Most important of all, it’s a reliable and reproducible system. This means that others can be trained to lead Eureka! Sessions with the same reliability as me. The chart below shows how even rookie facilitators generate results from each of the six cycles of a classic Eureka! Session that are nearly identical to those when I am in charge.
In effect, the system’s research over the past 10 years has removed the greatest barrier to growth—ME. I am fully replaceable. Instead of building an empire of thousands of staff members—I chose to follow the path of Ben Franklin for expansion. Franklin expanded his print shop throughout the colonies through dozens of partnerships with local partners. In exchange for Franklin licensing his expertise and assistance he received a royalty. So too, we are following that same path as we partner with other companies to bring Eureka! to thousands of companies around the world.
The turn from guru to idea factory engineer resulted in a No. 1 national business best selling book Jump Start Your Business Brain, an honorary doctorate from the University of Prince Edward Island, as well as television and radio opportunities.
David Wecker and I hosted Brain Brew, a radio program of ideas and advice for entrepreneurs, for three years. Public Radio International distributed the show nationally. You can listen to the show at http://www.brainbrewradio.com. In Canada, I hosted CBC-TV Venture specials, where I was dubbed the “Business Robin Hood” for my efforts to help small-business owners.
Fifty-something—Real World Entrepreneur and Educator
As I embark on my fifth decade, in addition to our continuing work with corporate leaders, I’m returning to my entrepreneurial and inventor roots.
It’s taken some time. Five years, in fact, of front-line testing and learning to help me regain my “feel” for the world of entrepreneurs (and detox myself from the corporate mindset). The result is a series of cost-efficient and effective programs called Eureka! Winning Ways.
We will soon have certified Eureka! Growth Coaches in all fifty U.S. states as well as dozens of countries around the world.
I recently had a wild ride as a judge on ABC-TV’s American Inventor produced by Simon Cowell. The experience opened my eyes to the plight of independent inventors. Invention promotion firms steal thousands of dollars from tens of thousands of inventors. One company took money from 1,950 inventors, and only 5 made back more than they paid in.
Over the next 10 years it’s my plan to create an HONEST and MEANINGFUL system for helping independent inventors clean, screen, and license their inventions to companies.
Lastly, it is my dream to create educational curriculum that can help students at universities, vocational schools and community colleges across the world “create and sell big ideas.” I believe that everyone, no matter what their profession, needs to understand how to create and sell their ideas for improving their company, community, or the planet. The greatest waste of resources in any community are the ideas thought of but not acted on.
Translating what we’ve learned from “big companies” to “small companies” was difficult. However, initial indications are that translating our learning to the world of education is even more difficult. Companies are generally easier to work with as they have the simple and focused mission of making more money by serving customers. Educational institutions are more challenging as they often have multiple, conflicting missions.
The Trained Brains
Through these pages, you’ll also meet my Trained Brains—the highest level of Eureka! Growth Coaches. They’re a collection of bold and brave thinkers who have demonstrated a reproducible ability to invent fresh and feasible ideas for helping clients grow their businesses.
Just as our system has changed, so too has the role of the Trained Brain.
In the old days Trained Brains were my support team. Today, I support them as they lead some 90 percent of all Eureka! Sessions.
Yesterday’s Trained Brains were entertaining performers. Style was more important than substance. Today’s Trained Brains are experts at discovering big ideas and developing those ideas into persuasive written concepts.
Yesterday’s Trained Brains were very imaginative. Today’s Trained Brains are also practical and more successful. Today’s Eureka! sessions result in ideas with a five times greater chance of marketplace success than those created by the average brainstorming session as practiced in most organizations.
While today’s Trained Brains are significantly more effective, they haven’t lost the spirit that is the heart of the Eureka! Way. Trained Brains laugh a lot. They’re young for their ages. They long ago stopped heeding the advice of their elders to straighten up and fly right. Their eyes are wide open with wonder.
Trained Brains don’t fit in, but they never feel left out. They avoid the beaten path and the well-worn rut as a point of pride. Somehow, they’ve been able to resist the corrosive forces of cynicism. They have a pure, simple way of seeing and an ability to extract the fresh from the mundane.
Most of all, Trained Brains have a gift for shaking it up, twisting it around, and inspiring companies to make something new happen.
While this book is cast in the first person, it’s an all-encompassing first person. It’s not just me. It’s the collective voice of the entire Eureka! Ranch team. The learning and wisdom of the full-time staff, the Trained Brains and the licensed Growth Coaches.
Friends have asked why I would give away my secrets …
My answer is, it’s the right thing to do. It’s an attitude I picked up while kicking around in juggling circles. The philosophy among jugglers is that if I can teach you a trick and you can teach me a trick in return, we’re both enriched.
Then, too, there are these sentiments from two authorities for which I have the greatest respect:
“He offered me a patent for the sole vending of them (Franklin stoves) for a term of years: but I declined it from a principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions, that as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of the opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours.”
– Ben Franklin
“When you share ideas, you have more.”
– Kristyn Hall, my daughter, age 5
At the same time, I also respect trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Success today requires a blend of open and protected materials. That means that, by virtue of having purchased this book as opposed to shoplifting it, you are hereby granted a license to use its content to invent ideas for yourself or your company. All I ask is that you use the proper trademarks and acknowledge their daddy at the bottom of your work sheets thusly:
© 1994-2008 Doug Hall
All Rights Reserved, Used with permission
(513) 271-9911
Eureka! Ranch, 3849 Edwards Road
Cincinnati, OH 45244
If you are an author, consultant, or trainer, remember, please, that it is neither nice nor right to steal, commercialize, plagiarize, or make money off this work without first asking permission. For permission call the Eureka! Ranch at (513) 271-9911 or e-mail me at [email protected]. Or else my wicked good lawyer, Patty Hogan, will call and have a chat with you.
NOTE: To date, I’ve never said no to anyone who has properly asked permission to use or reprint portions of my books, columns, or radio show segments.
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