This week as I was traveling, I picked up an issue of Fast Company to read on the plane ride. I came across an article titled “The Power of the Prize.” It caught my attention because I love contests - as evidenced by my upcoming “2008 Best Attitude of the Year” Contest.

The article outlined new research that suggests that companies can use contests to help spur business innovation and R&D. Most of the examples in the article were about “externally broadcast contests” – contests that tapped into customers and asked them to help create unexpected, workable business solutions. Alan Lewis, who runs internal and external developer contests at eBay, is quoted in the article as saying “…the top things (you get from external contests) are going to be higher quality than what you’d get if you say to employees, ‘You’re responsible for five innovative ideas a quarter.”

Hogwash. While I agree that contests can be great ways to create positive customer experiences and help generate unexpected ideas, I don’t agree that the best innovation lies outside your company. If it does you are failing to effectively lead your team. And I’m not alone. “I’m Not Actually A Geek” blog agrees with me in this post suggesting ways that companies could better maximize innovation from the inside-out.

It isn’t easy. You have to roll up your sleeves and apply a little elbow grease to inspire internal innovation among your employees. But if you kick in your team’s attitude, you can inspire exceptional innovation. Your team will have your back. And internal contests can be used for team building, employee morale, and sparking creativity. There are many companies out there doing it…

- Pelican Products, a firm specializing in watertight protective cases, held an internal contest by which factory workers win points and earn prizes for maintaining certain levels of productivity, enforcing safety procedures and meeting other criteria. The company made sure that the prizes were items that the employees actually wanted to win! Quite the concept! The result? Decrease in both its workers compensation and employee turnover.

- Even large corporations are getting involved with their employees. On April 17, McDonald’s hosted its Voice of McDonald’s II, an employee singing contest. While singing may be appear in the average McDonald’s worker job description, the contest does something very unique. It celebrates the employee and puts them out for the world to see! Who doesn’t want to be celebrated?

The key takeaways? Host a contest for your employees! Some ideas? Ask employees to create a commercial and the winner gets a promotion. Or the top salesperson wins dinner and a stay at a local hotel. Use your creativity and your employees will be committed to your companies success, and more likely to deliver remarkable innovation.

Do you HATE getting stuck in traffic jams? It’s one of the those modern stressors that anybody who lives in a big city has to deal with. 

You know, that feeling when the overhead sign tells you just how long you’re going to be sitting there (in Chicago, rush hour signs report things like: “25 minutes to Circle,” a trip that normally takes 7). And you look around, and the guys next to you are swearing (you can tell because their lips are snarling), and the massive truck ahead of you hasn’t moved in like 15 minutes, and the fumes are getting funneled back into your car til you have to push the “recycle air” button, and your stomach is knotting up, and you’re starving because you didn’t have time for lunch. You know the drill.

You probably don’t have one of these suckers to just drive right over the cars ahead of you in the traffic jam…

One way NOT to deal with the traffic is to do several other physical things. The Okanagan blog complains about traffic jams and says multi-tasking drivers admit causing 1 out of 20 accidents. Okanagan doesn’t have much traffic up there in BC, Canada.

Okay, but let’s say you’re in a city that does get traffic jams. The first trick is to choose to stop thinking about this stuff. Instead, come inside your own mind (where else can you go?) and breathe slowly. I knew a yoga teacher who described one type of breathing that’s powerful for calming the mind—”use the back of your throat” when you breathe. It makes a quiet noise, and that’s what it should do. Let the breath come in through your nose, not your mouth, and you’re drawing it in with the back of your throat. Try it. And here’s a few more ideas about yoga breathing to calm you down.

Next, decide the positive thing(s) you want to think about. Could be your great job, your dear spouse, your beautiful kid, your garden, your friend–pick only things you can feel good about right now. Decide that this time is yours–and you get to pick what you want to do. You can focus on your favorite music or think about how to surprise your family with something positive when you get home.

Positive thoughts can be mined like gold. All you have to do is pick them out and wash the bad stuff through the sieve of your mind.

Happy 2008! I want to invite you to make 2008 a great year by making a commitment to keeping a strong attitude. I am making a challenge to keep your kick strong and live each day as an Attitude Kicker! Check out our Everything Attitude group on face book.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7979817391

I am new to face book, so this is the link above.

If you have questions, stories, ideas, please feel free to email me.

Talk soon,

Sam

well..i almost forgot I had a blog.  its about 9pm in dallas airport waiting to fly to portland.  I should be at my hotel by 1am and up and ready to go by 6am.  thtas life on the road.  th fall is upon us and the leaves are changing in chicago.  I have a new puppy…boxer…her name is lilly.  the vikings are off to a tough start but we think they will turn it around.  my tip for the day before I board my flight is if you bake fish in the oven…dont forget about it.  pay attention to your actions.  I forgot about the fish and turned dinner into a burnt mess.  not even ketchup could help.  but the pizza hut guy did. sometimes we forget or lose focus…be mindful of your actions.  until next time

I am so excited about the release of my new book, A Kick in the Attitude. It’s been over four years since I have written much of anything, so this is a special moment. I will toot my own horn on this one: it’s a dynamic book! Attitude is that one string that plays a tune in every aspect of our lives. And one day it hit me. I was having a down day. I am human and have tough moments when I have to put my own message into action. Sometimes it’s really hard. During moments like that, which we all have, we all need a good kick in the attitude. What that really means is that adversity and stress have knocked the kick– which is our enthusiasm, sense of humor, courage, and overall best attitude– out of us, and we need a jolt or kick to restore our best attitude. Our attitude is either working for us in a positive way or against us in a negative way, and we always determine which. My hope is that you will help me spread the message of “The Kick.” The kick is about breaking the chains of self-imposed limitations, gaining a deeper sense of confidence in yourself, learning to lighten up, and having that overall awareness that your attitude is a dynamic force within you. If you know how to use this attitude power within yourself, your life, work and relationships will attract experiences that make life worth living! I truly believe that deep down we all desire that. And that’s the message of “The Kick!”

Talk to you soon!

Sam Glenn

Today I had an interesting experience. A flat tire. I normally would accept the situation, deal with it and move on, but I had a flat tire on the same car yesterday. What is going on?! Here I am now at the car dealership waiting close to two hours. There is no telling when I might get out of there. I sat outside the waiting room in a chair by the glass windows in the showroom. As I gazed outside at a dewy meadow of Chicago traffic, many thoughts raced through my mind about this situation. Did I drive over a family of nails? Was there a reason I had to spend all this time at the dealership? I made the choice to make the best of it. I began to make phone calls to friends and family who I hadn’t talked to in a while. The time flew right by. Then something purposeful happened in the midst of my adversity. A salesman, rather elderly looking, dressed very nicely, walked over to say hi. He was filled with an energy and enthusiasm that you could feel across the room. He shook my hand and said, “How you doing today, young man?” “Okay,” I responded. “I got a flat tire today. I’m just waiting for it to be fixed. How is your day?” “My day is great! When you are almost 90 years old, every day is a great day. In one year, I will be 90 years old.” “Wow. That’s great! Any advice you can give me?” “Just make the most of it!” I got goose bumps, ‘cause I had just told myself this less than an hour ago. I believe we are surrounded with purposeful moments just waiting to fill our lives with understanding, guidance and wisdom. I found the opportunity in my adversity. It’s hard to see when you are frustrated, but if you relax a bit, purpose will present itself.