Podcast with Inventor Brooks Lambert
No guy wants a beer belly. Right? Most would rather have a “six-pack.” Of course. But what if you could have a six-pack AND a beer belly at the same time? Well, now you can. The Beerbelly is a “removable spare tire” that holds 80 oz of beer (more than a six-pack), allowing you to bring your favorite beverage into any event. A while back I spoke with the product’s inventor, Brooks Lambert.
And now, you finally get to hear the podcast.
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Brooks told me that his company, Under Development Inc, was born to help others develop their ideas. His most famous invention – The Beerbelly – started out more or less as a joke that took on a life of its own. “We let the group choose a problem to solve, and then brainstormed ideas about solutions. The next thing you know, a buddy and I are cutting up a wetsuit and stuffing a CamelBak (a hands-free hydration system used by hikers) bladder in as an example of rapid prototyping.” That day, the Beerbelly was born. Their latest invention is the female version, called the Winerack. I’ll let you guess what that is.
Although these are fun products, Brooks’ main interests lie in more “socially redeeming” ventures. One day, Brooks and some buddies were brainstorming ideas. “We thought it would be cool if we could make a surf chair for the kids who can’t hold themselves up. The next day I made some calls and we found a race car seat manufacturer who was willing to make a custom shaped aluminum seat. We then got one of our local surfboard shapers to build a custom board to accommodate the chair, crossed our fingers, and voila, the surfchair was born. It works way better than we imagined and now it gets used on a regular basis.” This invention is used as part of the Ride-A-Wave charity, a 100% volunteer/nonprofit group that takes kids with all kinds of disabilities out surfing for the day.
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3 Things on Innovation
A colleague of mine, Erik Hansen, is Tom Peters’ brand manager. In case you did not know, I am one of Tom’s “Cool Friends.” You can read my interview on TomPeters.com.
The other day, while relaxing after a brainstorming session, Erik whipped out his video camera and decided to interview me. What you see below is totally unrehearsed, unprepared, and uncensored.
Enjoy!
Press the “play” button and wait a few seconds for the video to start. It may take as long as a minute.
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Articles in Thai, Danish and Dutch
Today’s blog entry gives you three feature articles with my thoughts on innovation. Unfortunately, I have no idea what they say!
One article is from “Computerworld” in the Denmark (scanned in by a colleague there). Another is from “High Tech Analysis” in the Netherlands. And the last is the cover story from “inMarketing” in Thailand. If you can read any of these languages, you might enjoy the articles. If not, you might just enjoy the pictures.
Computerworld (Denmark) (pdf – scanned from original)
High Tech Analysis (Netherlands) (pdf – click here to view original online flash version)
inMarketing - Article #1 (Thailand) (pdf)
inMarketing - Article #2 (Thailand) (pdf)
(click cover to view larger version)
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The 90 Minute Challenge
90 Minute Challenge
In a previous blog entry, I wrote about my “30 day challenge.” The purpose of that was to disconnect you from email. Well, today I have a new – yet shorter – challenge. It only takes 90 minutes.
I live near the ocean, and when I am home (which is not often), I like to walk the length of the beach every other day. Normally during this 5 mile walk I would have my BlackBerry and my iPod. Since taking the 30 day challenge, I have been leaving the phone at home and only bring along my music. The music is a nice distraction.
Today I decided to disconnect totally. I walked the 90 minutes without phone, email or music.
Instead, I focused my mental energies on an important question: How can I make my life – and my work – more significant? Check out my “quought of the day” for more background on this question.
For an hour and a half, I tried to only think about significance. At first, my mind wandered onto other topics. Although I don’t meditate, I am told that this meandering mind syndrome is common in those who do. Eventually my mind settled down and I started to get clarity on the topic at hand.
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The Big Idea Video
As many of you know, I was recently on “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.” Here is the video of my (very) brief appearance. If I were given more time, I would have discussed these 7 tips for keeping your job. Fortunately, CNBC decided to post these tips on their website along with another article of mine.
Enjoy!
Press the “play” button and wait a few seconds for the video to start.
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