Fresh Ideas at Work » Prototype Early and Often

Stockbox Grocers: Fresh Groceries and Fresh Ideas

freshideasatwork — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:31:03 +0000

“Across the U.S. a growing number of people live in food deserts, which means they don’t have access to healthy and affordable food within walking or biking distance of their home. Stockbox Grocers responds to this need with a miniature grocery that’s tucked inside a reclaimed shipping container and placed into the parking lot of an existing business. We innovate on the espresso stand model to build stores throughout urban communities, and provide fresh produce and grocery staples to those who currently without access to good food, where they live.”

On their concise web pages you have an opportunity to find or put several Fresh Ideas strategies into play, for example:

Make a Note of Unusual Combinations: reclaimed shipping container + parking lot of an existing business + fresh produce and groceries = miniature grocery for food desserts
Turn Up the Volume: take the espresso stand model and expand it to offer grocery items to get you through the week
Prototype Early and Often: go here http://stockboxgrocers.com/ to learn how their prototyping is progressing.

Which Fresh Ideas strategies could you braid together to craft a new solution?

Going from Suck to Unsuck

freshideasatwork — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:40:13 +0000

Pixar cofounder and President Ed Catmull reframes the Fresh Ideas strategy “Prototype Early and Often” when he describes mega-successful Pixar‘s creative process as “going from suck to nonsuck.”

Highlights from the Fast Company article on how Pixar employs this approach include:

“My strategy has always been: be wrong as fast as we can,” says Andrew Stanton, Director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E.”

“So, for instance, Pixar does not begin new movies with a script. Far from it. Film ideas begin on rough storyboards until they work through thousands of problems throughout the process in order to take films from suck to nonsuck.”

“Every time we show a film for the first time, it sucks,” Catmull will say. People then email their comments to the director to explain what they liked, what they didn’t, and why, and substantial changes are made.”

Stuck on a challenge with solutions that “suck”?

Who could give you feedback that would move it closer to “unsuck”?

“… finding ways to fail quickly, to invest less emotion and less time in any particular idea or prototype or piece of work, is a consistent feature of the work methods of successful creators. Despite the myths, it’s hard work.”

But as the world’s most successful animation studio will tell you, it’s work that pays off.

Light Sources

freshideasatwork — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:36:47 +0000

The next time you feel your creative mojo waning,

consider Leonard Cohen‘s illuminating take on

the Fresh Ideas strategy ‘Accentuate the Positive‘:

“Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That’s how the light gets in.”

Thirty Years of Mac in Two Minutes

freshideasatwork — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:57:56 +0000

‘Saw this over at the swissmiss blog:

Where’s the opportunity for your own version of the Fresh Ideas strategy, “Prototype Early and Often?”