Make your ideas brilliant and unique. Oliver Samwer is watching.

One of the best things about the digital world is that it fosters ideas.  

If ideas were democratic before the internet, now it’s as if they grow on trees, just waiting to be plucked by the next ballsy entrepreneur who leaves college to become a multigazilionaire.  

It’s today’s version of  Bill Blazejowski, who constantly dictated his ideas into a tape recorder (“What if you mix the mayonnaise in the can, WITH the tunafish? Or... hold it! I got it! Take LIVE tuna fish, and FEED 'em mayonnaise!”).

Today, the tape recorder is the internet, the mayonnaise is an accomodating VC, and up pops another amazing, creative, functional, lucrative idea.

My old boss, who said that there are only seven original ideas in the world, has been proven wrong again and again.

Although Oliver Samwer might agree with him, he of the deceptively peaceful blue eyes above.

Mr. Samwer steals ideas for a living, clones and repackages them, and makes billions doing it.  He plays by the rules and does things legally.   He has no reservations and makes no apologies.

And he often makes an idea better, through design, packaging, promotion; the wrapping that we all see. 

So the lesson for all of us crazy hopeful dreamers with the next Big Thing rolling around in our heads:  

If your idea is brilliant enough, Oliver Samwer will want it too.  Make your idea smart and strategic, and make it bulletproof.  Think it through, take your time, and make it thorough. Cover as many bases as you can.

And most of all, make it as unique as possible.  The more unique you make it, the more people will want YOUR version of it.

And raise as much mayonnaise as you can.

The magical power of singing to help forge communities

How do you explain the magical power of singing to help forge a community?

Why do army recruits sing while they run?  How do church choirs whip a congregation into an otherworldly frenzy?  And what was I doing in the middle of dozens of musty-smelling men who formed one of the most joyful communities I’ve ever seen?

I went to an orthodox Bar Mitzvah over the weekend.  The kind with the big wall dividing between the men and women during the service, so as not to distract the men from prayer.

And it does a pretty good job,  Because on the men’s side, there was a lot of love.  A fraternity of bearded men hugging and kissing but mostly singing.

They sang louder and louder as the service progressed, clapping, dancing in place, repeating the same wordless verses over and over. 

As this community came together as I watched, I thought, “Take that, internet!”  You can’t compete with the spiritual connection going on in front of my eyes.

I can see the same thing happening at church services and on 20-mile Marine training runs (at least that’s how it always looks in the movies).

Music and singing is an undeniably powerful force.  Not only does Chipotle, one of the great community-focused brands, have a legendary playlist in their stores that regularly gets discussed online in places like Quora; they hosted an entire music-based festival last year.

So when you think about building your communities, think about how music and song could play a part.  If you’re interested, I know a few new wordless songs I can teach you.

How community can affect (attempted) internet hoaxes

In the light of a story about successful and failed internet hoaxes, my beloved Chicago Cubs provide some interesting context for how the composition and machinations of communities differ from one to the next.

If you grew up as a die-hard Cubs fan in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, you became a part of a community of loyal and vocal supporters of a bunch of “lovable losers.”  The teams tried hard, and Wrigley Field was gorgeous and the best way to spend a summer afternoon (no night games yet), so what if they couldn’t win anything more than a carnival ring toss?

Remember, this is a team that actually advertises when they lose.  They let the world know with a giant “L” for Loss on a flag over the centerfield scoreboard.

But then 1984 came; their first playoff appearance in almost 40 years.  And with a little bit of success, expectations slowly started to change.   Another playoff appearance five years later, and the sentiments of the fan base shifted a bit again.  More grumblings.

Over time, the nature of the community of Cubs fans changed and it became a group of more demanding people.  It self selected fewer fans willing to accept defeat and attracted more fans who booed players making half-efforts and stayed away from the beautiful confines of Wrigley when the team stank.

In our social media-driven world, because it's so much easier to find like-minded people, communities form themselves, and they’re fascinating in the ways they function differently.  The aforementioned article in the Atlantic is a great example of how three different online communities affected three different attempts at conjuring up internet hoaxes, based  partially on the strength of the community, but mostly on the way the community exchanges information.

If you’re thinking about promoting yourself or your brand online, it’s a great read and a fascinating story. I’m going to go read it again.

Right after I set the DVR to record tonight’s Cubs game.

A feel good story

More than half of this country now believes gay marriage should be legal, and President Obama has put his POTUS stamp on it.

This is not nor will it ever be an op-ed blog, but it’s worth using this subject as a way of talking about how communities form.

Usually there’s a very clear reason why a community is forged. In fact, we at Twist believe there’s four reasons:

A group of  people believe in the brand.

The people in that group have a language of their own that others don’t have.

The brand gives them something.  Could be material, or not.  But there’s an acknowledgement that people in the community are getting something out of it.

There’s a passion inside every member of the community.

We believe those are the pillars of building a community.  But the issue of gay marriage brings up one more reason that’s very clear but totally unproveable:

It makes you feel better.

Watch this three minute video.  One my my all-time favorites, it’s about leadership and the importance of the first follower in forming a movement. 

But if you have three more minutes, watch it with the sound off.  It makes a great point about what it actually feels like to join a community.

President Obama cited “winds of change” for his decision and even talked about the effect his daughters had on his decision.

But sometimes you just know.

The simple genius of the hiccup-curing lollipop

A 13 year old has discovered a way to cure the hiccups with a lollipop.

True story.  And it gets better.

Mallory Kievman, who spent two years tinkering with various folk remedies, licked the challenge when she came up with the soon-to-be-famous hiccup-bashing lollipop. She's about to lead a team of MBA students who will help her build a company that will bring the product to  market.

It’s called the Hiccupop.    

When I first tweeted the story, I got back a lot of “Why didn’t I think of that?!?!” responses.  The answer, of course, is that you could have thought of it as easily as Mallory Kievman, if you had read quite possibly the greatest (and shortest) book in the history of the world about how to create ideas, A Technique for Producing Ideas.

Whether she knew it or not, Mallory was following the steps of James Webb Young, who wrote that “all ideas are nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.” 

An over simplification?  Sure.  But sometimes, it helps to oversimplify when you’re searching for an idea.  I love Jason Fried’s philosophy on solving complicated challenges:

Cut it in half.

And if it’s still too thick, cut it in half again.

So go ahead, read Technique.  It’s right here and it’ll take you under an hour.

Then set aside an hour and do some thinking.

Don’t be the person saying “Why didn’t I think of that!?!?”  Be the person in the New York Times article about to lead a team of MBA students creating a plan to bring your genius product or service to market.

You may not be 13 any more, but it’s never too late.

When is a good time for bad things to happen?

Never.

Always.

Depends.

A caller on a sports radio talk show this morning suggested that Derrick Rose’s injury came at a good time for the Bulls in this postseason.  Any earlier, and the team would’ve had to face the playoffs without him.  Had it come later, the Bulls would’ve been on fire with him at the helm of the boat, finally having played as a unit for more than three games in a row, ready to lead them against the Heat or a Western Conference team in the finals.   This way, they have a win under their belt and positive momentum.

Of course, there was a lot of ridicule, and a lot of  debate, because it was sportstalk radio, home of ridiculous arguments that have no real end. 

One thing is certain:  the Bulls are worse off without him.

Or are they? 

Another caller suggested that Rose’s teammates would have to raise their game to the next level. 

Maybe several levels, but still…

The good thing about bad things is that they force you to be superhuman.  Or at least, stretch way beyond the norm.

So maybe, sometimes, bad things aren’t so bad. 

As Bulls guard Kyle Korver, put it, "My grandpa has a saying: 'God does his best work in life's graveyards.”

If you have a hard time swallwing that, go back and watch Remember the Titans.  Or Brian’s Song,  Or remember these words from Kyle Korver the day after the Bulls hoist the NBA title:

"Most of us go through life trying to live the easiest, most comfortable life possible. If you look at that, you say, 'It's not a story you want to read.' We have a good story here. It will be harder, and we have to pull together tighter and play a little better, but we can."