Business Experience
Chappel has also risen in the ranks of the business world.
Initially serving as a
part-time research psychologist at Interval Research (Paul
Allen’s think tank), she eventually became senior director of the
User Experience Group at Alta Vista, and VP of Customer Research at WeeWorld, a social networking site for tweens and teens.
She currently works as an international consultant for
companies such as Google, eBay, Virgilio, TiVo, and
Yahoo!
She is also writing a book called The Elephant in the Cublicle: Unleashing Innovation in Corporate America.
Respect
Excellence
Adversity
Talent
Inspiration
Viewpoints
Enjoy
Corporate Workshops
Igniting Innovation
Ralph Waldo Emerson warns that “imitation is suicide.” This is as true for businesses as it is for artists. In this quickly changing global market, companies must be innovative to be successful. During this two-day workshop, you will learn how to foster creativity in your company—and yourself—by using proven problem solving techniques, studying case histories of breakthrough products, and following Creative
Best Practices™. You will learn to:
- Generate new ideas by breaking set ways of thinking
- Make space for creativity by building slack time into tight schedules
- Facilitate different points of view by encouraging diversity in teams
- Stay ahead of the competition by developing customer-driven innovation
- Avoid burn out by cultivating a sense of play and passion about what you do
- Draw customers in by building a strong voice/brand/signature
Employees of large companies, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are encouraged to enroll. Participants will develop one significant new idea for their business by the completion of the workshop.
dates and times
sign up for workshop
Everyone found Michelle’s ideas very interesting and
thought-provoking. We’d really like to get her back. Tom Wailes,
Senior Director, Yahoo!
Creative Best Practices™
Chappel’s new approach to stimulating creativity in teams is based on techniques for producing great music:
Camaraderie It takes more than one note to create a song. Even if that one note is amazing. Cellos, violins, clarinets and other instruments blend together to make a great symphony. It’s the same in the corporate world. Everyone on a team has a vital role to play and can make a significant contribution. Team members can work harmoniously together by embracing their differences.
Responsibility Remarkable music happens when every member of a band takes responsibility for creating parts, practicing songs, taking care of their instruments, and listening to each other as they play together. By taking ownership of your place on a team, and having dedication and compassion for your team members, you do your best work.
Excellence Miles Davis said “there are no mistakes.” Whenever one of his musicians would play a sour note on stage, the entire band would improvise to incorporate it into the song and make it work. To achieve excellence, it’s important to build a strong foundation and set your sights high, but it’s equally important to take risks. Some of the most innovative products come out of “mistakes.”
Adversity When Wolfstone (Scottish rock band) toured California, their electric guitars and amps didn’t make it to one show, and they ended up playing an impromptu acoustic set that was truly inspired. Adversity can be the threshold to greatness. It builds character and helps you understand your limits and strengths. It also makes you stronger. We all suffer setbacks. It’s how you deal with obstacles that determines how successful you are in work and life.
Talent Eric Clapton wasn’t an amazing guitarist when he first picked up
the guitar; his innate talent grew with practice and hard work. Paul McCartney
taught himself how to play piano later in life. Everyone has talent. Teams
are most effective when they maximize the unique gifts every member brings,
and promote the discovery of hidden abilities.
Inspiration Music is created by blending space and notes together, not just playing notes all the time. You can access inspired thought by building slack time into airtight schedules, and learning how to quiet the mind. The end result is focused attention that cuts down the time to accomplish goals and boosts the outcome.
Viewpoints Music is boring when the same tracks get laid down over and over again in a studio. To get out of a rut, musicians often riff off of each other (throw musical ideas back and forth in rapid exchange). In the same way, you can break set ways of thinking and leap ahead of the competition by encouraging collaborative problem solving and regular brainstorming sessions.
Enjoy U2 and The Rolling Stones are still going strong because they enjoy what they do. Avoid burn out and foster creativity by cultivating a sense of play and passion about what you do. Research shows that happy people are more effective at work, take fewer sick days, are loyal to their employers longer, get better evaluations from managers and customers, show more helpful behaviors, and are more creative than people who aren’t happy.
dates and times
sign up for workshop
This is the most compelling workshop I’ve seen in years. The music analogy really works. Adam Bates,
Manager, TiVo