Innovation Insights
by Stephen Shapiro
Richard Wiseman is the author of many great books, including The Luck Factor. I’ve spoken with Richard on several occasions, and we share a similar perspective: a myopic focus on goals can reduce how lucky someone is. Dan Pink (an
My next article in the series on success… You can mathematically increase the likelihood of your success when you are not obsessed with specific goals or approaches to achieving those goals. Let me illustrate this with the famous “birthday game.”
Given my recent articles on success, I felt it was appropriate to dig up an old one (from 2007) which talks about how we never really know what made us successful…. A couple of nights ago, I gave a presentation
Best Practices Are Stupid is now available in Portuguese. One version is for Brazil and the other for Portugal.
In an earlier article, I discussed the Sliding Doors Success model. It is worth noting that there is a corollary to this: The Sliding Doors Failure model. Just as an opportunity can appear that can change your life for the
This is the 5th article in a series on alternative paths to success… I was once told a story while working at UPS. At its Louisville, Kentucky, air hub, hundreds of thousands of packages go through the sorter every day.
This is the 4th in series of articles about alternative paths to success; ones that go beyond the traditional approach of goal-setting and years of hard work. Back in 1987, I was working for Accenture (then Arthur Andersen’s management consulting
Today is my father’s birthday. To celebrate, today’s blog entry is dedicated to him, and one of the (many) ways he helped me be more successful. This is the third in my series of blog entries on success. From an
This is the 2nd in a series of articles on different paths to success… In the movie “Sliding Doors,” Gwyneth Paltrow runs to catch a train. If she misses it, she will miss an important meeting. The movie continues down
Much has been written about success, most of it gives the same advice: set goal, learn from the masters, work hard, reap the rewards. But what if there is a different path to success? What if “luck” plays a critical
I just received my copy of “Best Practices Are Stupid” in Dutch. More translations are on their way!
I’m working on a TV show. As we were fleshing out the concept the other day, the agent said something brilliant… “Don’t think OUTSIDE the box. Think AROUND the box.” He was suggesting that in some cases, innovation is best
I’m please to announce that both Personality Poker and Best Practices Are Stupid are now available in Chinese. I love the cover designs, especially the cat on the Best Practices Are Stupid book.
On July 19th, 2012, I will be keynoting at the inaugural Crowdopolis event being held July 19th in Los Angeles. You don’t want to miss this event! I can assure you it will be incredible. And at the bottom of
A potential client asked, “What is the best way to create a culture of innovation?” My response: “Stop calling it innovation!” Innovation has become the word du jour. Is it important? Of course. But the term has been used and
While on vacation recently, I thought to myself, “This is perfect.” The weather was nice. We had a great hotel room. The food was wonderful. Was it really perfect? Were there nicer rooms, better food, and warmer climates? Indeed. Comparatively
In my AMEX OPEN Forum article, “Design Your Business to Handle the Exception, Not for the Exception,” someone commented that simplification is a better strategy than segmentation. And I wholeheartedly agree. Car manufacturers do this when they use common parts
“You don’t listen!” All of us have likely heard these words spat at us in frustration at some point in our lives. And guess what, it’s true! The fact is that no one listens. In a previous OPEN Forum article,
In my latest American Express OPEN Forum article, I talked about how designing to handle the exception, not for the exception can improve efficiency and reduce costs, while increasing overall performance. [If you didn’t read that article, please do so
While going through security at the airport the other day, I was reminded of an important design and innovation concept. Things were going smoothly until a bag was flagged during the X-ray procedure. The luggage was held on the conveyor
Innovators know that great ideas that don’t get implemented are worthless. So how do you convince people that your solution is a good one? Consider the case for “business casual” in the workplace. What are the traditional selling points? People
…and guess what, you don’t really listen. In fact, while reading this article, you are not really reading what I intended it to mean… Last month, I was on a flight from Orlando to Boston that had a bit
Over the years, I have traveled over 1 million miles to nearly 50 countries. Given that I fly so frequently, I am often asked for my suggestions for traveling more comfortably, efficiently, and cheaply. Here is a VERY short list:
When asked by a Fortune 20 company to boil down Personality Poker into a 350 word article for their intranet, this is what I created… We all have heard the expression, “opposites attract.” But in fact there is irrefutable scientific
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