Blog
Questions and Scoring Answers
The Five Questions Score your answers to each of the first three questions from 0 to 5. A 0 means that the idea being considered doesn’t move the needle on this question (or, in other words, is a no-go for the time being), while a 5 is a resounding yes. You should ask these five […]
8 Spinoffs Of NASA Innovations Impacting Your Everyday Life
Back in March, I covered some of my favorite spinoff NASA innovations in this post. There, you will read about Ventricular Assistance Devices, highway grooving, memory foam, and water purification. It turns out that a number of readers of this blog are fans of NASA innovations and the impact they h
4 Questions New Leaders Should Ask
IDG (parent company for CIO, Computerworld, CSO, Infoworld, ITWorld and MACWorld) asked what advice I would give new leaders. At the moment, I didn’t think it was going to be that hard. But then they added a constraint. I had to do it in less than 5 minutes. So I shared what I did when […]
4 Lessons Learned Through Pentagon Innovations
In terms of creating “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” (BHAGs) and developing an indisputable culture, there are few organizations that rival Pentagon innovations. Since the Department of Defense’s (DoD) innovations are the difference between life and death for servicemen and women, the creative process b
Government Innovations: Past, Present, and Future
The world is moving forward. Some countries get left behind, while some move ahead. The deciding factor is not which country has the most intelligent residents. There has, in fact, been example after example of people of all different nationalities creating impactful innovations. The deciding factor
10 Colleges That Offer Innovation Degrees and Majors
Innovation is currently one of the most sought-after qualities in business. Yet it’s also elusive. How do you encourage innovative and creative thinking in yourself and others? One approach is to study it in college. Yes, there are now colleges and universities that offer degree programs that award
8 High Schoolers Who Are Inventing The Future
The play instinct is something that everyone is born with. From a young age we want to explore, create, and have fun. However, some people become very good at honing this skill, at playing and fiddling so creatively that they develop revolutionary technologies. Sometimes these discoveries can come l
Government Funding: Does It Help Or Hurt Innovation?
Governments around the world are beginning to see just how much the everyday citizen, the small business owner, or a startup can change the world. They understand that it is no longer just the Walmarts and BPs of every industry that have a significant impact on the economy. Innovators can pop up out
Be Willing To Be Weird
Below is the video and transcript for my commencement speech at ITU last month. The topic of the speech was on the entanglement of fear, failure and conformity. To be successful, we all must be willing to be weird. Be different. Use our creativity to win in the emerging creative economy. Note: The f
How NASA Technology has Turned Into Innovation for Many
Successful governments look to the future. They innovate. They find ways to make things more efficient, both in terms of time and in terms of money. Sometimes they develop incredible products that work better than they could have ever imagined, and used more widely than originally planned for. The p
