Yet another great visual example of Starbuck’s willingness and ability to get folks involved in some social goodness. This time, they’ve recruited MC Yogi to help get people answer the call: “What if we all gave just 5 hours to help our community?”. If we all did a little, each little contribution can add up to something big. And if you’ll pledge just 5 hours to volunteering, they’ll even give you a free cuppa joe. So get out and volunteer today and check out another great example of visual zen from Starbucks:

So, you’re going to create a new website, product, blog, whatever. And, you’ve heard all about the power of finding your niche. But here’s your dilemma: You think there are no niches left for you. Well, maybe you’re just not thinking hard enough. There is a niche for everything. Even for you’re world. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the endless list of different types of online dating sites. Sure, that’s a market that is nothing but niches, but it proves a point. There’s a niche for everyone whether it’s online dating or anything else. Want some inspiration for your niche? Check out these dating sites and then reconsider your own dilemma of not being able to find a niche. And if you don’t find a niche, maybe you’ll find a date!  Read the rest of this post

What makes an innovation successful? What makes it have great impact? What makes it so successful that we don’t even notice it’s ubiquity? One word: SIMPLICITY. No one seemed to understand this better in the last half-century than Charles Harrison. Charles Harrison is not exactly a household name. But you know him. Well, you know his products. But, the products he designed have become so ubiquitous that you probably don’t even think about them. Plastic garbage bins, the Fisher-Price View-Master, Craftsman power tools, lawn mowers, hair dryers, toasters…the list in practically endless. Harrison was an industrial product designer for the Sear Roebuck Company from 1961 to 1993. During that time he designed over 750 products that Americans and people worldwide came to know and use on a regular basis.  Read the rest of this post

Do you know who Edward Everett was? Unless you are a serious Civil War buff, probably not. He was a Senator, Representative, Governor, Secretary of State and popular orator from Massachusetts in the mid-1800′s. And, he was the featured speaker at the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1863. Of course, you know who the other speaker was right? Sure you do. It was none other than Abraham Lincoln. So, if there were two speakers at the dedication ceremony, how come we only remember one of them? I’ll give you a hint: It wasn’t because Lincoln was the president. It was because he gave one of the most eloquent speeches in history. And he did it in just over two minutes. That was unheard of back in the 1800′s when flowery language and long-winded speeches were the standard. In contrast to Lincoln, Everett spoke for over two hours and most of us have never heard of him. Perhaps Harry Rubenstein of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History said it best, “Everybody says the same thing about the ceremony: Lincoln gave a great speech and Everett talked for two hours”.  Read the rest of this post