My friend Les Gold, star of the hit TV series Hardcore Pawn, gave a dynamic speech this week that left the audience mesmerized.   His opening line really struck me: “How bad do you want it?”

As products of a consumer-driven society, we want just about everything.  We want fancy cars, palatial homes, and exotic travel.  We also want perfectly toned bodies, extraordinary athletic abilities, a big circle of friends, dozens of hobbies, and a close-knit family.  Our wants are limitless.

The challenge becomes prioritization and sacrifice.  As the sage childhood advice proclaims, “You can have anything you want but you can’t have everything you want.”  Knowing that human desire surpasses the 24-hour-a-day limit, choosing what’s most important is critical.  Without that focus, your energies become defuse and you end up accomplishing very little.

“How bad do you want it?”  Les gets in the audience’s face with his trademark intensity.  He’s referring to your commitment to reaching your goals and questioning the sacrifices you’re willing to make in order to win.  The most successful people do what other won’t, not what others can’t.  If you want something but refuse to do whatever it takes to get there, it’s merely fanciful dreaming.  Those that truly commit to their goals and will walk through fire to achieve them are the ones that win in good times and bad.

Les works out seven-days-a-week at 5am.  I’m sure there are days he’d rather stay in his warm bed, but he’s willing to sacrifice short-term pleasure for long-term fulfillment.  Dealing with tough customers at his pawnshop empire can be difficult and often dangerous.  But he shows up every day.  Fearless.  Driven.  Committed.

It’s so easy to cast blame when we fall short.  Between the economy, governmental regulation, fierce competition, and “not enough time in the day”, there’s no shortage of excuses.  But when you’re busy moaning, someone else is busy winning.  They’re willing to own personal responsibility for their results.  Willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how distasteful, to achieve.  Are you?

When you combine intense focus with unbendable grit and determination, nearly anything is possible.  As you set out to make your biggest mark, you will undoubtedly need to make some tough sacrifices along the way.  If it were easy, everyone would be a champion.

Are you ready to fight through rain, sleet, and snow?  Are you ready to exert discipline and focus?  Are you ready to be relentless?

How bad do you want it?

When Darth Vader tried to persuade young Skywalker to join the dark side, it wasn’t a very compelling proposition. Who wants to wear black, talk weird, and live like a monster? If the dark side were that unappealing, it would be easy to say no.

But that’s not what modern-day darkness looks like at all. Instead it is shiny, juicy, and tempting. It comes perfectly packaged and marketed directly to our soft spots. That delicious candy bar or cheeseburger that poisons your body and robs your vitality. The expensive handbag that you have to have, but only drives you deeper into debt after momentary pleasure. That relationship that’s all surface and no substance.

In fact, the dark side looks anything but dark. It is appealing in every way and is designed to test you. Anyone can say no to living in a cave. It’s much harder to say no to the illustrious temptations that adeptly lure you in to their evil grips.

It often comes down to small choices. Should you watch trash reality TV or read something inspiring? Should you hit the bar or hit the gym? Should you perpetuate a relationship that provides nothing more than momentary indulgences or seek a partner that helps you reach the next level?

At nearly every turn you’ll face scrumptious temptations. The good news is that you get to make each choice along the way. Momentary pleasure or sustainable fulfillment. The easy thing or the right thing. Darkness or light.

If you think about it, your life becomes simply the product of all the choices you make. How important is it to achieve your full potential? To fulfill your long-term dreams? To make your biggest possible impact?

If you prioritize true fulfillment, you’ll have to make some tough choices along your journey. You’ll need to have the strength to say no to overwhelming temptation in order to say yes to your real calling. Here in 2012, we don’t conquer evil with light sabers. Today your weapon is purpose, passion, and commitment. You’ll win the fight with inner focus rather than outer strength.

The dark side is only getting more alluring. Which means your commitment to excellence is needed more than ever. Don’t be outsmarted by the hollow temptress. Stand firm in your place of power and watch these enticing shams crumble into dust.

As the dark side becomes yummier, it’s time for you to strengthen your resolve.

Master Yoda will be proud.

I recently spent some time laughing hysterically while playing board games with my kids. There’s nothing better than watching a kid unleash an enormous laugh, is there? It got me thinking about the many things we can learn from child’s play that apply directly to our lives today as hard-driving, world-conquering, eat-nails-for-breakfast adults:

1. You Need a Challenge. With nearly every game ending in a tie, the primitive and simple game of tic-tac-toe gets old in about three minutes. That’s because human growth and fulfillment come in the midst of challenge. “A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner”, the English proverb states. We are meant to take on complex challenges, gaining confidence through achievement. If you are feeling stretched, this is a good sign and indicates you are becoming stronger and more powerful. Conversely, if you find yourself punching the clock and mastering your surroundings, it’s time to push yourself to a more challenging game.

2. Listen to Your Instincts. Remember the game “You’re Getting Warmer” where one kid is blindfolded and has to find another. With each step, the other kids chant “you’re getting warmer” or “you’re getting colder.” Try playing this game by yourself. It turns out we have an incredible ability to tap into our own intuition if we simply listen. When you make various choices in life, your instincts tell you if you’re getting warmer or colder. Deep inside, you know if your moves are driving you closer to your life’s vision or if your choices are destructive and luring you away from reaching your potential. Kids listen to their intuition, but we adults often fail to hear.

3. Playing the Game is the Fun Part. Imagine you’re “it” in a game of hide-and-seek, but when you open your eyes everyone is in plain sight. Sure, you “won” the game but it certainly wasn’t enjoyable. As adults, we are often so focused on future outcomes that we fail to savor the moment. In the midst of the game with the rush of uncertainty, we find joy and delight. When the game is over, kids insightfully say, “let’s play again!” It’s time to start enjoying the journey instead of postponing our happiness.

4. It’s Best When It’s Your Turn. Every kid wants to go first because they get to be the active driver of their experience. Knowing this, why do so many of us relinquish our power and allow life to happen “to” us? Studies show that happiness at work is often linked to jobs where individuals have more autonomy. Of course, this same principle goes far beyond our careers. We’re wired to be the architects of our own existence, not the subjects of others. In an era with nearly limitless possibility, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be calling your own shots.

In today’s turbulent times, many of us are in a state of imbalance, stress, or even panic. Yet sometimes the most potent insights are right in front of us. As my 14-year-old son likes to tell me, “get your head in the game, Dad.”

Go ahead. It’s your turn to spin the wheel.

Instead of rising to meet the challenges of the day, our outdated and bureaucratic school systems are busy “teaching to the test.”  Instead of “No Child Left Behind”, they are all being left behind and are ill-prepared to succeed in the new era of business…and life.

Today, we live in a world of dizzying speed, exponential complexity, and ruthless competition.  We can no longer rely on the models of the past in order to win.  Today, we need an entirely new approach.  Unfortunately, the rigid and formulaic educational system is robbing the next generation of their competitive edge.

So what can we do about it?  Most of the problem lives in the system, not in the passionate teachers who desperately want to develop hungry minds.  In fact, we should honor and celebrate teachers, as there isn’t a more noble profession.  Even within the stifling factory system, teachers can break free and liberate the minds of their pupils.  These concepts are top priority, and can be embraced immediately:

1.       Teach creative problem solving over rote memorization. How to reach an answer is far more important than making the right choice on a standardized test and then forgetting the concept the next day.

2.       Teach kids to challenge assumptions instead of accepting things “as is.” Success is no longer about following an operating manual.  It is about imagining the possibilities and real-time innovation.

3.       Teach that mistakes are not evil, and should not be feared. Make sure kids learn that mistakes aren’t fatal – they’re simply the portals of discovery.

4.       Drive diversity of thought over conformity. World progress occurs by challenging conventional wisdom and approaching problems with fresh perspective.  Following the herd is a surefire path to mediocrity.

5.       Forster imagination and curiosity. No longer optional, creativity has become the currency of success for us all.  This applies to CEO’s and soccer-moms.  Musicians and military leaders.  Engineers and educators.

Developing the Creative Class mindset will allow kids to win in the future instead of falling victim to a broken system.  If we don’t make the philosophical shift to teach critical thinking instead of rule-following memorization, our very status as an economic superpower will soon be in jeopardy.

While we’re at it, why stop with kids?  Funny enough, these are the same principles needed for any organization to thrive.  Let’s learn from the deficit facing our children.  It’s time to empower our teams, colleagues and ourselves with the same mission-critical ingredients for success.

In the words of Charles Barkley, “Anything less would be uncivilized.”

What if we encouraged those around us to take risks and try new ideas?

What if you set out to leave your mark on the world instead of following conventional wisdom?

What if we celebrated new ideas as much as near-term financial performance?

What if we taught our kids to follow their hearts instead of following the herd?

What if you gave yourself permission to have more fun and let your creativity shine?

What if you didn’t let fear and imaginary barriers hold you back from reaching your true potential?

What if you committed to becoming a lifelong learner?

What if you injected your co-workers with positive energy three times a day?

What if we removed regret and realized that setbacks are simply the pathway to progress?

What if you decided to make a difference?

What if we prioritized thinking over tasks?

What if you tapped your full creative potential?

What if you let go of the rules and followed your dreams with unapologetic vigor?

What if you refused to accept mediocrity?

What if our kids learned that creative problem solving is more important than rote memorization?

What if you tried something new every week?

What if we didn’t take ourselves so seriously?

What if you seized this moment and committed to change?

What if you had the courage to stand behind your best ideas?

What if you laughed twice as much?

What if you realized that you had the power to change the world?

What if?

I was recently helping my 13-year-old son Noah with his math homework. Long division. By hand. Ewwww. Looking at his pained expression, I realized how pointless and outdated this exercise was and how our schools are teaching kids the wrong things.

I’ve been a business leader for the last 20 years, and I have never used long division in my career. Not once. Thanks to technology, there are readily available tools that compute faster and more accurately than any human. I also don’t live in a mud hut, ride a horse to work, nor communicate via telegram. So why does education focus on outdated concepts and techniques when there are so many more important things to learn?

The world has changed dramatically over the last few years, and a new set of critical skills has emerged as the currency for success: creativity, original thought, and imagination. These are the only functions that can’t be outsourced. In today’s ultra-competitive, incredibly complex environment, creative problem-solving trumps rote memorization. Fresh ideas beat rigid processes.

So why do we teach the exact opposite? We’re taught to follow-the-rules, guess-what-the-teacher-knows, be obedient, avoid risks, do what we’re told, and most importantly… don’t make mistakes! Yet this type of linear and fear-based thinking is the biggest inhibitor for creativity. The biggest inhibitor for success… in both business and life.

Nurturing creativity is job #1 for leaders of any organization, from big businesses to non-profits to families. We can’t prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow by teaching the skills of yesterday. Instead of cutting “soft” programs like art, music, and drama (courses that develop right-brain, abstract thinking) we must recognize these skills as critically important. More important that standardized tests and flash-card memorization.

Most of us teach others in some capacity – as parents, leaders, colleagues, spouses, and even as customers. You will make a greater impact by encouraging creativity and imagination instead teaching how to follow procedures. Our organizations, companies, and families can benefit greatly by exploring new ideas instead of favoring rigid obedience.

This week, think like an art teacher instead of a math teacher. Encourage others to look at their situation as a big, blank canvas with limitless possibilities for creative expression. Let go of those rules-driven norms, shun the status quo, and have those around you – from kids to co-workers – paint instead of compute.

Jenny, a 1st grader, shows up to art class and doesn’t do so well with her first project. She feels embarrassed, stupid, rejected, and sad. Later she goes to music class and has a similar experience. She didn’t pick it up as quickly as the other students, so she is once again stung by negative feelings. Since she equates specific activities (art and music) with being creative, she determines that she is not a creative person. Or worse, her teachers or parents tell her this lie which stays with her throughout her lifetime.

Labeling is one of the main reasons why people don’t let their natural creativity flourish. Even when a great idea pops in their mind, they are hesitant to share it because it is “Probably not very good. If it was a good idea, someone else – a more creative person – would have thought of it.”

Part of the problem is how we define creativity. Creativity is not only about music, art, or theater. Creativity is the ability to develop new ideas which can be applied to any medium. There are professional musicians in major symphonies that are fabulous technicians, but exhibit no creativity whatsoever. They play the notes on the page, exactly as written, and do not create a thing. In contrast, there are statisticians who are brilliantly creative, developing new approaches and techniques on a regular basis.

Being creative and being a “Creative” are two very different things. There are graphic designers who lack creativity, and forensic accountants who exude it. There are authors who are formulaic and repetitive while there are mortgage brokers who are constantly reinventing their approach. There are chefs who follow the recipe exactly as written, while there are athletes that improvise constantly in order to win. “The truth is that all sorts of people, possessing various levels of natural ability are capable of engaging in fulfilling creative processes”, according to Psychology Today Magazine. “Buying into a limited definition of creativity prevents many from appreciating their own potential”

How has labeling impacted your own creative expression? Have you let your job title, resume, or self-doubt inhibit your true creative brilliance? This week, throw away those imaginary obstacles. The label doesn’t make the person – just like the movie title doesn’t make a great film. Think of your only label as “creative genius” and you’ll be amazed at what you can do when you believe you can do it.

In most free-market economies, there is a supply/demand equilibrium. In other words, if people want to buy potato chips or electricity or sporting goods, suppliers generally emerge to fill these needs.

It strikes me as odd, however, that there’s a mismatch going on in the business world. According to an IBM study last month of 1500 CEO’s across 60 nations, creativity is the single most important leadership attribute needed for business success. And in an Accenture study earlier this year, “89% of executives agree that innovation is as important as cost management for high performance.”

Based on this extreme demand, you would think there’d be hundreds of very sophisticated systems and processes to help business build and nurture their creative capacity. After all, there are systems processes for everything in the business world – from how to answer a customer complaint to how to set the alarm to how to take out the garbage. There’s ISO 9001, Six Sigma, and Lean Manufacturing. Yet there is no widely-accepted, systematic approach to creativity and innovation.

In most companies, the single most important ingredient for success is left to happen by chance. There’s no process or system; it just “happens” in the shadows. Business leaders are expected to just be creative with no training, system, or time allocation for this mission-critical activity.

To make matters worse, we live in a left-brain world (linear, analytical and computational thinking). We attended left-brain schools, went on to left-brain universities, and primarily work at left-brain jobs. Our over-developed skills in this area dwarf the often-ignored capacity of our right-brain thinking (abstract, creative, non-linear). Our left-brain systems, process, bosses, and instruction manuals are abundant while the support for our creative right-brain is in short supply.

So where can you turn to ignite creativity?

My website, www.CreativityGeneration.com, is packed with free resources and tools to help you build and nurture your creative capacity. My upcoming book, Disciplined Dreaming (coming in Feb, 2011 from Jossey-Bass) will offer the business world a detailed blueprint for developing these skills. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you on this subject. What are your needs? What techniques and tools have been helpful for you over the years? Where are the soft-spots in your business or career, and what would be helpful for you as you pursue your own goals?

Speak up. Ask for help. Let’s start the dialog right here at CreativityGeneration.com to enable all of us to expand our creativity, imagination, and original thought. Ladies and Gentlemen, let the conversation begin…

Detroit, Michigan is in trouble. What was once a vibrant city is now overrun with crime, unemployment, and despair. In its hay-day, it was one of the top five cities in the U.S., and had over two million residents. Today, the landscape is marked by abandoned buildings, burned down houses, and vacant factories. The population is now well under 900,000, leaving a city that is too big for its residents to support.

Revitalizing a city like Detroit that has suffered decades of decay is an enormous effort. One key to improvement for other urban centers has been increasing population density. A more dense population is easier to police, protect, and beautify. It also creates a stronger sense of community, makes it easier to educate kids, helps focus limited city resources, and increases the tax base. But how can this be accomplished with a footprint that spans 138 square miles?

One brilliant idea has been proposed: Urban Farming. The concept is to relocate residents into a much more densely populated area, and then raze the abandoned streets in order to turn the land into urban farming. This unorthodox approach has many benefits:

a) Increases density, which brings the benefits listed above
b) Provides jobs and increases the tax base
c) Residents can now consume locally-produced good, saving transportation costs and keeping revenue in the region
d) Reduces the cost of city services such as police, fire, schools, and sanitation (it is MUCH less expensive to support farms than residential neighborhoods)
e) Beautifies the area
f) Supports future expansion (you can always re-build on the land)

I’d imagine that the average city council brainstorm session in America on how to reduce crime, increase taxes, and reduce blight doesn’t often include the concept of urban farming. Yet it is a fantastic idea. It is a non-traditional approach that breaks the mold, and dares to be different. The power of creativity in real-time.

Think about the various problems that you are trying to solve in your own business. Are you proposing obvious, unimaginative solutions (more police presence, beg for Federal aid) or are you letting your imagination soar (urban farming!)? List out the obvious solutions for your next big challenge, and then see if you can push yourself and your team to come up with your own equivalent of urban farming. Something different. And remarkable. And truly innovative. Something that forges new ground, and utilizes your resources in a fresh, imaginative way.

Detroit is a city with a soul. It has a rich history of entrepreneurship and innovation. Even though the city has taken a beating in recent years, creative ideas like urban farming can help rejuvenate the region, creating jobs, prosperity, and hope. Many companies and people have faced similar challenges over the last few years, and like Detroit, must rally behind creativity and innovation in order to rebound. This week, face your toughest challenges head on… and look to solve them with your own breakthrough ideas. Your own version of urban farming.

The single biggest blocker for creativity and original thought is fear. In our society, we are so focused on success and afraid of making mistakes that we don’t pursue our dreams. Don’t live life to our fullest potential. Don’t let our creativity shine.

In school, we have classes on all sorts on functional skills such as science and math (by the way, when was the last time long division came in handy for you at work?). One skill that that few of us ever learn, however, is how to make mistakes. How to learn from setbacks. How to embrace failures to enable future successes. How to get up from being knocked down, and rise up with the confidence of the undefeated.

James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson Vacuum cleaner, “failed” at over 5000 prototypes before getting it just right. In fact, nearly every breakthrough innovation came after countless setback, mistakes, and “failures”. When you study the great innovators and achievers in history, it turns out that they weren’t necessarily smarter or inherently more talented. They simply released their fear of failure and kept trying. They didn’t let setbacks or misfires extinguish their curiosity and imagination.

I believe a required element of public school curriculum should include a class called MAKING MISTAKES. It would teach kids that mistakes are okay. That it is better to try and fail than never try at all. That every bull’s eye is the result of 100 misses. It could help grow their confidence and resilience, and prepare them for the dynamic and constantly-changing world of the future. The course could be fun and funny. Maybe the goal is to “fail” the class instead of pass, and the students are rewarded and each mistake they make.

What is the tolerance for making mistakes at your company? Many organizations have mission statements filled with buzzwords about innovation, yet sharply penalize risk-taking and setbacks. The best creative ideas often come from experimentation. Rather than thinking of something that doesn’t work immediately as a “failure”, think about it as an experiment. Each experiment that doesn’t work provides valuable insight, leading you one step closer to a solution that is perfect.

This week, gather your team and encourage failure. How about a contest for the best failure to let people know it is better to unleash their creativity, even if the end result isn’t ideal? Why not issue an assignment to see who can come up with the most outrageous idea (instead of the safest)? Push your team to “fail”, and you’ll end up unleashing an abundance of creativity that you didn’t even know existed.

In today’s hyper-competitive business environment, the only sustainable advantage has become creativity and innovation. Building a culture that encourages risk-taking and celebrates “failure” as a step closer to breathtaking innovation will separate the top-performing companies from the also-rans.

Simply put: “Fail” more, win more.