleashes

creativity, and then the final product is innovation. Inbusiness in particular, most hold to this idea becauseits easier to wrap up each step in the process with apretty bow. In doing so we change something thatshould be fluid into something thats unnaturally linear.

This type of thinking hinders the process because itrejects, and therefore blocks, the flexibility inherent insideways thinking. According to Merriam-websters.com,here are the definitions for each of the elements.

Imagination: [the act or power of forming a mental imageof some thing not present to the senses or neverbefore wholly perceived in reality; ability to confront

and deal with a problem]

Creativity: [ability or power to create]

Innovation: [the introduction of something new; a newidea, method, or device]

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You see how it might be easier to place them in a

particular order. However, if you pay attention to howthey operate in reality, youll discover something verydifferent.

In action I see it as more of a virtual andintertwined cycle. But, to be honest, I dont care which

word you use as long as youre thinking sideways.

Each feeds the other. The more you engageyour imagination, the more creative you are. The more

creative you are, the more your imagination runs in highgear. The more you work on innovation, the moreimaginative you become. Eventually they becomeinseparable because everything is working and the cycleis spinning so fast.

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When the cycle is spinning fast, the output is

Sideways Thinking, the most powerful tool you own.Thinking Sideways helps you have a big, boisterousvoice in the world.

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Small Insights

Make Big Differences

In 1904, the London Daily Mirror publiclychallenged Harry Houdini to escape from a set ofhandcuffs that they claimed took masterlocksmith Nathaniel Hart several years toperfect. On the afternoon of March 17, crowds

flocked to the London Hippodrome Theater inanticipation of whether Houdini would show upand accept the challenge. Much to the delight ofthe more than 4,000 spectators and 100journalists, Houdini stepped onto the stage.Frank Parks, the newspapers representative,

quickly rushed over and slapped the handcuffson Houdini. Houdini leaned in and asked if Parks

wouldnt mind removing the handcuffs for amoment so that he could take off his jacket beforeperforming. Parks was so afraid that Houdini

would gather some type of insight into the

workings of the handcuffs that he refused.Houdini had to use a pocketknife to cut off hisjacket instead.

Then Houdini walked across the stage andbehind the curtain. Fifty minutes later he emerged,handcuffs still on. His wife Bess walked acrossthe stage, gave Houdini an encouraging kiss, and

walked off. Houdini went back behind thescreen. Ten minutes later he emerged, handcuff-free. The crowd went wild.

Public challenges started popping up across

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the globe, each claiming they had acontraption from which Houdini couldnt

possibly escape.But there was something the public didnt

know. Harry Houdini and his challengers wereworking together.

Houdini understood something that hiscompetition didnt. He understood that the

anticipation of the escape was as important as theescape itself. Both were part of the big act.

While his competition was following thesame path, doing all the same acts, and putting upposters saying all the same things, Houdinithought sideways.

And that is why Houdini went on tobecome the highest-paid vaudeville act of his time,and one of the most recognized entertainers inhistory. Houdini was a sideways thinker.

Thats also why thinking sideways has been,and always will be, the key to your competitiveadvantage. Sideways thinking is what separates youfrom the pack. Whether you are a serialentrepreneur, lifetime employee, experienced CEO,or aspiring small business owner, thinking sidewaysis what helps you rise above the clutter andrealize your dreams just like Houdini did inthe 1900s. If Houdini was born this century, I

have no doubt he would have achieved similaraccomplishments with the tools available today.

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Hello, my name is Ann Tigravite

Im a super hero and I have the ability to defy gravity.I am impervious to negativity and naysayers. I just riseabove it all. I can help others rise above the bulls*&!too if they let me. My impenetrable creative armor givesme the visionary edge I need to think big and push newideas forward. I just float around like anything is

possible. If you work with me youll discover that youtoo can think big and make big things happenregardless of what others say and do.

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Hello, my name is Lye Fesucker...

Im a super villain and with every negative word, Isuck the life out of every person and every situation Iencounter. I turn people into working zombies. Allaround me, people just agree, because they cant get a

word in, and everything they say is overtaken by mynegativity. Eventually everyone around me succumbs

to my dreary ways. Youd better watch out because nomatter how good the idea, Im going to rain on yourparade.

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SIDEWAYSATTITUDE

& ACTION


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Wear these descriptors like a badge of honor!

I strongly believe that a big part of thinking sideways isunleashing your inner entrepreneur. The entrepreneur

wants to be that maverick that pokes the bear. Great

entrepreneurs intuitively think sideways. I dont mean you

have to quit whatever you are doing and start a business.

In fact, quit the opposite. Being an entrepreneur or

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disruptive thinker is more of a way of life than a job title.

Thats why the first set of tools is for your

attitude. They are guidelines for acting sideways all day,every day. Get into the right mindset and the actions

will follow intuitively.

Always remember that its not about a job title.Over time Ive met many sideways thinkers. Some are

small business owners like Semion, who ownsSemion Barbershop (a barbershop that bucked theneed to be cool for a place that is welcoming and

warm for all), or Gever Tulley (founder of theBrightworks alternative school in San Francisco thatfollows a more holistic learning approach instead of

the traditional structure). Then there are those Ivenever met, but who we can all agree are brilliantentrepreneursSteve Jobs of Apple (transformedtechnology by making it less about the electronics andmore about the human experience), J.K. Rowling,author of Harry Potter (went from a struggling singlemother to the well-known creator of the wildly

imaginative series), and Louis C.K. the comedian(willing to go against the media protocols andexperiment with online sales of his work directly tofans). Youll read even more about some of thesesideways thinkers and many more throughout this

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playbook.

That is their gift. They are sidewaysthinkers.

That is what this segment is all aboutgettinginto the sideways mindset.

Someone once asked me how I do it. How Icontinu ally have new ideas, why I chose a more

entrepreneurial life instead of a more secure one, andhow I often see the world differently. Most important,they asked me how Im able to stretch beyond theobvious limits to continually disrupt the norm. Thatgot me thinking. Ive been acting this way for so longI forgot that it wasnt intuitive for everyone. As I

started to crystallize the sideways thinking mindset formyself, I started to wonder deeply about otherentrepreneurs. So I did what any curious bird would do,and I started studying them (jump to Stalking). Isearched out every interview, commencement speech,article, and blog I could find, looking for the thread that

tied them all together. When it all started comingtogether I jumped up and did the chicken dance. Notbecause what they did was so surprising or unique. No,because the behaviors they exhibited were things thatanyone could do with a little coaching. How cool isthat? Anyone can be a sideways thinker.

What they dont have in common is their jobtitle. They come from different backgrounds, arearmed with different dreams, and took wildly differentpaths in life. But if you take a step back and studythem, youll see that what they have in common is amindset. Its that mindset that allows them to see things

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so differently, to make art out of trash and blaze newtrails, leaving big footprints as they go.

They come from all walks of life like you and me,but theirmindset is what sets them apart and sets them upfor greatness.

Get your greatness hat on, because if you change howyou think inside, then the outside actions and results

will come naturally. You may have doubts. You maywonder if you are a sideways thinker or not. If any orall of these statements apply to you then yes, you have it

in you:

Your rebellious side gets incredibly frustratedby a play-it-safe culture.

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Your inner entrepreneur keeps nudging you to

break the rules.

Something deep down feels the need to disrupt

the status quo.

You desperately want to get out of that boxyou are trapped in.

The words on the cover of this booksideways, disruptive, game-changingspoke toyou.

Your right brain feels exhausted and needs a

push to get energized.

Its not about if you are pursuing that big ideaor just getting through the day. Its about what you

want to do and how you want to be. Perhaps yourealready out there shaking it up and want to build on

your momentum. Perhaps you just need to get unstuckbecause, no matter how hard you try to suppress it,something inside you keeps screaming for more. Ibelieve this with every bone in my body. We all haveit in us some way or another. Its just a matter ofmobilizing our inner sideways and letting it out intothe world.

As you delve into this segment, take sometime to examine how you behave every day. You mayfind you are missing some of these and need to dial upothers. These are exercises and tools to get your attitudein the right place for sideways thinking.

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Write a Manifesto

This is your foundation. A manifesto is a set of beliefsyou hold so deeply that they cant help but guide you.

Your manifesto informs the decisions you make, theactions you take, and the trails you blaze.

Find something you believe in so strongly that itphysically pulls you in that direction. A manifesto is a

way of life. Great entrepreneurs and sideways thinkersuse their manifesto to drive the businesses they lead.

Sideways Thinkers who have a vivid manifestoalso have an unavoidable gravitational pull. People canthelp but be drawn to them. People want to be aroundthem, to be a part of their disruptive dreams.

Part of this gravitational pull comes from theconfidence they ooze in who they are and whattheyre trying to do in this world. It also emanatesfrom their natural ability to communicate theirmanifesto through every word and action.

This is my copy of my manifesto:

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My manifesto ultimately guided me when formingTheShuuk the testing ground for the worlds coolest, new

ideas. It guided my thinking around how to create thebusiness and how I wanted my busines to behave.

This is a set of beliefs that has guided manyof my actions. Those who see it know exactly what webelieve in and what were trying to do in the world. Thecompany is a direct expression of my personal

manifesto.Have you ever shopped at Lululemon?Lululemon is a line of yoga-inspired ath-leisure wear.If you do shop there you get a bag for your purchasesthat looks like this:

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Thats their manifesto on the baga set of beliefsthat guides them, and in turn guides their customers.

When Chip Wilson founded Lululemon he didntcreate a typical mission and vision statement. Instead,if you went to their website you found their manifesto.

You can feel and see their beliefs in everything theydothe goal tracker online and the yoga lovers who

work in their stores. Their manifesto inspires them

and their customers. Lululemon lovers proudly reusetheir bags to carry everything from groceries to gymclothes. Theyre telling the world that they too believein living the Lululemon life. Thats all because Chip

Wilson believes deeply that everyone should riseabove mediocrity and live a life of greatness.

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When the mind zeros in on a manifesto with beliefand clarity, everything is possible. Your entire mental

and physical state changes. Its crazy to see whathappens to people when they have something to believein.

Im sure you are seeing the trend here.Manifestos are as important to you, the individual, asthey are to those around you. Manifestos, when crystal

clear, are so powerful that people cant help but jumponboard.

If you know what your manifesto is but itslocked up inside your head, then bring it to life visually.

A daily reminder of your manifesto can inspire youwhen you are feeling down, get you unstuck when

your wheels are in the mud, and make a difficultdecision seem crystal clear.If you dont yet have that driving force, dont

worry you arent alone. The hardest part can befiguring out what drives you. I equate it to finding theright wall for your ladder.

There I was at the top of the corporateladder looking around. I was in my bestbusiness suit. I had these fitted, black Ann

Taylor suit pants with a matching waist-length jacket and, of course, I was wearing a

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red button-down business shirt because atsome point someone had told me that red

was the power color for women. My hair waspulled back in a low pony to make sureeveryone knew I meant business.

Yup, there I was

But the view at the top was not what Iexpected, and the more I looked around, themore I felt anger and frustration instead ofthe feelings I was supposed to have, likeconfidence and joy. The suit I was wearingstarted to not feel right, and I didnt feel

comfortable in my own skin.The one good thing about all these feelings

rising to the top was that they forced me topause.

To pause, take a moment, and actually lookdown and around the ladder. Something I

hadnt done before.See, I jumped on the ladder in 1995 aftergraduating from the University of CaliforniaBerkeley. I quickly climbed up the ladder onerung at a time. Sometimes I would jump offand do my own entrepreneurial things, some

wildly successful, some wild failures. It wasprobably my first clue that the corporateladder was the wrong place for me, but I

would keep jumping back on and climbingup. Along the way I worked with giants ofindustry like General Mills, Clorox, IBM, and

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Procter & Gamble. In fact, some of theproducts I created are on supermarket shelves

today. I was proud of those accomplishmentsand kept on going up that ladder. Suddenlythere I was, standing at the top at age 35being groomed to take over a multi-milliondollar brand strategy and innovationconsultancy.

But when I finally took a moment to lookdown at the rungs on the ladder, I realizedsomething very painful. With every rung Iclimbed up, my desire to be edgy and takerisks had gone down. I started to stuff myimaginative ways, my more innovative ideas into

the drawer until eventually that part of mesuffocated.

The entrepreneurial spirit that I, and all of us,was born with had vanished as I tried to follow inOTHERS footsteps, as I tried to be

professional, to bewhat I thought was expectedof me and of business.

Soaking in the full view for the first time inalong time, I realized something

My ladder was on the wrong wall! I hadforgotten my personal manifesto!

I grabbed my things, got into my bestHeismanpose, and ran for it.I created my own wall and painted my

manifesto all over it. Ive been climbing theladder on The Shuuk wall ever since. Im not

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sure if Im at the top or not, but I know Imloving every rung on my ladder.

Its very fulfilling to have something to believe in, andmore importantly, it gives you the confidence to takethose bold leaps and to challenge the rules becauseyou know its the right thing to do. Its yourmanifesto. And yes, throughout history manifestoshave been used for evil, nefarious purposes (insert

stereotypically evil laugh). Lets agree that for ourpurposes well use it do what makes us happy and tofulfill our big dreams.

You didnt think wed stop here did you?

Here is the worksheet for creating your manifesto. Ifyou would like the full-page version of this exercise,follow the QR Code.


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I also suggest you take your manifesto and makeit walletsize. All you have to do is take your visualcollage or piece of paper to a copy center and ask themto shrink and laminate. Its a nice reminder of what you

are working towards.PSSpeaking of copying, did you know that

Kinkos was founded by Paul Kinko Orfalea, whorented a space next to a hamburger stand near theUniversity of California Santa Barbara campus for $100

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a month to sell pens, notebooks, and copy services afterhe realized that the school library only had one copy

machine for thousands of students? He thought thatthis new technology was amazing and should be offeredto more than just a few, so with 2.5-cent copies hebuilt a business. Another true Sideways Thinker.

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Eternal Optimism

Sideways thinkers are eternal optimists. Im not sayingthey are always in a good mood or walk around with a

weird perma-grin, but, deep down, Sideways Thinkersbelieve that theres always another opportunity waitingaround the corner. We all know about the greatinnovator Walt Disney. But did you know that Mickey

Mouse as we know him today was not the firstcharacter he created to drive his dreams? It was hissecond. His first design was stolen from him andtherefore not usable. So while sitting on a train hesketched a new character. This one was a mouse with bigears and big feet. Im sure Walt Disney was angry, but

his actions showed that he was an eternal optimist.Some of us would have thrown in the towel orwallowed in the fact that our big idea was taken fromus, but not Walt Disney. A setback, even a big one,

wasnt going to hold him back. I suppose you have to bean optimist to envision an amusement park in themiddle of the desert in southern California.

Its hard to imagine given the parks greatness and thecompanys impact that at one time a man with a visionstood in the middle of an empty dust bowl of a desertand envisioned a land full of magic.

Every entrepreneur Ive ever spoken to hastalked about the need to stay positive. In the face of somany nos, and youll get a lot of them, you have tobelieve that a yes is right around the corner (jump toDepart from the Text). That positivity keeps them

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from throwing in the towel when things get tough. Itkeeps them searching for another solution when

setbacks throw them off, and it gives them the ability tofind opportunity in the toughest obstacles.

Sometimes optimism is hard to maintain, andIm not saying that every day will be sunny and perfect.But being optimistic reminds you that rainy days doend, and that even rainy days can teach you something.

There isnt a switch that you can flip to suddenlybecome optimistic. I wish there were. I like to go backto the old phrase, Fake it till you make it. If you tellyourself enough times that youre an optimist,eventually you will feel it in your core. When you areout there in the world, remind yourself that one, two,even twenty big ideas are all around you; that everysetback is simply an opportunity to come up with anew solution.

Its no surprise that optimism leads toperseverance, and if you are going to be a sidewaysthinker, then you have to recognize that it takes a lot ofperseverance. Being entrepreneurial is a lifelong

journey. Whether its working to shift a companyculture or open up the shop youve always dreamed of,it takes perseverance to see it through.

Nothing happens ovenight. In his bookOutliers: The Story of Success (Little, Brown and Company,2008), Malcolm Gladwell talks about the fact that it

takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert atsomething. Thats a lot of practice!

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I was listening to the radio in my rental carduring a trip back east for an innovation workshop

when I found a Beatles music marathon punctuated

by interviews with Paul McCartney. The radio hostasked McCartney what it felt like when they landed theirfirst big record deal, and if they felt this intensepressure to be creative and come up with new songs.McCartney said something very interesting. He said thatby the time they got into their first recording session,they could have recorded eight hoursworth of songs.

The Beatles had played together for a long time beforethey were discovered. They persevered through late-night shows, unpaid gig after gig, and many nearly-empty venues before they became pop sensations.

It takes optimism and perseverance.

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Keep Your Antennas Up

Its my husbands 40th birthday, so I take him out to adowntown dive bar. We are hanging out, enjoying afew drinks, when the door blows open. At first I turnaway as Im hit by a blast of cold air. I turn back to

watch a pack of revelers all dressed in Snuggies withhats and belts and jewelry piling into the bar. Im so

shocked by their appearance that I have to ask whatsgoing on. I turn to the leader of the pack and ask,What are you guys doing? In the way only a drunktwenty-something could respond, she yells, Its aSnuggie bar crawl, Woooooooo!!!

In response I gave the leader of the Snuggie

pack a very perplexing look, and she went on to say thatSnuggie bar crawls are popular across the country andthat most of her friends have done it.

What?! This campy infomercial that I saw attwo in the morning during a bad bout of insomnia hasgone from a cheesy TV spot to something hip and

cool with Generation Y? That didnt compute for me,not even after a few drinks. Its a blanket with holes init! In my house, blankets with holes in them are notcalled Snuggies. Theyre called rags.

Did you know that as of 2010, this blanket withholes in it has sold more than 20 million units? Imsure youve watched the infomercial or seen a

Snuggie at a major retailer. Im guessing you mighteven be wearing one right now, but are too embarrassedto ever admit it.

Im sure youve had one of those moments, likeI had at the bar, where you see something like the

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Snuggie bar crawl that makes you go, What??!!Normally you just shrug and move on.

Whatever it is, it probably isnt importantenough to pay attention to, and without a doubt, it hasno relevance to your life.

What if, next time, you stopped and paidattention! What I saw that night wasnt a random, who-cares thing. What I caught was a glimpse of someone

who thought sideways, doing somethingunconventional and charting new territory. In the caseof the Snuggie, thats more than $200 million dollars

worth.There is a lot of sideways thinking going on out

there, but you have to keep your antennas up and yourmind open. Those glimpses of someone elses sidewaysthinking will help you think sideways. Youll begin tosee things in a new light. Youll connect the randomdots (jump to Go Wide) and start ideas percolating.

Great sideways thinkers always have theirantennas up.Its part of how they walk through the world. Whenthose antennas are up they spot everything, especiallythe more innovative things. Youll make connections

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between seemingly unrelated events, and youll usethose connections to create new ideas. Youll take

note of how someone else is doing things and learnfrom their best practices. Youll get those juices flowingsideways purely by being immersed in the worldaround you. Youll spot opportunities where others seeblank space. To do all that, you gotta get thoseantennas up.

To sharpen this part of your mind whenyoure at your desk, subscribe to newsletters likeSpringwise.com. They have spotters who scour theglobe for cool and innovative ideas. Subscribe toGroupon.com. I know the deals are tempting, but what

Ive found even more interesting is the occasionalsuper-cool idea that I would have never known aboutotherwise.

Kelly, who works at the imaginarium, has afunny little quirk. She wears gloves when she drinksa bottle of beer. She wants to keep her hands warm,

and thats not easy to do with an ice-cold beer in herhands. While writing this book, I took a break tocheck out the daily deals from Groupon.com and thereit wasthe Skzi, a Scandinavian-designed, mitten-esque beverage holder handmade from cozy Merino

wool. No joke, this exists! Just like the Snuggie, Ithink its strangely innovative. Instead of brushing overthe need to keep your hands warm and your beer cold,someone actually turned that insight into this fantasticproduct. You know you want one!

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We have a policy at The Shuuk. If you seesomething innovative, you must either take a picture ofit or buy it and bring it in for show-and-tell. I have

windowsills piled with the latest discoveries. They keepmy antennas up, and on a down day, they provide me

with much-needed inspiration. You never know whereone of those finds will take you.

Again, keeping the antennas up means youstart to pay attention to the stuff thats going on nearthe fringes. Youll start to see trends before they go

mainstream.Keeping your antennas up not only means that

you start to notice innovative things happening allaround you, it also means that youll start to see ideasand opportunities for your life and work.

This guy walked by me with a super-cool T-shirt. It was black with a large skull and crossboneson the front, only the skull part wasnt a skull, it was acupcake. Two days later, Im in my favorite cupcakeshop and I see this logo again on a postcard at thecounter. My antennas are up now and Im gettingcurious. What is this cupcake thing I keep seeing? The

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postcard says Johnny Cupcakes, so I go online toJohnnycupcakes.com and check it out. Now my

antennas are tingling. I had come across a totallyinnovative person and business. Johnny Cupcakes is alifestyle brand with some of the most loyal followers Ihave ever seen. His website is basic, but dynamic. His

T-shirts are funky and irreverent, and his videos give aglimpse of a guy and a brand that are shaking it up.

The light bulb goes off. In the back of mymind, a challenge was brewing.

How do I make this concept of spreading innovation like wildfirehappen?

How do I make innovation accessible to all?

Many in my own circle told me that I had tohave a book.They would say, Without a book youcant be an author, and therefore, an authority. Thatadvice just didnt sit right with me, but until I saw

Johnny Cupcakes, I didnt know what to do with it.

Checking out this apparel company gave me an idea.Instead of a complicated creativity book or game ortoy, I would create T-shirts. Each shirt would have a

visual representation of living an innovative life. Onemight tell you to Veer Off, another to Innovate.

After all, whats more accessible and universal than aT-shirt? With my antennas up, I solved a problem andlaunched a successful product line. If I hadnt noticedthe guy walking down the street or the postcards onthe counter, I may not have connected the dots andcreated products imaginators across the globe love.

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Sideways Thinkers are always keeping theirantennas up.Never pass up an opportunity to explore.

When you get the, Whats going on here?

feeling, stop and pay attention.When you see something that catches your eye, ask,

Why?When you encounter something that makesyou tilt your head and go, What??!! learn more.

Dont let a moment go by where your nostrilsarent picking up the scent of sideways thinking. Carry

around this worksheet and jot down everything yourantennas pick up. Follow the QR Code to download.

And yes, I am a proud owner of a Snuggie.

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Jump on Two

We were rattling along the road through denseCosta Rican jungle in a ratty, rented Jeep whenmy good friend and travel partner yelled out. Icouldnt quite understand her over the rattle andrumble of the makeshift plastic windows, but Isaw the hand-lettered sign propped up against the

rock.

Bungee Jumping Next Right.

We veered off the main road and followeda series of cardboard arrows directing us this way

and that, until we came upon a rusty, abandonedbridge spanning a very, very deep ravine. Wepulled up just as another pair of tourists wasgetting out of their car, clearly craving some off-the-beaten-path adventure.

The four of us, all outfitted in matching

lightweight REI travel clothes, signed in at theweathered shack and made our way to the centerof the bridge.

A nice young man with a big pearly-whitesmile and a heap of gear at his feet greeted us onthe bridge.

In his best English he said, Who wants to go first?We stood there, tongue-tied, looking

alternately over the railing, then at each other,then down into the ravine. At the bottom was asparkling trickle of water winding betweenginormous boulders. Bravely, the other pair of

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travelers offered to go first. I didnt argue.One by one I watched them make the

leap from the bridge, petrified, and then comebouncing back up with a look of sheer joy on theirfaces.

Then it was my turn. I dont remember gettingrigged up, or the nice young man putting the straps

around my ankles, or him attaching those straps to arope that eventually was attached to the bridge.

I was numb with fear. I snapped out of it justas I was being hoisted up onto the railing.

I stood there with nothing to hold, my legsshaking violently, and my heart pounding so hard I

could see it through my shirt. I heard the nice youngman say, Im going to count to three. On three you aregoing to jump up and away from the bridge.I can remember that, I thought, Go on 3, go on3 And he started counting1.2..........

...And I jumped.

I couldnt wait. Somehow I knew that if I waitedone more second, I would lose my nerve and jumpback down onto the safety of the bridge.

But when my feet left the railing and I wassoaring through the air, I went from living in fear toliving in freedom. I had never felt anything soliberating, so exhilarating.

As I was being hoisted back up I promisedmyself that I would never forget that one second.

And Ive never regretted the decision to follow thatcardboard sign through the jungle to jump off anabandoned bridge. Being bold enough to stand out in

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the sea of sameness is a lot like bungee jumping. Onesecond can make the difference between taking the

leap to new heights or turning around to face thesame old things youve always done.

As people, entrepreneurs, and business executives, weoften wait just one second too long, and in that onesecond we talk ourselves out of doing the very things

that we most want to do; things that seem risky orchallenging. We narrow, instead of widen, our focus,and therefore miss the great flashes of innovationstaring us in the face.

Great sideways thinkers have learned tosummon the courage to jump on two. Ask yourself,

when was the last time you jumped on two andpursued that great Ah-ha? When did you allow onemore second to get in the way of taking that leap?

You may call it thinking things through. I callit waiting one second too long. Dont let analysisparalysis stop you. Dont let that inner voice that over-

thinks everything get in your way.It only takes one second for a great idea to bebrushed aside. It only takes one second for a brilliantdream to die.

Dont Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

Ive never understood why people try to get others tostep outside their comfort zone. Why would anyone

want to do that? Its scary and all you really want to do isjump back into the warm safety of your comfort zone.

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When you ask people to step outside of their comfortzone, you are reinforcing the fact that theyll never get

comfortable doing it, and while you are out there inscary zone, youd much rather be back in your comfyzone.

Some of you may seem a little surprised withwhat you just read given my love of taking risks and

trying new things. But I dont see anything I do asstepping outside my comfort zone. Instead, I think ofit as expanding my comfort zone. Everything I do thatinitially makes my heart race and my legs go numb isjust another addition to my ever-expanding comfortzone. That simple shift in mindset puts me at ease and

increases my willingness to do things that scare me.Thats because I know that after I do them once, theyllnever scare me again. When I launched my firstentrepreneurial venture, Stayingfit.com (youve neverheard of it because it bombed), I was petrified. Butknowing that Id never be that scared again bolstered

my willingness to take the leap. Now, five businesseslater, including a fitness business that turned intostudios in multiple states, a nationally-published book,Bootcamp360 for Brides by Harper Collins, and severaldiscussions with movie and TV production houses, Idont fear that first step.

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Obsess

Obsession counts more than anything!Emma is the owner of The Shoppe, a cupcake

and cereal caf in Denver. Cupcakes are all the rage, buther place isnt like all the others. I asked her why she

would open a cupcake shop at the peak of the trend. Ithink there are literally cupcakes shops on every corner.

She replied that she hadnt opened a cupcake shop. Sheopened a place where she could engage in herobsession for baking and create a place where everyonecan be a kid. Her shop has funky art on the walls, boardgames for families to share, hip-hop music in thebackground, and anime on the massive wall-mounted

TV. Her cupcakes have names like Death byChocolate and Pineapple Express. HerSnickerdoodle cupcake literally tastes like the cookieits named for. I swear, the Banana Split is better thanthe real thing. Now that your mouth is watering and youare scouring the pantry for chocolate, lets talk aboutEmma. Emma isnt your traditional cupcake shop

owner. She never went to baking school. She didnt getan MBA or take courses in finance. Simply put,Emma has an obsession and a deep love for creatingher dream.

Skills are easy to come by. Obsession is hard. Asthey say, do what you love and love what you do. Her

place is funky, fun, and totally unique. It wasntexperience that drove her to open one of the mostsuccessful shops in Denver. It was her obsession. Ifyou obsess, you can figure out the skills and experience toget it done.

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Finding your obsession can come from a lot ofplaces. It can come from looking at your strengths,

your experiences, and your loves. Take some time tocrystallize your passions, because somewhere in thereis an obsession that will turn into your next big idea.

If you are at the stage where you are stillsearching for your passion, dont worry. Its there; youjust dont see it yet. I created the exercises below just foryou. A woman emailed me about one of my keynotespeeches she had attended. She felt moved and

wanted to explore her passions, so I sent her someworksheets I had created for a training session on this

exact topic.She then got a few friends together and had a

The Shuuk day in the park where they workedtogether to figure out their passions and ideate wherethat could take them.

You can do these sheets solo or grab a picnic

lunch and head out to the park with a few friends. Theexercise is 5 pages of worksheets, so follow the QRCode to download them.

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Follow Frustration

Have you ever felt so frustrated by something you feltcompelled to fix it?

When Elizabeth and Joan from Clouds andStars were new moms, they were frustrated because, asany new mother can tell you, changing a crib sheet is aHerculean task. You have to take out the blankets,

teddy bears, and other paraphernalia. Then you have toremove the crib bumper. Next, you have to contortyour body as you lean into the crib, balance on thedresser, and try to lift the tight-fitting mattress andpull off the sheet. Babies make messes daily, so sheetchanging is part of the routine. That frustration led to

an idea, and the QuickZip sheet was born. QuickZip isexactly what it sounds like. You literally zip off thetop part of the sheet. No more body contortions.

Its easy to get frustrated, but opportunitylurks behind frustration. Keep these worksheets withyou and every time you get that grrrrr feeling, whip

them out and spend a moment following yourfrustration.

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A reminder to follow the QR Code for a

download of this worksheet

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Believe You Can Defy the Odds

If you visit New Yorks Lower West Side, dont miss awalk on the High Line. The High Line is a 13-milestretch of elevated train tracks that have beentransformed into a park. During the early part of the20th century there were so many accidents betweenstreet traffic and freight cars that 10th avenue was

known as Death Avenue. At one point, the city triedputting men on horses to wave red flags in front of thetrain for safety. In 1929 the elevated tracks wereapproved, and eventually opened for freight trains in1934. The High Line was built 30 feet above the groundin order to get the trains off of the streets.

With the rise of interstates in the 1950s, therailways became less relevant. The final freight carthree cars carrying frozen turkeysrode across theHigh Line in 1980.

In 1999, the approximately one-mile stretch

of track in the meatpacking district of New York Citywas on the verge of being demolished. Local residentsJoshua David and Robert Hammond lobbied to havethe structure revived and turned into open space. Theneighborhood rallied in a surprising effort to save andrevive this decrepit hunk of metal.

It took several years, grant proposals, andcommittee sessions to see their dream realized. InDecember of 2002 their dreams became a reality, andcity policy was formed to preserve and reuse the HighLine tracks.

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While the neighborhood had a deep passion forreviving the dilapidated structure, they also recognized

that this was an opportunity to do somethinginnovative. It was as if they were working with a blankslate. Instead of trying to solve the challengethemselves, they created Design the High Line, anidea competition that anyone could enter. Proposalscame in from 720 teams across 36 countries. They

varied from elevated housing to a mile-long swimmingpool, with all kinds of ideas in between.The winning proposal turned the High Line

into a dynamic open-space park that respects its historyand brings to life the synergy between the industrial andthe natural.

Joshua and Robert are true sideways thinkers.The High Line story is full of sideways thinking, butIm going to focus on a very important aspect of thesideways attitude.

Sideways thinkers believe they can defy theodds. And because they believe so strongly, they oftendo.

First, what are the odds that anyone wanted todo anything but tear down the imposing structure?Second, what are the odds that two neighborhoodlocals could push it all the way through from an ideato a City Council vote? Any finally, what are the oddsthat the world would take interest in a tiny slice ofNYC to submit hundreds of innovative ideas? Theodds were against them every step of the way, yettoday when you get off the A subway at 14th Streetand walk west, youll find hundreds of people enjoying

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beautiful open space including grassland areas, asundeck, and even a water feature.

Ive often wondered why innovation thriveswhen everything is working against it. I think itsbecause you have nothing to lose. Its either all ornothing, so you might as well dream big. When you are

working towards incremental baby steps its easy to fall

into old patterns and accept failure. The stakes are lowand the benefits minimal. The High Lines innovatorsteach us that having the odds against you could be thebest thing that can happen. It gives you permission toleap instead of hop, run versus walk. You have all theroom you want to be innovative instead of being

shackled by boundaries. When your dream is so big itseems crazy, others expect nothing but innovation.You have to think a little sideways to even take on thechallenge after all.

Its a blessing. Most people run from a bigchallenge, but sideways thinkers turntheir head towardthe storm and charge into a challenge.

The next time someone offers you anopportunity to take on something that seems out-of-this-world, jump on it!

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There Are No Rules!

There is a big misconception that the rules havechanged and now we all have to scramble to figure outhow to play by the new rules. It puts us into catch-upmode. I think thats totally inaccurate. Its not that therules have changed; its that there are no rules. Whilesome may see the economic environment we live in as

total chaos, I see it as gigantic opportunity slapping meacross the face. It hurt a bit at first, but wow, after thesting subsided I realized Im looking at a world whereany and every path to success is possible. Its true forme, and its true for you too. In my web series imagi-NATION we showcase disruptive innovators that are

creating their own rules and their own paths to success.Look around your neighborhood. How many totallynew concepts have popped up in the past three years?Once you get your antennas up I bet youll see quite afew.

There is B-cycle, which implemented a totally

new concepta bike-sharing system that offers pay-as-you-go and membership options at bike stations acrossDenverbecause of their desire to get more people outof cars and onto bikes. If you have a meeting acrosstown there is no need to fight traffic. Just swipe yourcard, grab a bike, and go.

I wonder, did B-cycle follow the rules or

create their own? I think you know the answer. Therewere no preexisting rules in their business, so theycreated their own and it worked. Thousands ofDenverites and tourists now take rides on B-cycles everymonth.

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When I decided to transform The Shuuk intoan organization dedicated to growing the

entrepreneurial eco-system and working on givingpeople the tools to be innovative, I got a lot ofresistance. The traditional model for this type ofbusiness is to focus on process-driven innovation at acorporate level. I said, No thanks. Im moreinterested in effecting change at the human level. Most

told me I wasnt following the rules of success, but wehave so aptly proven them wrong. I can make up myown rules. And that is exactly what Ive done. I couldhave just blended in with all the others, but I prefer tomake a dent and play in new territory.

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Learn in Motion

Look to the distant horizon and wave your magic wand,sending good vibes out into the universe. Then returnhome and wait. Wait for the big idea, wait for the Ah-ha moment, wait for the stars to align.

As Dr. Seuss so wonderfully stated in his bookOh, the Places Youll Go (Random House Childrens

Books):

Waiting for the fish to biteor waiting for wind to fly a kiteor waiting around for Friday nightor waiting, perhaps, for their

Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or aBetter Breakor a string of pearls, or a pair

of pants or a wig with curls, or

Another Chance. Everyone is

just waiting.

NO!Thats not for you!

Somehow youll escapeall that waiting and

staying. Youll find the

bright places whereBoom Bands are

playing.

It doesnt get better than a Dr. Seuss quote!

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But, on a serious note, Dr. Seuss made an importantpoint that we can all learn. Waiting around for that

great thing is a cycle thats hard to get out of, andusually it doesnt amount to much, especially when itcomes to sideways endeavors.

I like to flip that old phrase Good things cometo those who wait into Good things come to those

who DONT WAIT. Get out there and build, learn,grow, and discover.

Someone close to me is very interested in startinghis own liquor company, and hard apple cider inparticular. He has a fulltime job in finance, a wife, twokids, a dog, and lots of housework.At this stage, he has

two options. One is to wait for all the pieces to fall intoplace. Maybe the job slows down (unlikely), the kidsget older (too far away), and the house maintainsitself (never gonna happen). Option two is to takesmall steps toward his big entrepreneurial dreams.

Lets face it, option one is the waiting game and

option two is the action game. Instead of waiting forthose good things to happen, hes making thingshappen in a good way. He brews his own cider afterthe kids go to bed. Then, if a friend pops by, he givesthem a taste and asks for feedback. He even has a name and label that he mocked up on his own. He is on his

way.You can be on your way too. Stop waiting. You

have to get impatient and take action.Life is Good started by selling T-shirts out of the

back of a van. I saw the founder of White Girl Salsadoing taste-testing tables at Whole Foods Market. A

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colleague came to my home to hold mini-focus groupswith a few mom friends for a new baby product she

has in mind. She showed them simple prototypes and amarketing statement and gathered a wealth of feedbackbefore going to the second round of prototyping. Theyare all on their way.

There are two ends of the spectrum. At one endare people who like to wait until the path is totally

mapped out and all the lights are green before theybegin their journey. No surprise that they spend mostof their time planning and little or none doing.

On the other side of the spectrum are thosesideways thinkers who prefer to learn in motion. They

get in their cars and go. Every mile is a learning mile. Ifthe light turns red, they just turn right. If one street isblocked, they find a different route.

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Get into the habit of learning in motion. Ask

yourself, How can I get this out of my head and outinto the real world? or How can I learn whilemoving forward at the same time? The answer tothose questions should get the wheels turning.

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Dream Crazy

Google has an innovative series where they bring invarious celebrities, authors, and experts to speak at their@Google Talks. You can find many of their interviewsand keynotes on Youtube.com (user: AtGoogleTalks).One in particular caught my attention. It was aninterview with Lady Gaga. It was at the start of the

interview when she said something that made me smile.She said, All my high school friends wanted to getjobs here. I wanted to be what they were searchingfor. A simple yet profoundly insightful statement.

Whether you love or hate her music, Lady Gaga hasbecome a force in the industry. More importantly, her

statement shows that before becoming a mega-star,Lady Gaga had a crazy-big dream. Dont be afraid todream crazy-big. The bigger, the crazier, the better.Crazy-big dreams brought us amusement parks in themiddle of a desert (Disneyland), musical movements(The Beatles), a revolution in school cafeterias (Ann

Cooper, the Renegade Lunch Lady), apparelmanufactured in the United States (American Apparel),and the invention of an entirely new category calledlifestyle design (Tim Ferriss and The 4-Hour Workweek).

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Go in the Opposite Direction

Louis C.K. is a well-known comedian with multipleTV specials and an Emmy-nominated show, Louie. Hiscomedy is raw, insightful, and often centered aroundbeing a dad. Recently, Louis did the unthinkable. Herecorded his stand-up show at the Beacon Theater inManhattan, then posted the recording for sale on his

website for $5 a download. Instead of taking the typicalpath of packing it into DVDs and selling it through apartnership with a TV studio, he went directly to thepeople. Industry types said he was crazy. They told himto do anything but that. They said it wouldnt work, it

would never make money, and that the experiment

would fail. So naturally, he went for it, and sure enoughits been a wild success. Hours after posting, more than50,000 people downloaded the show at five bucks apop. (More than 110,000 people have downloaded it asof December 2011. Do the math.)

By doing the opposite of everyones advice,

Louis C.K. set a new precedent. Now they arenttalking about whether his experiment was crazy, butspeculating about which comedians will follow hisexample.

His story shows us something powerful. Itshows us that to disrupt that status quo, you have to

go against the grain. You have to take in that advice andthen do the opposite.

Do exactly what they tell you not to do.

Have you ever watched the various evening newsprograms and wondered if they were all reading the

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same teleprompter? No matter which channel you turnto, theyre saying the same things about the same

events. Its downright freaky. I think the news is a lotlike the advice you get from people. It seems liketheyre all repeating each other. So I ask you: If you do

what they say, is that charting new territory or addingmore of the same? Dont get me wrongI haveadvisors who I trust implicitly, but I make sure to take

in what they say, put it through my own personal filters,and then make a decision. I look around and decide ifI think everyone is getting the same advice, or if itsright for me. As my advisors can tell you, I often dontdo as they say. Im sure they find it frustrating, butsometimes you just gotta do the opposite.

Im going to share with you an example that Iknow some of you will not like, especially if you are aspeaker like me. A few years ago I joined anassociation, and the first question Id get was, Doyou have a book? At the time I did have Bootcamp360

for Brides, but I was no longer in the fitness business, andI had not yet put pen to paper about thinking sideways,

so I would answer, No, why?No joke, everyone would say, Well, you have

to have a book to be credible or No one will takeyou seriously if you dont have a book. I would nodmy head and move on. Finally, after getting really fedup that everyone was talking from the same script,

another person asked me the same question. This timeI turned to the back of the room where there was apile of books and I asked, If all 150 of us in the roomhave a book, and all of the thousands of us across thecountry have a book, then how does having a book

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help me stand out? I want to thank those people forreminding me that doing what everyone is doing just

because everyone else is doing it is not the right thing todo.

I love books. I think when the time is right andyou have a lot to say that you should absolutely typeaway. But the valuable lesson here is never do something

just because that is what everyone is telling you to do. Itwill fail. Write a book when the time is right and youhave a lot to say. I waited two more years and let myother endeavors stand out. You need to think through

why you are doing something and whether its going toget you the results you want. It was those

conversations (and having my antennas up) that led meto invest my time and money into the creation of ourcreativi-tees, T-shirts that let you wear your sidewaysthinking on your sleeve. Youd better believe that whena meeting planner gets eight books and one T-shirt inthe mail, they remember the T-shirt. I booked many

speaking gigs simply because I did the opposite ofeveryone else.Dont worry about what everyone else is

doing. Just because its the industry standarddoesnt mean it has to be yours. In fact, if someonetells you thats the way its always been done, then itshould be your first clue to run the other way.

Let the QR Code take you to the download.

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Seize Change

My client and colleague Sam Johnston is a great exampleof seizing change. She is the executive director of theColorado Press Association. As you can imagine, thepress world is struggling. The decline in newspaperreadership combined with the popularity of social mediaand mobile lifestyles has made many of their ways of

thinking irrelevant. The newspaper industry is at oddswith how the world has shifted. New models likeHuffingtonpost.com, a news website and content-aggregating blog, Twitter, which allows you tocommunicate and share in 140 characters or less, andthe 24-hour news cycle have greatly shifted peoples

expectations and habits. The news is no longer a one-way medium. We each experience the news differently.Some of you sit down with a cup of coffee and apaper, others read the news on your phones, and somedo a mix of everything. All of this has shaken thefoundation of the press world. As with any industrytipping point, a few brave souls see the future and seize

it, while the majority fight to find a way to keep the oldapproach relevant. Unfortunately, the ones who fightthe hardest are usually the ones who lose the most.

Sam said in a meeting, Tradition is what gotus here, but convention is what is holding us back.Sam recognizes that its the traditions that made them

successful, but in todays everchanging world, holdingon to old conventions is what is holding them back.Being able to recognize the difference betweentradition and convention is difficult. It takes bothperspective andvision. The Sideways Thinker knows

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when its time to let go of how you did things andmake room for new ways of thinking.

The mistake I see many individuals making istrying to hold on for dear life to old ways of thinking.Innovation doesnt come from fighting change, butfrom seizing it and grabbing it by the horns.

Take Anythink library as an example. I know what youare thinking. Libraries are a place where you get

shhhd any time you speak above a whisper. You walkin quietly, check out a few books quietly, and leavequietly. While libraries have stayed relatively the same,the world around them has changed. Google is now ourgoto source for any and all information. You can prettymuch find an answer to anything onlinetrust me Ivetried. Wikipedia, the online collaborative encyclopedia,is a go-to source whether you are satisfying yourcuriosity or researching a term paper. We catch the newson our mobiles and crowd-source answers to questions.I ask you, does a big building that warehouses books andtells you to please be quiet if you laugh out loudsound relevant? My kids and I spend a lot of time in

libraries, and it feels like they are fighting the world andinsisting that their old model is still meaningful.

Not Anythink libraries. They seized andharnessed the change around them. As the namesuggests, its less of a library and more of a communitycenter where you are invited to unleash your imagination

and engage your curiosity. They have employees calledwranglers, and when you walk through their doorsyou can feel the excitement. More importantly, you canhear it. There are people everywhereand theyretalking!

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Even their website feels different. If youclick on the Anythink Tank youll find:

What traditional conventions do you see at yourlibrary and how would you like to disrupt them?From shhh to Dewey Decimal to puppetshows, there are many stereotypes orconventions that seemingly define libraries in

our industry and in the publics eye. What aresome of the conventions you would like todisrupt so libraries remain relevant and vital toyour community? How would you disrupt them?

They actually encourage debate and ideas for

disrupting their own category. Thats bold! Even better,when people comment on this post, Anythink actuallyresponds. Yes, they are listening.

They have gotten rid of the Dewey Decimalsystem and created libraries that look and feel morelike cozy bookstores. There are fireplaces and portablefurniture. As Pam Smith, the Executive Director, toldme, Anythink is so dynamic that it has alife of its own.

They are true innovators in a struggling industry becausethey asked how they could embrace change.

It would have been very easy for Anythink togo down fighting. When they began this journey they

were the least funded library system in Colorado percapita. But they defied the odds and are now a beaconof innovation and success. In fact, they are so

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passionate about spreading the word about innovationin libraries that they set up a conference called R-

Squared, where librarians and administrators fromacross Colorado learn about transformation andinnovation in libraries.

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Lean In

I was leading an innovation summit with a majoradvertising agency and their client, an alcohol beveragecompany. The room was full of a mix of people, someexcited to be there and others whowere skeptical that

we would accomplish anything. One of theparticipants turned to his teammates and said

something that I thought very wise:

Its your job to lean in today. To be open and

receptive. If you are leaning out, closed off, its your fault.

Leaning in tells the world, and more importantly

yourself, that you are open to new ideas, engaged,participating in the world around you. Are you leaningforward on the edge of your seat, eyes wide open? Orare you that person who is sitting in the back, armscrossed, leaning back, telling the world youre notinterested (jump to Eternal Optimism).

Great sideways thinkers are always leaning in.Every conversation, every experience is a chance for youto lean in. So check your posture, check your words.Lean in.

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Create New Rules

Ask any college student who Johnny Cupcakes is andtheyll tell you that he is this really cool guy thats allabout lifestyle and living your dreams.

Johnny Earle, better known as Johnny Cupcakes, isbeloved because of his groundbreaking apparelbusiness. His logo is a skull and crossbones, but the

skull is in the shape of a cupcake. He was voted #1Best Entrepreneur 25 and Under in 2008 byBusinessweek magazine. His business is growingexponentially and he has some of the most loyalfollowers Ive ever seen. Im not kidding when I tell youthat I saw a post on his Facebook Page with a picture

of a shelving unit one of his customers had built tohouse the 300 Johnny Cupcakes shirts she owns.

Technically, Johnny Cupcakes is in the apparelbusiness, but if you look closely, I think he runs hisbusin

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