Today I was interviewed on SiriusXM’s “Business Radio.” The conversation started with the show’s host, Dave Robertson, a Wharton professor, asking me why I thought best practices are stupid. I gave him the three reasons that you’ve read about before on this blog: While you are implementing someone else’s best practice, they’ve already moved on to the next practice […]
Ordering a product online is often like a black box. You order. If you are lucky, you get an order confirmation with a tracking number. However you typically get very little visibility into the process. A more advanced order method is the one Dominos Pizza uses. You get to see where your pizza is in […]
Here’s a video I recorded for “The Art of Sales” event in Canada. In it I talk briefly about two common innovation blindspots, and how to shine a light on them.
This is the first in a series of bi-monthly articles I will be writing for Forbes.com. In an attempt to stop the flow of the oil after the Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion, the Unified Command turned to crowdsourcing to find a workable solution. Concerned citizens were invited to submit ideas. And that they did. They […]
Imagine you are a company that produces products for consumers. It could be toothpaste or soft drinks. You decide that your differentiator is your marketing. (Read one of my articles on “Innovate Where You Differentiate“) Given this, you might assume that the marketing department is the most important part of the business. This assumption would […]
Jake Sorofman, a Research Director at Gartner, just reviewed “Best Practices Are Stupid.” His review started… Don’t let its compact size—or snarky title—fool you. It’s a worthwhile read. Unlike so many other books in this particular genre, it doesn’t disguise otherwise straightforward concepts with overwrought explanation. Shapiro gets straight to the point with 40 often […]
Here’s the transcription of my ABC News interview posted on my blog yesterday… Tory Johnson: Best practices are supposed to help your business be more efficient, but our guest today says that your company guidelines could be wasting your time and stifling your growth. Stephen Shapiro is the author of “Best Practices are Stupid: 40 […]
An article of mine was just published in the European Business Review. It is a concise summary of my overall innovation philosophy. Here’s the introduction… In today’s fast-paced business environment, the ability to innovate is not enough. You need to innovate efficiently, quickly, and with less risk. Tradition innovation methods, such as asking employees or […]
I decided to get with the 21st century. Starting today, in addition to my regular writing, I will be recording videos for this blog. Today’s video is a rant about a topic that has been on my mind lately. Although, this covers content from earlier blog entries, I am going into a bit more detail […]
Sacha Chua, a “sketchnote artist and experimenter-at-large” from Toronto, developed this very cool infographic of my Best Practices Are Stupid book. And she was kind enough to allow us to share it under the Creative Commons Attribution License. So spread the love, and visit Sacha’s site to show your appreciation. (click on the picture to […]
