Going Viral?

A virus only lives if its host continues to live. It's sole duty is to reproduce and spread to other hosts. Viruses by nature are built to weaken and eventually kill the host if they themselves are not eradicated, weakened or made dormant. To remain viral a virus must stay true to it's nature and continuously spread; however, fundamental problems exist as the notion of "going viral" is applied to business strategy.

In the true sense of the phrase, "going viral" doesn't seem to be a very reliable means of continued success. When living out it's manifesto the virus will repeatedly encounter two different scenarios:

1. Hosts will increasingly become immune as anti-viruses are produced. (competition)

2. Virus will reach maximum penetration, leaving itself no other place to spread. Eventually it

will die off as a result of it's own success. (unbalanced growth)

If one intends to achieve continued success as a viral business, they must take a step backwards to become the creator of viruses; not the virus itself. Viruses are made of DNA and RNA. A RNA virus is more effective in this case because it uses the DNA of the host to replicate itself. In other words, create thing's your "host" or prospective consumer will except, use and help spread. Once your virus is being spread on it's own, step away and allow the host to regain its strength or simply stop marketing your "thing" to them. At this point, you should focus your energy on producing a new RNA virus that will be compatible with your previous creation. Doing this will allow you to effective target the hosts that except and replicate your virus the fastest while leaving the rest of the population open for growth.

At this point we would love to leave you with a fantastic, life altering conclusion but unfortunately we couldn't come up with one. Hopefully we made a compelling argument for an alternative "viral" model. Check back with us soon....maybe we'll figure out a way to write a blow your mind conclusion for this entry.

New Thoughts on Our Process.....Agile Disruption Method Sounds Good

Thinking along our process, we have decided to coin the phrase: Agile Disruption Method. We were trying to figure out a good way to describe the flow of thinking we undertake with each new project or client and BOOM the Agile Disruption Method was born.

The last month and half or so we've been studying design thinking. If you have no idea what that is, visit the ideo website for further explanation. While design thinking allows its believers to navigate through a process, agile disruption method allows people to move freely with that process. At any given moment one could jump from prototyping to idea generation then inadvertently stumble upon a launch worthy solution which needs further discovery to substantiate. Situations such as this are not uncommon; however, we felt the need to formulate their occurrence into a formula which can help people (like ourselves) find the track again.

The following are some phrases or thoughts we felt best described what this method entails:

*Attention to aesthetic, function, usability, and human experience/value given to each phase of development.

*Fast-paced, counteractive way of creative thinking/reasoning.

*Continuous morphing, building, forming strategies all leading back to centralized root of problem.

* Infinite-possibilities approach; moving in all directions to expound upon new thoughts/ideas, not just forward toward the obvious or definite.

* "Go with the flow" approach until either a solution is rendered or the path becomes compromised to point of undoubted viability/inefficiency.

* Choosing what is to be created, it is the precursor and result of the creation process and iteration selection process. Assume nothing is as it seems until it is, then dismantle it to explore the possibilities that exist within.

* To guess toward best or most simplifying explanations, which deduction can explicate and which induction can evaluate.

* Every solution creates a problem that needs solving.

Just a small sample, more thoughts to come.......

Can Anyone Become a Leader?

While reading some excerpts from Seth Godin's book Tribes, we came across the statement: "The market needs you (we need you) and the tools are there, just waiting. All that's missing is you, and your vision and your passion." This sparked the discussion of the true meaning of a leader, and the questioning of if anyone can become a leader. It is said that a leader is generally a charismatic individual that can inspire others through his/her ideas & passion. We went on to explore what others have defined as a "leader" and found:

"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be." -Rosalynn Carter

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams

"A leader is one who knows where he wants to go, and gets up, and goes." -John Erksin

SO.....can anyone can become a leader?

When we discussed this our first thought was that some people are just meant to be leaders, while others are just meant to merely be followers. The more we thought, we came to the conclusion that everyone has at least some leadership qualities, and in some way could be leading or inspiring others and simply not recognize it. All it takes to be a great leader is passion, belief, and a firm commitment. So we encourage everyone, be committed to your passions, follow them and connect with people that inspire you to inspire others.

Coworking Wilmington

We've recently started working with Preservation Initiatives to start our own Coworking spot. For those that aren't familiar with the term, we're not talking about people that simply work in an office together. Coworking offers low cost office space, free internet, meeting rooms and interactive brainstorming rooms to entrepreneurs that typically work on the go in local coffee bistros/cafe's and home offices. The idea behind the concept is to create a collaborative environment which helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses through collective intelligence and cross-pollination of services.

Our space, The Community Innovation Loft or COIN will be a hybrid version our Community Innovation Project and a business incubator. We will focus our efforts on early-stage start-up and growth phase companies....no particular industries. We're looking at launching in either the LOMA Design District or in one of the newly renovated West 9th St. store front properties near Red Mohawk. Stay tuned for more info about the progress of the project. Join our meetup group: COIN Wilmington if your interested in participating in it's growth.

Business Plans Don't Work....Right?

That's right people...we said it. BUSINESS PLANS DON'T WORK.

We've had the "pleasure" of working with many different types of entrepreneurs along our journey and almost all of them have at one time or another mentioned how they need to update, write or follow their business plan. Every time we hear someone say this we always end up glancing at each other with a hint of laughter in our eyes.....here's why- the business plan is suppose to be a physical representation of your vision as an entrepreneur; the consumers needs, and how you plan to make money providing solutions to those needs. We place an enormous amount of emphasis on the business plan being a reflection of your VISION. If you can't see your business and its success, you can't write and therefore it doesn't exist.This is why many entrepreneurs end up miles away from where they wanted to be. If you want to avoid the vision pitfall, it takes honesty, empathy, agility and ingenuity.

We've developed a seminar specifically designed to address the vision problem many entrepreneurs face. We'll be running it at the University of Delaware starting October 20th. If you can make it please do....if not keep your eye out for the breakout events.

Let's Have CIP Every Day!!

We recently started a Community Innovation Project group on linkedin.com. If you don't have time for our program on October 20th at the Universtiy of Delaware, this would be a great way to still get those creative juices flowing. Innovation is the only weapon we take into the war of business. Don't let your competitors catch you empty handed....we can promise the results will not be in your favor.

Check out our linkedin.com group and join today. We'd love to create something with you.

Community Innovation Website

Ok, so the cip website is finished and ready for your veiwing pleasure. A few things have changed since we've last posted and even since we've finished the site. The program will be in Purnell Hall room 324B. The date has changed to October 20, 2009....same time.

To RSVP for the program, please contact us through the Community Innovation Project website or communityinnovation.eventbrite.com.

Stay tuned for our "I AM INNOVATION" campaign!!!!