Innovation Insights
by Stephen Shapiro
Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Do you know what to get your loved one? If not, definitely read this article written by my good friend – and creative genius – Ed Bernacki. He provides 3 simple yet powerful creativity tools
“43Things.com,” a community-based online to-do list, allows you to list your top goals in life. A blog reader, Antony, culled some interesting statistics from that website. 5,716 people set the goal: “Decide what the hell I would like to do
In an earlier blog post, I included a quote from Voltaire. He once said, “Man can only have a certain number of teeth, hairs, and ideas. There comes a time when he necessarily loses his teeth, his hair, and his
The other day I was having lunch with Mike Bell, the man who hired me for an engineering co-op job during university – an opportunity that changed my life. He has also changed the lives of over 250,000 students who
Readers of my blog know that my “theme” this year is Play Like the Patriots. For those of you who missed it, my beloved team was defeated by the New York Giants in a major upset Sunday night in the
Here is a beautiful passage that Antony, a reader in Australia, sent to me. It poetically describes how adults can rekindle their love of life by thinking like a child. This is an eloquent, simple, and compelling example of what
In a previous blog entry, I discussed an Economist article that showed: There is a perception that particular traits are important to good leadership, namely competence, dominance, and facial maturity. Likability and trustworthiness are not. Just by looking at a
Are you in the Mt. Pleasant, Michigan area? If so, tune in to WCMU-TV Sunday night, February 3, at 11:30 PM. I am interviewed on the PBS television show, “Between the Lines.” This 30 minute show is dedicated to “Goal-Free
“Goals are for the future. Values are now. Goals are set. Values are lived. Goals change. Values are rocks you can count on.” From Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
When you think of great leaders, what traits come to mind? Honest? Competent? Inspirational? Courageous? Fair? Looks like a leader? Although that last one is typically not found on lists of leadership characteristics, looks may be related to one’s leadership
I was just having a conversation with a good friend of mine. She’s currently in a bit of a funk because life is not turning out the way she expected. From an external perspective, she has an incredible life. But
Christopher Richards, the author of an interesting article, suggests that the secret to creativity is slowing down. He implies that our best ideas emerge when we are in a relaxed state. In the article, Richards said that “Ex-Federal Reserve Chairman
This week, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) released an online training version of my 24/7 Innovation book. The course includes all of the materials from the book plus a series of questions after each chapter to test your
A recent blog entry of mine focused on how price impacts perception. Today’s topic is on how perception drives price. Many times, the cost of something is driven by what we paid in the past – even when the rules
Man can only have a certain number of teeth, hairs, and ideas. There comes a time when he necessarily loses his teeth, his hair, and his ideas. – Voltaire Ideas must work through the brains and arms of good and
I recently received an email from a reader of this blog. He describes what he calls a “loophole” in the goal-setting process: either you achieve a goal and then invalidate it with counter-productive behaviors, or you see that a goal
I wrote a blog entry entitled, “How to Lose a Sale By Charging Too Little.” In it I describe why charging too little reduces the perception of value. According to a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business study, there are
I’ve always said, “Expertise is the enemy of creativity.” The New York Times recently had an article on this exact topic. Although the article is pretty basic, it is a good reminder that sometimes the most creative ideas come from
“If it is possible to make yourself into a great hacker. The way to do it may be to make the following deal with yourself: you never have to work on boring projects (unless your family will starve otherwise), and
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
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
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
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
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
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