An Organizer, An Observer, And An Idea Director Walk Into A Virtual Bar...

Just this month our crack developer team added some exciting new functionality to the Ideasicle X platform. If you haven’t heard, customers told us they wanted a division of labor with the implementation of idea jobs, as follows:

Organizer: sets up the idea jobs
Idea Director: monitors the team’s ideas within the Idea Stream
Observers: can view the Idea Streams but can’t engage with the teams in any way

Today, I want to share a deeper dive on these roles, what to expect, and how each can add as much value as possible to the idea-generating process.

Tips & TricksWill BurnsAugust 12, 2022ideas, creativity, advertising

New Feature: Invite Observers And Idea Directors To Ideasicle X Jobs

We are thrilled to announce a new feature to the Ideasicle X platform that will give Organizers of idea projects the power to invite Observers (view only) and Idea Directors (full permissions) to each idea project. Virtually every beta tester and recent customer has brought this up to us as a need (thank you, 180/NY, White Rhino, North, and Lucky Generals, for your suggestions). Here’s what this new feature means for Ideasicle X users.

News & UpdatesWill BurnsJuly 27, 2022feature, ideas, creativity, saas

What Does It Mean That A Placebo Will Improve Your Creativity?

Okay, this study is almost embarrassing to humanity, but is super useful in our collective struggle against fear and doubt. It's from Lior Noy and Liron Rozenkrantz at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and it suggests that the placebo effect not only works for physical ailments, but as a way to increase our creativity. This study reveals the subtle and frail nature of creativity, but also reveals how we can overcome our own insecurities.

CreativityWill BurnsJuly 22, 2022creativity, placebo, study

Let The Beatles Beatle, Right Paul?

By now anyone who’s got even a faint interest in the Beatles has seen Peter Jackson’s incredible documentary, “Get Back.” Being a bit of a Beatles nut, I’ve now seen it five times and I notice something different in it every time. But there’s an important theme in the narrative that is instructive for creative teamwork—in teams of four. When Paul tries to tell his three bandmates what to do, what to play, what to sing, he suffocates the group dynamic that made the Beatles the Beatles.

CreativityWill BurnsJuly 12, 2022beatles, Paul mccartney, get back, Peter Jackson, creativity

The Clumsy Magic Of Creativity

Creativity can’t be forced. In fact, sometimes the harder you try the more ideas seem to allude you. I heard a story that John Lennon badly wanted to write a song for his new son, Sean. He tried and tried but couldn’t come up with anything he liked. John Lennon! So he gave up. And of course no sooner did he give up than the song “Beautiful Boy” came to him. Creativity isn’t linear or predictable. Its magic is clumsy. But if we know that going in we can increase the odds of ideas.

CreativityWill BurnsJune 29, 2022creativity, tarot cards, Steven johnnson

Online Disinhibition: Horrible For Twitter, Wonderful For Virtual Creativity

Twitter is a minefield of flame throwers, harsh criticism, and downright bullying. People say things on Twitter (or other social media) they would never say to someone’s face. What is it about “virtualness” that brings out the worst in us? Especially because my experience is that the virtual nature of Ideasicle X is really good for creativity. But after reading Professor of Psychology at Rider University, John Suler's, The Psychology of Cyberspace, I believe both the vitriol of Twitter and the magic of virtual idea generation are caused by precisely the same thing. A little thing called “online disinhibition.”

CreativityWill BurnsJune 22, 2022online disinhibition, psychology, creativity

How To Review Someone Else's Ideas Without Ruining Everything

I’ve presented thousands of ideas in hundreds of presentations over the last 12 years with Ideasicle. Sometimes I leave the presentation excited and motivated to do more, other times I want to smash all my Beatles records. You could say I have pretty thick skin at this point. So today I’m going to reflect on how I think clients can review other people’s ideas without inadvertently ruining everything.

Creativity, Tips & TricksWill BurnsJune 15, 2022ideas, client, agency, approval

IX Use Case: The Brand-Idea PROCESS Strengthens Leadership Teams

Reviewing brand ideas as a team exposes latent, fundamental disagreements within the leadership team. These disagreements will likely come out eventually, even without a brand idea process. And the longer these issues remain latent, the bigger the conflicts will be when they do finally come out. But here’s the thing. Reviewing several tangible brand ideas as a leadership team has the magical ability of getting it all out on the table now.

Use CasesWill BurnsJune 2, 2022brand, ideas, leadership team

IX Use Case: How Holding Companies Can More Effectively Tap Into The Talent They Hold

The creative power of advertising holding companies looks great on paper. But to what degree does this “paper power” translate to real, tangible benefits to the clients who buy into the promised depth of resources within a holding company? What I know for sure is that a holding company deploying a virtual idea-generating platform like Ideasicle X could bring specialized “super teams” together across multiple held agencies for any given local client need or pitch.

Use CasesWill BurnsMay 26, 2022holding company, advertising, creativity, remote

How Do You Know An Idea Is Great?

It’s one thing to come up with an idea. Doing so requires hard work, perseverance, and an open mind. But it’s quite another to recognize an idea as great. In fact, I’d argue recognizing a great idea is as important a skill as coming up with the idea in the first place. So I asked a few of my well-oiled advertising friends to chime in and tell me how THEY know an idea is great.

CreativityWill BurnsApril 29, 2022ideas, creativity, advertising

IX Use Case: How Consultants Can Dramatically Augment Their Offering

According to IBIS World, there are 417,827 marketing consultants in the United States in 2022, ranging from pure-play client-side consultants to subject-matter experts to freelance creative people to everything inbetween. How does a consultant differentiate from the other 417,826 consultants out there? By augmenting their offering with big ideas using Ideasicle X, that’s how.

Use CasesWill BurnsApril 22, 2022entrepreneur, consulting, consultant, ideas

IX Use Case: 3 Business Moments When Outsourcing Creative Ideas Is Just Good Business

Whether you’re a traditional ad agency, in-house agency, or a marketer running a marketing department, you’re always looking to use your own people for as much as possible. You want to avoid the expense of hiring freelance help, there’s no learning curve with your existing staff, and it just plain feels more “pure” to use your own people. But there are times when outsourcing ideas makes good business sense. Here are three.

Use CasesWill BurnsApril 11, 2022freelance, outsourcing

It's The 5 Free Ideasicle X Subscription Challenge: Bad Ideas Lead To Great Ones

We are giving away 5 one-year subscriptions to our idea generating platform. Ideasicle X is all about ideas, right? Lots of ideas and really great ideas. So we thought we’d highlight that fact with what we’re calling the “Bad Ideas Lead To Great Ones Challenge.” Check it out and try to win.

PromotionWill BurnsApril 1, 2022bad idees, ideas, free

IX Use Case: If An Idea Could Start World War 3, An Idea Could Prevent It.

I remember reading the appeal from a Ukraine advertising agency to creative people the world over for the first time. Reading the words from this Ukrainian advertising creative person asking for ideas to help stop World War 3 really hit home for me, as I bet it did with many in our business. It was billed as “The most important brief ever” and man were they right. Here I am running and idea-generating platform! I had to contribute to this calling. And now I want to share the entire process with you, including the ideas.

Use CasesWill BurnsMarch 10, 2022ukraine, ideas, advertising

Does Your Agency Suffer From Premature Execution?

Been pitching Ideasicle X to agencies constantly lately. I can’t tell you how many agencies have the following reaction to the platform: “It’s so refreshing that you’re forcing the team to focus on the big idea and not on the execution.” Apparently agency teams get too executional with their ideas too quickly instead of getting the idea right first. Having been in the virtual-idea business for ten years, I thought it was obvious that you needed a big idea first AND THEN execute it. But I guess not. And I have some thoughts as to why this may be happening.

CreativityWill BurnsMarch 3, 2022Chiat day, tissue session, execution, ideas

Tarot Cards And Creativity Are Both About Forcing Coincidences

…After studying another powerful force, creativity, and how/when inspiration strikes, I think differently about Tarot cards. Not that I don’t think they work, they definitely do. But I’ve rethought why they work. It’s less that the cards retain some mystical, magical force and more that we are paying attention and actively looking for connections.

CreativityWill BurnsFebruary 25, 2022creativity, Tarot, magic, ideas

A Technology Platform Whose Algorithm Is Human

We call ourselves a “SaaS,” or a software as a service, because it’s technically true. But what’s lost in that categorization is the role human beings play in our company’s purpose. It’s not an “idea machine,” which would suggest an artificial intelligence pumping out ideas. No, Ideasicle X is a machine whose purpose is to increase the odds of human intelligence happening. And that intelligence is anything but artificial. What follows are the ways our software platform is designed to be in continuous service to the real (and very human) heroes.

News & UpdatesWill BurnsFebruary 22, 2022technology, ceativity, ideas, advertising, freelance, remote work

North Advertising ‘Exhilarated’ With Ideasicle X

Rebecca Armstrong (CEO) and Mark Ray (CCO) run North, a creative advertising agency located in Portland, Oregon. They recently conducted a trial of Ideasicle X and I asked them about their experience via an email interview. And I’m glad I did. Here’s what they said.

News & UpdatesWill BurnsFebruary 3, 2022north, advertising, virtual, creativity

3 Common Mistakes Agencies Make When Using Ideasicle X For Virtual Idea Generation

Ideasicle X is a new platform and, as such, is still open to interpretation. It’s exciting, really. We hope to see customers using it in ways we never expected. But also because it’s new, our agency customers are still getting used to the platform. And we see three common mistakes made that are easily avoided in order to maximize every idea-generating job.

Tips & TricksWill BurnsJanuary 31, 2022virtual, creativity, remote work

Introducing The Ideasicle X TikTok Channel: Creativity Tips

We started a TikTok Channel with short videos on each finding. We call them “Creativity Tips” and so far we have one about how walking increases creativity, another on how the placebo effect works for creativity, and yet another one on the positive effects of moderate amounts of alcohol. But we’re only just beginning. We invite you to subscribe to our channel below and start using science to improve your own creativity.

CreativityWill BurnsJanuary 19, 2022TikTok, creativity, science, studies, research

Welcome to our virtual idea generation blog.

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