Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) has some brilliant advice on how they develop their act. “(We) knock around ideas. We are not in any way supportive. As soon as the germ of an idea comes up, the other person tries to crush it, because if there’s something bad about it, we want to find […]
“Yeah, but.” That’s the enemy of innovation. Right? We’ve all been told that we need to stop uttering those words and replace them with “Yes, and.” But what if “yeah, but” is not the problem. What if there is something more insidious–and less obvious? A bigger enemy of innovation is, “Wow, this is a great […]
Readers of this blog know that I am not a huge fan of failure. I think it is overrated and should be minimized. Instead, I like to view innovation through the lens of experimentation. But sometimes a failure in execution can be a way to impress customers. I wrote about some examples of bad situations […]
It is so difficult to see our own blind spots, which is why clients hire me to help illuminate theirs. Of course that’s stating the obvious since if we could see them they wouldn’t be blind spots! So let’s call them “missed opportunities that are right in front of our noses” – or MOTARIFOON. Sadly […]
Today we continue the “Test”” part of the FAST Innovation Model (Focus, Ask, Shift, Test). In the last video I mentioned the need to focus on experiments. Unfortunately most experiments lead to ultimate failure due to a psychological tendency we have. Be sure to watch the previous videos! Transcription: Today I am going to talk about […]
Today we move to the “Test”” part of the FAST Innovation Model (Focus, Ask, Shift, Test). Although failure seems to be the buzzword in innovation, it is actual detrimental to an organization’s success. There is an alternative: experiments. Be sure to watch the previous videos! Transcription: Today on the Innovation Minute, I’m going to talk […]
I was recently interviewed by the financial service firm, BBVA Compass. They asked for my thoughts on failure. I said that failure was overrated and that we needed a different mindset. Here are some sound bites from my interview/article “I don’t believe that failure is necessary in general. I also don’t believe that the answer […]
In an earlier article, I discussed the Sliding Doors Success model. It is worth noting that there is a corollary to this: The Sliding Doors Failure model. Just as an opportunity can appear that can change your life for the positive (read the Sliding Doors Success article), one event can derail a lifetime of achievement. […]
Last week, I had 3 conversations with 3 different companies. And each had a complaint about the same group of people: lawyers. If you think about it, innovators and lawyers have completely opposite objectives. Innovators want to grow the business. They believe that risk and failure are a natural part of the innovation process. Their […]
