Creative Kids
(Preparing For) A Failure of Imagination
With organizational failures, the imagination is often at fault. We can’t imagine things going wrong, so we don’t plan for them. Organizations can’t imagine that their employees would do something unethical, so they don’t have policies in place to prevent it. Owners can’t imagine that a natural disa
Innovation in Education: What’s Old and What’s New
The world our kids will need to compete in is radically different from the world ten years ago. The old adage about education that “what was good enough for you when you were a kid is good enough for today” gives comfort and justification that everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Our schools
I Have a Question…
“Dad – what’s that?” My daughter, 4 or 5, was in her car seat as we were running errands. She grew impatient with my delay in answering her question. “That!” she said as she pointed out her window at the curb. “It’s called a curb,” I explained. “What’s it made of?” “Cement.” “What’s cement?” I […]
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
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
3 Actions To Improve Your Creative Thinking
I recently was listening to an audio program by Earl Nightingale. He was making the point that the opposite of bravery is not cowardice; the opposite of bravery is conformity. It was one of those simple statements that struck a nerve especially when thinking about creative thinking. Conformity In my
How to Nurture Creativity in Your Kids
Every parent believes their child is special and gifted from the moment they hold their little bundle of joy in their arms marveling at the miracle they created. But as they grow, it’s easy to lose sight of that amazement as everyday tasks take over: eating and sleeping, school, after-school activit
Help Bring Innovation And Entrepreneurship To Africa
Each year, we select one charity to donate 100% of the author royalties from my book along with 100% of the profits from the sales from our store Innovation.Tools. This year it was Pioneer.Education Africa. Pioneer.Education is building a prototype school in Rwanda to teach innovation and entreprene
Innovation in America: How Our Education System Hampers Creativity
I outlined it in a previous post: America has an innovation problem. Once regarded as a nation of innovators and entrepreneurial spirits, the United States are on track to fall behind nations like China and Japan on metrics like R&D spending and technology innovation. But the problems with innovatio
