Great Connections Lead to Great Ideas

You may have heard me talking about a secret project that Team PF has been working on for the last month. Well, now it’s time to unveil what it is.

A few years ago, I wrote Create, Connect, and Consume. One of the insights from that post is that connecting with other people is one of the best ways to come up with great creative ideas, insights, and paradigm shifts.

As I’ve been traveling, speaking, and either co-leading workshops or being a guest at other people’s workshops, I’ve heard many a new creative explorer comment about how they wish they were as smart and creative as one of their heroes. It’s usually said as if those heroes have a secret or a particular talent for coming up with great ideas.

They might have a secret. They may have some talent. And, when you look at it, they also have a tendency to immerse themselves in an agora of ideas, whether that’s with their friends, colleagues, books, conferences, or some other gathering.

So I decided to ask a bunch of my friends, colleagues, and a hero or two to weigh in on the matter so you can hear it straight from them.

You’ll hear from:

• Seth Godin
• Carol Roth
• Chris Garrett
• Sarah Robinson
• Michael Bungay Stanier
• Todd Kashdan
• Jen Louden
• Les McKeown
• Mark Silver
• Andrea J. Lee
• Adelaide Lancaster
• Jonathan Fields
• Shama Kabani
• Ishita Gupta
• Bob Gower
• Dr. Mollie Marti
• Danielle LaPorte
• Janet Goldstein
• Jenny Blake
• Pam Slim
• Liz Marshall

You might know many of them and there are hopefully a few new names, too.

This is the first of what I hope to be many core conversations. Every weekday during September, you’ll hear from one of the conversants above.

The contributions have been amazing. I’ve enjoyed both the convergence of insights, as well as those who take a slightly different tack. You’ll want to stay hooked in to the conversation itself, but you’ll also want to stay hooked in because there are a few giveaways throughout the series. Sorry, I’m not telling you when they’ll be or what they’ll be – what fun would that be?

How you can join the Core Conversation

Throughout this and future core conversations, we’ll use the hashtag #pfcc (for Productive Flourishing Core Conversation) on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook, so if you see that, you’ll know what’s up. And here’s where you come in…

Please comment on and share the conversation with your friends and audiences. The Productive Flourishing community is known to be smart, vocal, and supportive, so it’d be a great time to welcome some new people to the community. If this core conversation is a hit, there’ll be many more to come. Whether it’s a hit depends on your interaction. (Thanks ahead of time.)

I’ve already got the theme for the next core conversation queued up, too – but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s rock this one first.