creativity
Innovation in America: How the Government Helps and Hurts
Formerly a global hotbed of innovation, the United States in recent years and decades has regressed back to the mean as several other countries are catching up. In a previous post, I’ve examined the role our education system plays in hampering (and helping) innovation. But what role does our governm
200 Years of Great Ideas and Hard Work Led To the Overnight Success of Your Smartphone
As I discussed in a previous post, the basic components of success are the idea, hard work, timing, and maybe a little bit of luck. Here, we’ll look at how that formula worked to create the massive success of the modern cell phone. Success As you walk down the street in any major city in […]
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
Stop Being Negative: Become an Anti-Critic
It’s an unfortunate fact that the world is full of critics who feel that it’s their place to put others down left and right, based on their ideas, actions, and even personal beliefs. It seems that being negative is the order of the day, based on its prevalence among TV pundits, editorials, and anony
United States Innovation Problem and How We Can Solve It
The United States used to be the undisputed global leader in innovation. In the past, we put a large portion of our considerable economic power behind research and development, with the goal of becoming and remaining the most innovative country in the world. However, in the past few decades, America
The Recipe for Innovation Success
Success in innovation isn’t going to happen overnight, nor does it happen as a matter of chance. There’s nothing preordained about successful innovation. There are a number of factors that can contribute to the ultimate success or failure of your latest idea, but the basic formula that I’ve learned
9 Daily Exercises that I Do to Keep My Creative Muscle in Shape
No matter what profession you’re in, it’s important that you’re able to think creatively and look at your work with fresh eyes every day. Unfortunately, however, it may feel like a challenge to constantly be at the top of your game. The common question I get is “what exercises do you perform to keep
What is the linkage between travel and creativity that inspired Hemingway, Twain and others?
What is it about travel that has developed a reputation for increasing creativity within an already-flexible mind? Many sources reference Hemingway, Twain, and others as traveling creators – that is, authors who did some of their best work during or following international travel. Something about th
Does being like Steve Jobs and being harsh with your staff get you better performance?
The late Steve Jobs was the visionary who took Apple from the office desktop to the user’s back pocket. His reputation on stage was as a hard-charging, success-driven leader, and his audience responded with cheers and fist pumps as customers flocked to buy his latest brainchild. What was his secret
Overcome Habituation by Hearing the Background Noise
You might miss the next game-changing innovation because you don’t see it. Maybe you don’t see the problem anymore. Maybe you’ve been desensitized by habituation – you’re so used to the world as it is that you can’t distinguish the idea from the background noise. You go on with your activities and c
