Turning a Passion into a Profession
In yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe, I was quoted in an article entitled “Turning a Passion into a Profession.” The piece shares the story of people who left their regular jobs in pursuit of their passion. Here was my contribution to the article: And his approach to realizing his dream was well-conceived because he was not […]
Innovation and the Performance Paradox
Today, my article on “The Performance Paradox: When Less is More” was published by the American Management Association. You may recall that I introduced this concept in a blog entry last month. What is the Performance Paradox? The more fixated on your goal you become, the greater your chance of success, right? Yes, but only […]
Innovation and Leadership
Back in my Accenture days, I had the pleasure of working with many brilliant individuals. One person in particular stood out amongst the crowd: Brad Kolar. Although he worked in the “professional development” department (which typically implies taking other people’s intellectual property and converting it into training), he was one of the firm’s greatest thinkers. […]
Innovation Lesson from The Apprentice
I’ll admit it. I, unlike most people in the United States, did not watch Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” the other night. But in a conversation with some people who did tune in, it sounds like the winners applied an important innovation concept. As I understand it, the task for the week was to see which […]
Turning the Extraordinary into Ordinary
As many of you know, my sister (Deborah) and her husband (Gary) sold their house and are now traveling the country in an RV for the next year. Gary sells cancer insurance door to door as they make their way across the states (yes, he knocks on people’s doors) . The idea is to […]
See Stephen on Television
Tomorrow, Friday January 4th, I will be on Fox 25’s Morning News in Boston. I am scheduled to be on at 8:20AM. I will talk about my story that appeared in the recent “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. In particular I will address my life as a recovered “Goalaholic.” As part of the conversation, […]
My New Year’s Theme
By know you know that I am a believer in setting theme-based resolutions. Every year at this time I announce my theme. After considerable contemplation, I have decided on my theme for 2008: “PLAY LIKE THE PATRIOTS” I have been inspired by the New England Patriots this year. They just completed the first 16-0 season […]
Innovation Mindset, Not Innovation Tools
Tools are great. But giving people tools, without first changing their mindset is useless. People buy more weight loss books/diets (tools) than all other books, yet people are fatter than ever. Why? Most diets do not address the psychological reasons (mindset) for eating. The same holds true for innovation. Do not train your employees on […]
Goal-Free Living on the Radio
January 1st is the traditional day of setting your goals for the year. Why not start 2008 right by listening to me talk about Goal-Free Living on Jim Blasingame’s The Small Business Advocate radio show. Tune in at 8:08AM New Year’s Day. But if you decide to sleep in, you can still listen to the […]
Setting New Year’s Resolutions That Can’t Fail
Once again it is that time of year when we look forward into the new year. We set our resolutions. Lose 10 pounds. Stop smoking. Get out of debt. Unfortunately, most resolutions are about fixing what is wrong with you rather than bringing pleasure into your life. In addition, most resolutions are target- and time-based […]