How To
Automaticity: A Thinking Trap?
Just as a car can be driven more smoothly and efficiently when the driver doesn’t have to think about each action, so can our lives run more smoothly when some tasks are done automatically. For example, if you’ve ever ridden in a car with someone learning to drive, you know it’s not a very smooth […
Selective Neglect – What Do You Not Do?
It can be tough to know which tasks to focus on, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done. We want it all. But by using the Eisenhower Matrix, we can focus on the right tasks and apply selective neglect to those we should delegate or ignore […]
Are Innovations Invented or Discovered?
Are innovations invented or discovered? We have debated this question for many years. Some people believe innovations are inventions, while others believe they are discoveries. With people’s growing curiosity to understand how to be more creative, more innovative, there is a strong desire to learn t
Innovation Arms Race: The Invisible Risk
The innovation arms race is the race to be the most innovative company in the world. It’s a competition where the prize is market share, customers, and profits. And the cost of entry is high. This is a competition where there is no finish line. To compete, companies must invest heavily in R&D. But n
The Thinking Skills Needed For Success
How often do we step back and think about how we think? Probably not often enough. However, understanding how we think is important if we want to improve the quality of our ideas and, as a result, our innovations. Periodically throughout my career, I have benefited from reflecting on how I think. It
How To Use First Principles Thinking To Innovate
Thinking is one of the essential skills a person must learn. It allows us to decide, solve problems, and come up with new ideas. And yet, many people never learn how to do it properly. The history of thinking goes back centuries. The ancient Greeks were some of the first people to think about thinki
Hindsight Is 20/20 – The Hindsight Fallacy
The hindsight fallacy is a cognitive bias that relies heavily on past knowledge or experience when making predictions about the future. This belief that "hindsight is 20/20" can lead to inaccurate predictions because it causes people to forget that their past understanding might not be accurate.
The Innovation Skills and Attributes I Look For When Hiring Innovators
Do you think of life as a game? It’s more than just an analogy. Life really is a game, and there are rules. Rules that can help us survive and thrive. This article will show you how to win this one-in-a-million chance at life by knowing how to make others aware of your innovation skills […]
Breaking Out of the Cycle of Lazy Thinking – A Dog Story
It’s easy to fall back on repetition and patterns. We all do it, especially when we’re tired or stressed. After all, it’s a lot easier to keep doing what we’ve always done than to try something new. But there’s a downside to relying too much on repetition and patterns: lazy thinking. When we rely to
Sharing is Caring – So Share Your Idea!
One of the biggest mistakes we make in life is convincing ourselves that our ideas are unique and ours alone. We rationalize keeping our ideas to ourselves because we are afraid that others will steal them, or worst—we believe our ideas aren’t good enough. Our ideas are precious, but they aren’t tha
