Theme-Based New Year's Resolutions

The winter solstice is upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere (the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere). And this is the perfect time to start reflecting back on 2006 and thinking about 2007. Last year I posted an article on the six tips for setting theme-based resolutions. If you haven’t read it, you can […]

Buyer Beware

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a GPS device on BestBuy.com. The item was on sale: $200 off the regular price. Instead of having the item shipped to my house, I chose to pick it up at the local Best Buy store. I love this option because it gives me (almost) instant gratification. Once […]

Quote from Paul Graham

“Treating a startup idea as a question changes what you’re looking for. If an idea is a blueprint, it has to be right. But if it’s a question, it can be wrong, so long as it’s wrong in a way that leads to more ideas.” Click here to read the rest of the article: From: […]

Michael Gelb Quote

Michael Gelb, an endorser of Goal-Free Living, has a wonderful perspective on organizational effectiveness. In many of the organizations I work with, people tell me that they’re afraid to be playful for fear of being dismissed as not serious. They point out that a tense and miserable demeanor gives others the impression that hard work […]

Quote on Uncertainty

“In American culture, we are expected to be decisive about the direction of our careers and it is generally unacceptable to be unsure about what we want to do with our lives. The importance we place on being “decided” in our society can make those who are uncertain about their future career feel as if […]

Quotes of the Day

“If you can’t solve a problem, it’s because you’re playing by the rules.” – Paul Arden “High creativity is responding to situations without critical thought…If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” – John Cleese (the comedian best known for Monty Python)

Australian Perspective on Goal-Free Careers

This was sent to me by a reader in Australia. Job Myth: Setting career goals and sticking to them is the best way of having a successful career. Dr Jim Bright: “The evidence in favor of goal setting is not great. Most diets use goal setting as a motivational technique but the failure rate for […]

Speaker's Corner Brainstorming

Today’s blog entry is a goal-free approach to brainstorming. Brainstorming sessions are useful. The standard approach is one person up front facilitating, while the conversation is single-threaded. To overcome this limitation, some groups use breakout sessions. The problem with this is that they do not allow for cross-pollination of ideas. To combat these problems, I […]

Procrastination is Good

A reader sent me the following excerpt from “Good and Bad Procrastination” by Paul Graham: “When I think of the people I know who’ve done great things, I don’t imagine them dutifully crossing items off to-do lists. I imagine them sneaking off to work on some new idea.” “Any advice about procrastination that concentrates on […]

Innovation Podcast

Although some of you know me as the “goal-free” guy, my main business is innovation and creativity. I am an advisor to large corporations who want to create a culture of innovation. And I help individuals and organizations develop break-through solutions to their most thorny issues. I have been doing this for over two decades, […]