Why Change is Hard
I am someone who loves change. In fact I sometimes change things simply for change sake. But I recently learned a powerful lesson on why change is difficult, even for someone like me who loves to stir things up. I bought a MacBook Pro a few weeks ago. Friends have been prodding me to buy […]
How To Motivate Innovators
Organizations use a variety of tools to motivate employees to participate in their innovation efforts. The most common form of motivation involves compensation via a points system. When you contribute an idea, solution, comment or vote, you get points – much like American Express Membership Rewards points – that can be used to buy a […]
The Pygmailion Effect and You
The Personality Poker book is now available. Be sure to buy your copy today. Each book comes with a deck of the specially designed poker cards. And no, you do not need to know anything about poker to play! The only way you can lose is if you don’t have a personality. This is the […]
Opposites Don’t Attract
I remember a project I worked on many years ago. I was leading a large team and had a very large budget. I chose John to co-lead with me because we got along so well. I am a creative, spontaneous, and enthusiastic person and John was pretty much the same. The team loved working with […]
The Person You Like the Least is the Person You Need the Most
This is the second in a series of videos about Personality Poker. Today I discuss the myth that opposites attract. You can pre-order the book now. Each book comes with a deck of the specially designed poker cards.
Open Innovation @NASA
I am speaking at TRIZCON tomorrow. The opening speaker today was Jeffrey Davis, MD, Director of Space Life Sciences at NASA Johnson Space Center. His excellent presentation focused primarily on the open innovation efforts of NASA. Here are some of the key soundbites I heard… They wanted to avoid the “serendipity” associated with many innovation […]
Cathedral or Chaos?
The other day I gave a speech on open innovation at a conference primarily focused on open source software. One of the presenters at the event suggested that instead of trying to create a cathedral by controlling software development, we should instead be comfortable with a mess. The point of open source is to let […]
Are You a Fire Fighting Arsonist?
Imagine you are heading to a REALLY important meeting that is being held out of town. You have your bags packed. You have your airplane tickets, hotel and car rental reservations, and GPS. You hop on the plane and fly to your destination. After deplaning, you pull out your hotel reservation and type the address […]
Is Your Organization Playing with a Full Deck?
Look at any group of people who effortlessly work well together. Odds are the individuals share a lot in common with each other. They might have similar backgrounds, expertise, interests, or personalities. This is natural. Contrary to conventional wisdom, opposites do not attract. We find it easier to work with people who are like us. […]
How Can Goals Enhance Creativity?
In my previous blog entry, I discussed how goals can either enhance or detract from performance. Over the years, I have written numerous articles on “The Performance Paradox” that show how an obsession with the future reduces performance in the present. And typically, creativity is significantly diminished in the process. But given that businesses are […]