Video: Unexpected Places to Find Your Next Innovation
I was recently invited to speak at the WorldBlu Freedom at Work Conference. I was asked to speak for 20 minutes about the source of breakthroughs. Here is my speech, in its entirety. Enjoy!
Build Irrefutable Differentiation – Video with Scott McKain
Last January, Scott McKain (author of Create Distinction: What to Do When ”Great” Isn’t Good Enough to Grow Your Business) and I decided to put together a webinar to discuss our points of view on differentiation/distinction. It was a huge success. People loved our back and forth unscripted dialogue. Fortunately we recorded the session. Unfortunately, I kept […]
An Inside Look at Fidelity’s Customer-Driven Innovation
Relevancy, Not Novelty Good innovators know that you always start with your customers’ needs or problems. In fact, studies show that a lack of customer insight is the number one cause of innovation failure. When looking to study innovative industries, financial services companies rarely comes to mind. Instead we equate financial services with a conservative and risk-averse […]
Innovate Like Sherlock Holmes
I am a fan of mysteries. I think they can train the brain to be a better innovator. I’m currently re-reading the complete works of Sherlock Holmes. In “A Study in Scarlet,” Holmes provides some great perspectives that everyone should consider. After Holmes made some amazing deductions about Watson’s current state of affairs, Watson was […]
Your Innovation Efforts are Focused on the Wrong Opportunities
One very dark night I was walking down the street. Under a street lamp there was a drunk guy who was on his hands and knees looking for something. I stopped and asked what he was doing. He slurred his words and said, “I lost my keys and am looking for them.” I asked him, […]
Change the Question, Change Your Kids
In a recent blog entry, I discussed how changing the questions you ask can change your results, which in turn can change your life. Not too long ago I gave a speech whereafter someone in the audience asked me how this approach to asking questions could be applied to raising children, in particular his high school […]
Steal Domino’s Idea…Please
3 weeks ago we had all of our belongings boxes and shipped from Boston to Florida. The movers still haven’t arrived and we don’t know where our items are and we don’t know when they will arrive. I find this incomprehensible. Domino’s Pizza can tell me where my pizza is in the cooking process, who […]
Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech
As readers of this blog know, on July 21, 2015, I was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. That evening, I received the National Speakers Association’s Council of Peers Award of Excellence (CPAE) award in front of 1,500 people at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC.
Change the Question; Change Your Life
Many years back I consumed a massive amount of diet cola. 5 liters or more each day. I would unconsciously drink a 20-ounce bottle while working at my desk. It seemed like within 5 minutes it was empty, and I didn’t even recall drinking it. So I would buy another and consume it equally fast. […]
Speaker Hall of Fame
I am thrilled to announce that on July 21, 2015, I was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. That evening, I received the National Speakers Association’s Council of Peers Award of Excellence (CPAE) award in front of 1,500 people at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC.