How I Used Crowdsourcing The Wrong Way And What You Can Learn From It
We often hear the expression “Wisdom of crowds.” And if you have read my articles, it will be apparent that I am an ardent fan of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing makes the argument that the aggregation of information produced by groups, result in decisions that are often better than those that are made by a single individual. […]
Balance of Work and Life is a Myth
Many years back, I led classes on Stephen Covey’s “Principle Centered Leadership” for Accenture’s managers. Over 75 percent of the attendees said that achieving balance in their life was their number one reason for taking the course. This is not surprising given the fast pace of life today. But what does balance mean? Balance implies two […]
The Path of Least Resistance Creates Mirages and Kills Innovation
While at a skeptics convention last week in Vegas, one of the speakers talked about why mirages are the result of light taking the path of least resistance. Instead of light from the sky going straight to our eyes, it is actually easier for it to first go to the ground and then to our […]
Cover for New Book
As I previously announced, my next book, “Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition,” will be published by Penguin’s Portfolio imprint on September 29, 2011. For those of you who have not seen it, here is the cover: Although the cover may change slightly, this is pretty close to the final version. […]
Is Lack of Innovation Keeping You Stuck?
I was recently interviewed by Lisa Earle McLeod. The resulting article has been published in a number of newspapers and online sites, including the Huffington Post. Here’s the first half of the article… Do you ever find yourself trapped inside the same issue over and over again? Maybe it’s because you’re looking at it through […]
How to Create a Happy Work Environment
While speaking at a conference on “happiness at work” in Copenhagen, I met Cathy Busani, the Managing Director of Happy, a training and consultancy business operating in the U.K. Although they only employ 30 people, Happy has won wide recognition for its innovative approach to management and to customer service. I was intrigued by her […]
How To Embrace And Conquer Pain
Let’s face it, sometimes you feel horrible. You feel like the universe is conspiring against you. It could be caused by an upsetting event, such as the end of a relationship or the loss of a job. Other times the feelings are elusive and unexplainable, thus attributed to the alignment of the stars or a […]
How Small Businesses Can Leverage Crowdsourcing
Open innovation and crowdsourcing promise to revolutionize the way companies innovate and develop new products, create marketing campaigns and solve problems of all kinds. Unfortunately, there is more confusion than clarity about how to best utilize these approaches. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Dwayne Spradlin, CEO of InnoCentive, one of the early pioneers […]
New School is Old School
I just finished reading a mindless crime novel* – my favorite genre of book. The victim was the producer of an old television series who recently sold the rights to do a remake of the show. Fans were outraged. Most were purists who liked the original version and would do anything to prevent the new […]
Should You Catch or Fish for Innovations?
On talk radio the other day, they were discussing the fishing industry. The conversation centered on how certain types of much more popular than others. I not sure of the specifics, but I think salmon, tuna, and sea bass are the hot fish. Most consumers, when they go to the supermarket, ask for those specific […]