All great achievements came about through collaboration. But, sometimes too much collaboration inhibits our ability to think creatively. Last week’s post about what impedes employees from being innovative in the workplace generated some discussion. My point that managers, meetings, emails and phone calls get in the way of inspiration was not well received because those [...]
Quick guide on how to use Evernote to stay on top of emerging trends
May 12, 2014 By 1 Comment
What is the process I use to keep up and /or uncover emerging trends and what tools do I use? Previously, I’ve written about how to create an insights bank using Evernote. Here I’ll expand on that initial idea, with a quick guide on how you can stay on top of emerging trends, as well as [...]
Practice frame shifting to spot untapped innovation opportunities
April 23, 2014 By 8 Comments
Perception separates the innovator from the imitator. To see anew, learn to set aside preconceptions by exploring new perspectives. How might we shift our perspective and explore what we might be missing? This is a common question I ask myself all the time because I want to overcome our human tendency to bring our preconceived [...]
Creativity Inc.: what it takes to build and sustain a culture of excellence
April 21, 2014 By 5 Comments
Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull is a humble look at what it takes to build and sustain a culture of excellence, one that embraces originality in its truest form.
What’s your question?
March 7, 2014 By 3 Comments
Sometimes an interesting questions doesn’t come out nowhere, it requires some serious inquiry and reflection. Defining the real problem is the key part of the innovation process, if you don’t figure out the right question to lead your effort you will end up solving the same challenge, in the same way, that everyone else. At [...]
For innovation: Uncommon insights come from uncommon places
February 1, 2014 By 6 Comments
This is part one of the series on how to leave small thinking behind. In this first post, I’ll show you a simple technique for coming up with radical ideas. In the second part, you’ll learn how to evaluate ideas so they don’t fit into “me-too” territory. In part three, I’ll tell you how to [...]
Beyoncé’s use of the element of surprise was genius
December 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Isn’t it exciting when something unexpected happens? Something out of the ordinary? Of course it is. The shock heard around the world last week was how Beyoncé released her 5th studio album on iTunes without the typical marketing blitz that accompanies such album launches. I say shock because it really was a shock. Not only [...]
