How To
Design Thinking and Innovation: A Real Life Example
What is design thinking? How does it contribute to innovation? Are design and innovation fundamentally integrated? In a nutshell, design thinking is problem-solving that uses design principles: human-centered ideation, pattern recognition, marrying meaning to function, and prototyping. There aren’t
Who Is The Driving Force Behind Creative Change?
There are so many stories of important innovations arising from serendipity, sudden bursts of inspiration, and lone geniuses going from idea to execution in their garages. In reality, though, innovation isn’t a magical process: sudden bursts of inspiration can certainly be important, but it takes a
What Is The Silicon Valley Secret Sauce For Innovation Success?
There’s plenty of advice out there about how to make it in Silicon Valley. Some things are required for innovation success anywhere in the world, but the valley is a special place with different rules. As someone who’s spent a lot of time there, I think there are a few important elements to Silicon
How to Nurture Creativity in Your Kids
Every parent believes their child is special and gifted from the moment they hold their little bundle of joy in their arms marveling at the miracle they created. But as they grow, it’s easy to lose sight of that amazement as everyday tasks take over: eating and sleeping, school, after-school activit
Six Strategies to Lead Innovation from the Top
What is Oscar Munoz doing walking airline fields in a safety vest? As the new CEO of United Airlines, you may expect him to hole up in a cozy office somewhere, directing the company from behind closed doors. How he’ll perform as a CEO for one of the more troubled airlines in operation today is […]
Israel: An Unlikely Innovation Capital
The image that most people in America have of Israel is that of a small, beleaguered country surrounded by enemies. However, as the Jerusalem Post recently noted, the Jewish State has become a hotbed of innovation and high technology, rivaling even Silicon Valley. Israel ranks fifth on the Bloomberg
Surplus of Tech Workers and Culture of Openness Support Innovation in Finland
In 2014, Finland-based Nokia was sold to Microsoft, who promptly laid off 18,000 workers, mainly in Finland. This came on the heels of 10,000 Nokia layoffs in 2012. Nokia’s story is an unfortunate one, which I’ve discussed before. But the really interesting part is how Finland recovered from that cr
The Recipe for Innovation Success
Success in innovation isn’t going to happen overnight, nor does it happen as a matter of chance. There’s nothing preordained about successful innovation. There are a number of factors that can contribute to the ultimate success or failure of your latest idea, but the basic formula that I’ve learned
What is the linkage between travel and creativity that inspired Hemingway, Twain and others?
What is it about travel that has developed a reputation for increasing creativity within an already-flexible mind? Many sources reference Hemingway, Twain, and others as traveling creators – that is, authors who did some of their best work during or following international travel. Something about th
Why is Slack Time So Important to Innovation?
In the modern workplace, it seems time is one of the most precious commodities – and getting scarcer by the day. Employees are encouraged to work from the moment they sit down at their desks until the moment they clock out, with minimal breaks in between. Sometimes, even bathroom breaks and opportun
