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Everything I Learned About Ethics I Learned in Boy Scouts
Twelve words. Millions of 11-year-old boys, and now young girls, learn it when they join Boy Scouts. It was something that I had to memorize in order to earn my first step along the way to my Eagle Scout medal. Each weekly meeting started with everyone saying them aloud. We were expected to follow t
What Is Your Creative Inspiration?
I really enjoy getting behind this microphone. It is my personal creative outlet that is separate from the day job. What was it that got me to start back in 2005? Like all things, I got inspired. My inspiration was when my mentor, Bob Davis, lent me my first self-help set of cassette tapes created [
Should You Use a Data-Driven Approach to Innovation?
The inspiration for innovation takes all forms. For some its music. For others its art. And for others its data. When I was CTO, Mark Hurd, the CEO at HP at the time, had a quote that was ingrained into everything the executive team did. The expectation was that as an executive you knew “your […]
What They Could Become
Great leaders – in business, government or society, know that when it comes to others, there is always more than meets the eye. Earl Nightingale once shared a story that reminds us to look beyond what we think is obvious. It seems that the NBC orchestra was about to be formed, David Sarnoff, chairma
Want To Innovate? Just Do It!
Any writer, syndicated cartoonist, innovator or perhaps a podcast host; sooner or later will run into what some would call writers’ block. They find themselves drawing a blank. They have a deadline rapidly approaching and they find themselves with nothing — not a single good idea. Writers Block It h
Be Brave To Innovate
Did you know the opposite of bravery is not cowardice? The opposite of bravery is conformity. Doing everything the same way that everybody else does it, being like everybody else, thinking the same way everybody else does. Conformity is the “safe” approach which actually puts us at more risk. It tak
Innovating With Fresh Eyes
I’ve been in the innovation game for more than 30 years. Hard to believe. With that many years comes loads of experience but also some downsides. As with most things, when you’ve done something for a long time, you tend to fall into a pattern – a rut. You use your experience to recognize a […]
Six Practices of Successful Innovators
Innovations surround us. Things we enjoy and rely on everyday are thanks to successful innovators. These are people who had an idea and, through hard work and creativity, turned it into an amazing innovation. In what ways did these people think differently? What practices made them successful? Ma
My TEDx Talk: Do you have Impostor Syndrome … too?
What happens when you share the secret that has been feeding your impostor syndrome for more than 25 years? In this TEDx talk, I share a secret that I kept hidden for 25 years and the result of that secret being revealed on the front page of a national newspaper. Through this journey, I was forced [
Inspiring Innovation: A 5 Minute Challenge
Inspiring innovation seems more like an art than any kind of skill or science. The sudden spark that results in an exciting new idea seems random – like it came out of the blue. Studies have shown what seems random was actually inspired by something your did, read or saw in the past. Inspiring Innov
