The jurors in the Rod Blagojevich trial complained about the 100+ pages of instructions that the judge handed them when they began their 14 days of deliberations. Of the 24 counts, many came in multiple parts and were “highly technical and interconnected.” According to the NYTimes, the verdict sheet looked like an elaborate IRS form. The jurors, while no dummies, were overwhelmed. “It was like, ‘Here’s a manual, go fly the space shuttle,’” said juror Steve Wlodek. The result, as we all know by now, was one verdict out of 24 counts. The prosecution provided so much information, the jury simply could not connect the dots.

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Brainlock, creative block, brick wall. No matter what you call it, everybody hits it at one time or another. But before you keep staring at the wall or start banging your head against your desktop, here are a few tips that might get those creative juices going once again:

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You’ve probably heard that creativity comes from the right side of your brain, and analytical thinking from the left. Well, scientists tell us it is way more complicated than that.

When you try to solve a problem, you start with the obvious and familiar. That is mostly a left-brain activity, trying to see if there is an immediate answer. If no answer comes quickly, both sides of the brain start working. The right side starts sorting through any relevant memories and serves them up to the left side, which looks for patterns and alternatives. Once a connection is made by the left side, the right side has to shift gears from random gathering in order to focus on that fleeting thought. These shreds of thought are pulled into a new single idea – that “aha!” moment.

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Chris Blough (CEO of Wayne County CU) had a brilliant quote on Liquid Lunch,

“Small Credit Unions need to be like jet skis. We’re not the Titanic. A jet ski would see the iceberg.”

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One of my favorite people I’ve come to know and love in Credit Union Land is Denise Gabel of the Filene Research Institute. She’s one of those people who brings out the best in others and I credit her with pushing me to try things I never would have without her encouragement. I’ve noticed that  Denise has an uncanny way of taking the fear out of most any new situation with just four magic words:

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Apple doesn’t seem to do anything that experts say you have to do in order to succeed in today’s market. In fact, Apple seems to be doing everything wrong.

For a “cool” technology company, Apple markets mostly retro: lots of TV spots, glossy magazine ads and outdoor. Even their online advertising is mostly display ads. While their products are often associated with social media, Apple doesn’t use new media well. They don’t  blog or tweet, and their Facebook page is a lot more factual than fun. They have lots of fans, but they aren’t exactly known for asking for feedback, or ideas, or opinions, or for sharing information about new products they’re developing. They don’t give anything away, rarely discount, and usually get a premium price for almost everything.

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The power went out today at our office. The collective moans and groans of the staff let me know that everyone had been working diligently, trying to meet hot deadlines and now frustrated with being unable to finish what they were doing. (As the business owner, I was relieved to hear the battery back-ups start beeping so everyone knew to save what hadn’t been completed.) But it was dark. The only light was coming in through the windows on the front and back ends of our office and the glowing warning lights of the back-ups.

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Coming up with creative ideas is the easy part. Well, okay, at least kind of easy when it’s your job to come up with ideas and you do it on a daily basis. You train your mind to make connections that aren’t obvious, think of words that combine into something visual, and visuals that connect and communicate quickly. When you brainstorm as a group, the ideas bounce from one person to the next, and they build off each other rapidly. Some are wonderful, others not so much. But the gems start to build.

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Winter isn’t quite over, we’re all very impatient for Spring to arrive…. we need a spark, a bit of light, to get us through the next few weeks. Here, in reverse order, is a look at what Entrepeneur.com calls 10 of the Most Brilliant Marketing Ideas:

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Remember those Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercials a while back, where kids exclaimed “It’s more cheesier”? I cringed every time I heard this phrase, and so did thousands of other writers and English majors.

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I’ve always been curious why some people solve problems more creatively than others. Is creativity written into our genetic code like eye color or height or is it developed only when nurtured? After all, children are naturally very creative. Their imaginations propel ideas and that curiosity is what allows them to see the world with infinite possibilities.

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During Friday’s impromptu Liquid Lunch, Matt Davis and I discussed the perils of blogging. Until then, I hadn’t really thought about why I blog other than I am addicted to it.

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It’s Columbus Day, a day where we pay homage to the pioneer spirit and those rare brave souls who are unafraid to challenge the status quo, set sail into the abyss with little more than a grand vision of something better. Can you imagine the conversation? “I’m going to get in this boat, and sail off into the horizon and just pray there is land somewhere over there beyond what I can see.  You in?” And I’m guessing the reaction went something like, “Dude, you’re crazy!”

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In a day when marketing budgets are lacerated and traditional media is inept, the question we all face is, “How do you break through?” It’s time to get innovative in the way we connect in our marketing. So, here are 5 of my favorite, inspirational stories where a marketer found new and creative means to dispatch an idea:

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In case you ever wondered, there are 71 outdoor boards for the world famous tourist trap, South of the Border, along the southbound side of Interstate 95 between Virginia and the South Carolina border. How do I know this? When I was a kid, it was a tradition for my brother and I to count the brightly colored, uniquely branded billboards on our Chevy Chase-style road trip vacations to Disney World. It marked the halfway point from our house to the mouse.

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