I'd like to invite all of you to a Personal Innovation Retreat, er Advance, this coming spring. I'm using the word Advance because Retreat sounds so much like a stepping back. This is not a conference or even an unconference. It's a creativity catalyst.
Often we come to a point in a new business idea, a marketing campaign, a novel, a Sundance documentary, a non-profit humanitarian project and even larger questions such as grasping what is the "what's next in my life" project where all the pieces just aren't fitting together quite right. It feels like you are on the cusp of a breakthrough - it's so close but you're coasting on a plateau. Usually at those times I like to go off on what could be called a clarity quest or an incubation retreat.
I've been toying with the idea of a "group incubation" inspired by some of the concepts of a Master Mind (recommend sitting down in a bookstore cafe and reading Lesson One in Napoleon Hill's The Laws of Success). There is something about the group synergy that I sense will let the earthen dam erode away allowing the wild river of creativity back on its natural course. Hill writes about the Master Mind effect:
...new ideas will flash into the mind. If the entire group has met for the purpose of discussing a given subject, ideas concerning that subject will come pouring into the minds of all present, as if an outside influence were dictating them.
Hill also writes about a little know fact about a few innovators in his time that started off with no capital and little formal education:
It is a matter of general knowledge that Ford, Edison, and Firestone are close personal friends and have been so for many years, and that in former years they were in the habit of going away to the woods once a year for a period of rest, meditation and recuperation. - The Laws of Success
A prolific inventor shares: To keep sharp, every year he gets together with other inventors for an innovation retreat. "We meet at some nice place and think about what the world could use."
The format would be mostly experential, participatory, interactive and fun. Each day would be a combination of lecture (no more than 90 minutes a day), exercises and practices, clearness committees, open space format meetings and gobs of structured and unstructured solo time escaping into the hills and woods and walking along Adobe Creek.
I'm purposefully withholding information as I'd like you to decide from your heart or your belly or to heed that still small voice now rather than drawing up a decision tree and gathering up all the pros and cons about attending based on data. Think of it as practicing before Blink hits the bookstores this January. It's the art of thinking without thinking.
Our unconscious mind is so much more effective than our conscious mind when it comes to making split-second decisions. - Halley Suit commenting on Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
It's wrong to think of gut instinct as not rational. It's a different kind of thinking - a rapid cognition. - Malcolm Gladwell in a speech at Silicon Forum
There is only space for 30 people. Blink. Trust if you can answer the yes questions (namely do you want to crank up your personal creativity up another level in the company of other creators within a peaceful environment?) then the how questions will take care of themselves.
Cost: The cost will be definitely be under $400 for four nights (the big variable right now is food - whether we do our own cooking or go catered is the factor) including everything - lodging, food, and materials and perhaps bringing in a few outside practices leaders. This isn't a money-maker. I'm here for the idea generation myself.
Dates: April 8th (3 p.m.) to April 12th (11 a.m.), 2005. If you must miss one night, make it April 8th and not April 11th.
Location: A special place where I hosted my last big solo incubation. Hidden Villa, (hostel) up in the Los Altos hills in the Bay Area, northern California. Almost equidistant from either SFO or SJC airports. Not five star accomodations (we're talking bunk beds) but hostel building itself, the grounds, and the surrounding hiking trails are simply beautiful. This is lush verdent green hill time in the Bay Area. Heh, the best part is that cellphones DON'T work just a few miles from the heart of pulsing Silicon Valley! You really will be away from it all...and closer than ever to it all.
Where do I sign up? The first step is leaving a comment below. There will be a waiting list so jot your name down in the comments below even if there are more than 30. Heck, if there way more than 60 perhaps (perhaps, don't count on it, don't hesistate) we'll do another session in late April. I'm not collecting payment at this time yet as the budget hasn't been worked out (guaranteed cap of $400). Please also sign up to this email list to stay informed and be prepared - just send blank email to awareness-practice-subscribe at yahoogroups dot com. If you don't have a URL and are concerned about spam by leaving a comment below, make one up and send me your real address at crossroadsdispatches -at- gmail [dot] com with the word "Advance" somewhere in the subject.
Freebie rego for Advance chef: I am looking for someone with a passion and creative zeal for the culinary to help with food shopping April 8th and some cooking throughout.
Much more than enough details for now. No this is not private. You just heard it hear first. If this calls to you, that's your invite.
Hi, my name is Jane Katuga, a Life Coach in Kenya. I've been toying with the idea of having a renewal centre for busy executives, politicians & also college students. Having read your write-up, I'm more convinced than ever that this is the way to go. Right now, I am in the middle of a project, however you'll be hearing from me very soon. I trust you'll support me realise my dream. Thanks and God bless.
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