How Losing Personal Attachments Can Help You Realize Ambition

My friend Susanne and I were recently playing a trivia game, a game in which she excels. However, at one point, she got a couple wrong answers in row. “Urgh,” she blurted out, “every time I have a gut answer and change it, it was actually correct.” This made me curious. Malcolm Gladwell, in the […]

How To Create Luck In Business And In Life

I know St. Patrick’s Day has passed, but it got me thinking about the concept of luck. Have you ever met people who are consistently lucky? It is as if they are always in the right place at the right time. Meanwhile, you feel as though the cards of fate have dealt you a bum […]

15 Minute Speech in Spain

Last week I spoke at the launch of the Navarra Factori, an innovation center near Pamplona, Spain. This government backed initiative is designed to help stimulate creativity and innovation in the region.  I was the keynote for the opening. They asked me to speak about how creative ideas don’t necessarily come from within the four walls […]

Before You Can Multiply You Must First Learn To Divide

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with an event organizer about his revenue model. He told me that he hires speakers, paying them a flat fee for their time, and then launches an aggressive marketing campaign to put butts in seats. He also told me that most of his events lose money. […]

See Me In Action in Cambridge Apr 7

It is not often that I do events that are open to the public.  So I am thrilled to be partnering with The Big Studio to bring you a special Personality Poker session. There is no cost to you.  In fact, the first 50 people who register will get a copy of my Personality Poker […]

The Key to Overcoming Roadblocks: Innovation

In Wisconsin, the Republicans wanted to eliminate the collective bargaining rights of most public employees as a way of cutting the budget. This was hotly contested by the Democrats to the point where all 14 Democratic senators left the state, refusing to vote. They did this knowing that at least 20 senators needed to be […]

Tap Into Your Inner Innovation Child

I recently had the privilege of speaking to a group 400-plus senior executives from a very large organization. During my allotted 90 minutes, I conducted an activity used to demonstrate the power of divergent thinking. At the conclusion of the exercise, I asked for solutions to a specific problem. Twenty hands went up, if that. […]

The Performance Paradox on IdeaConnection

The second half of my interview with Vern Burkhardt from IdeaConnection was recently posted. Here are the first few paragraphs of this much longer interview. “We can conclude that creativity is about being present, just as pit crews changing the tires on a Formula 1 car need to be present.” Stephen Shapiro Vern Burkhardt (VB): […]

Open Innovation Book

Paul Sloane, an innovation colleague, approached me a while back to write a chapter in a book he was compiling on open innovation & crowdsourcing.  The book is now officially out. In it you will find articles from a wide range of experts in the area of open innovation. Although the writing style of each […]

Innovation & Poker Interview with Chris Taylor

I recently had the great pleasure of welcoming Chris Taylor into my condo.  He came with his video camera, an in depth understanding of my work, and an amazing interview style.  The result? One of my favorite video interviews…ever.  Be sure to check it out and learn more about Chris at Actionable Books.