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Fountain of inspiration

Creativity experts say showers offer two tools for tapping the subconscious: white noise and water.

When Todd Cherches seeks creative inspiration, wants to mull over an idea, or just needs a break, he does what any self-respecting management consultant would do: He takes a shower.

Mr. Cherches, who runs a 2-year-old management consulting firm called BigBlueGumball with his brother Steve, specializes in such areas as leadership development and management training. One of his primary areas of focus is helping clients learn how to be more innovative. Often, Mr. Cherches has learned, people get their best ideas when they're relaxed and engaged in another activity, like taking a walk around the block or exercising on a treadmill. “At those times,” he said, “very often ideas will just pop into your head.”

To read full article, please click: here

Of all the different management, leadership, communication, innovation, and thinking tools, tips and techniques that exist, one of the most powerful concepts is  Edward de Bono’s "Six Thinking Hats" model.

Check out The Hired Guns blog to read Todd's thoughts on De Bono's model and how it can be applied in every day life.

http://www.thehiredguns.com/blogs/2011/11/21/de-bono%E2%80%99s-six-thinking-hats/

You may never think about thinking the same way again.  (What?!!!)  Read to find out....

If you're like me, you get most of your best ideas in the shower. But now, instead of having to run out of the bathroom dripping wet to find some paper, you can relax...and just write your thoughts down right then and there on an AquaNotes pad!

For more details you can go to their website (http://www.myaquanotes.com/), or order them on Amazon. But basically it's a pad of waterproof note paper and a special pencil that you can suction-cup right on to the wall of the shower where it's always there waiting to capture your next great idea...as I did with this very blog post. 

While the pads are a little more costly than regular note pad paper, how much would it cost to let that innovative thought you just had slip away. As their slogan says, "No more great ideas down the drain."

The pads are a little bit bigger than a large post-it, but when they come out with FLIPCHART-sized pads I may never come out of the shower!