Don,

I heard an interesting twist on what you are talking about from a bunch of librarians. They talk about keeping a "no log." It is a list of every request to which the people at the circulation or reference desk who take questions from patrons say no. Then the staff get together to brainstorm ways in which they can say yes to those people instead - i.e., change policies and procedures, institute new services, etc.

I love this idea. It works for product development too. When someone asks, "Do you have a ___?" or "Can you do ___ for me?" and you are tempted to say no and just go back to your usual business, instead see it as a request for a new product or service or a twist on your existing one.

It's really just another name for what you, Don, do instinctively.

Marcia Yudkin
Launching Information Emperors
http://www.yudkin.com/informationempire.htm