SUCCESS Magazine – Innovate or Die
The October issue of SUCCESS Magazine recently hit the news stands. The cover story – Innovate or Die – is 3 pages dedicated my perspectives on how to innovate more effectively. If you get the physical copy (with CD), you will also find a 23 minute audio interview with me and the publisher, Darren Hardy. In […]
3 Steps for Creating Leverage in Your Business
“Work smarter not harder.” This dreadfully overused phrase is meant to address the apparent lack of time, money and resources we experience in our work and personal lives. But how do we translate these words into something actionable? Here are three methods I have used in my business to accomplish this: 1. Focus on what […]
Laziness is the Father of Innovation
If necessity is the mother of invention, then laziness is sometimes its father.* Some of the greatest innovations were developed by people who were too lazy to do a particular task. Professor John Atanasoff, along with graduate student Clifford Berry, built the world’s first electronic-digital computer back in the late 1930’s. Why did he do […]
The Walk More, Wait Less Innovation
Think about this problem. You run an airport. It takes on average 8 minutes for luggage to go from plane to baggage claim. Customers can walk to baggage claim in one minute, resulting in 7 minutes of impatient waiting. Complaints are high. What do you do? Conventional wisdom says, speed up the process. Use more […]
Sliding Doors Success
This is the 2nd in a series of articles on different paths to success… In the movie “Sliding Doors,” Gwyneth Paltrow runs to catch a train. If she misses it, she will miss an important meeting. The movie continues down two different paths: She just makes the train and attends her meeting. The doors close just […]
Think Around The Box
I’m working on a TV show. As we were fleshing out the concept the other day, the agent said something brilliant… “Don’t think OUTSIDE the box. Think AROUND the box.” He was suggesting that in some cases, innovation is best when it is an extension of something people already know and love. Studios will be […]
Crowdsourcing Content
On July 19th, 2012, I will be keynoting at the inaugural Crowdopolis event being held July 19th in Los Angeles. You don’t want to miss this event! I can assure you it will be incredible. And at the bottom of this article there is a link which will give you a discount. I asked Crowdopolis […]
Stop Calling it Innovation!
A potential client asked, “What is the best way to create a culture of innovation?” My response: “Stop calling it innovation!” Innovation has become the word du jour. Is it important? Of course. But the term has been used and abused by so many people that it means nothing. I am seeing a backlash against […]
Exception Handling Continued
In my AMEX OPEN Forum article, “Design Your Business to Handle the Exception, Not for the Exception,” someone commented that simplification is a better strategy than segmentation. And I wholeheartedly agree. Car manufacturers do this when they use common parts and reduce the number of configurations to reduce costs and complexity. Having said that, if […]
7 Tips to Sell Your Ideas Like a Motivational Speaker
“You don’t listen!” All of us have likely heard these words spat at us in frustration at some point in our lives. And guess what, it’s true! The fact is that no one listens. In a previous OPEN Forum article, I wrote on how to more effectively hear what others are really trying to say. By recognizing how you listen […]