Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Innovation”
December 6, 2022 How does a company swing from scrapping together toys from actual scraps in the Great Depression to becoming a household name to nearly filing for bankruptcy to being one of history’s greatest innovation superstars? By being really good at building, and rebuilding, one brick at a time. I’m talking, of course, about LEGO. LEGO wasn’t always an …
November 22, 2022 Have you ever noticed how creative kids are? Young people see a cardboard box and it becomes a pirate ship. A stump in the woods is now a queen’s throne. Tie a swath of cloth around their neck and suddenly they’re a superhero. When’s the last time you did that? Have you ever thought about why you …
November 8, 2022 What do Netflix, Dollar Shave Club, Apple, and Cirque du Soleil all have in common? According to William Kilmer, author of Transformative, these companies all did something none of their competitors could: transformed their business model to create entirely new markets while making their competitors struggle to keep up. It’s the holy grail for a company. To …
October 11, 2022 I remember the first day I walked into my engineering classes as a college freshman. Within a nano-second it was clear there was no one else like me in the class. “Like me” meaning I was the only woman. As I walked through the door at the front of the room, my gaze instantly went up the …
September 27, 2022 When was the last time someone at work asked you how you felt about a major change in the business? Has anyone ever asked you for your perspective? And if they did, did you feel heard? Valued? Respected? If you’re thinking that seldom happens but it’d be amazing if it did, you’re not alone. Eighty-eight percent of …
August 30, 2022 An idea needs six components to stick in people’s minds. Chip and Dan Heath’s research, published in their 2007 book Made to Stick, found that an idea has to be: Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional A Story Any leader worth their salt knows that ideas need to be simple, credible, and create an emotional reaction. But why …
May 17, 2022 More than 60 years ago, Psychologist J. P. Guilford created the terms convergent and divergent thinking. Convergent refers to your ability to bring things together into a narrow focus or well-defined answer to a problem. This is great when you’re working on logical projects where there is one best answer. Divergent thinking, on the other hand, is …
March 1, 2022 If you asked 10 different people to define innovation, you’d get 20 different responses. It’s one of those things that seems simple to define and understand but turns complicated when you’re pressed for specifics. It’s no wonder. Innovation has turned into one of the biggest cliché words executives use to talk about how they differentiate their companies …
December 14, 2021 In 1999, Carey Smith started a company called the HVLS Fan Co. This name (an acronym for High Volume Low Speed) described the types of fans his company sold: massively big ones that move a huge amount of air but at very low speeds. They’re the kinds you see hanging from ceilings in places that aren’t practical …
November 16, 2021 Our health is our wealth. Without it, we can’t live up to our full potential or achieve all of the feats we have in our brilliant minds. So when something goes wrong, and we need to take a trip to the hospital or doctor’s office, we want to have the best possible conditions. Innovation is important in …
September 14, 2021 Picture yourself in a parking lot packed full of cars in a downpour. You’re hauling five overstuffed bags in each hand, and you can feel the handles start to give from the dampness. You’re in a sea of bobbing umbrellas and rain jackets, but you can’t see your car…anywhere. Is it over by the lamppost? No, wait, …
August 31, 2021 Have you ever felt like the future was out of your control? That anything could come for your job security, or being able to provide for yourself or your family? The number of people out of work hit record highs last year. This made people’s theoretical fear of spiraling out of control an undeniable reality. Dealing with …
June 1, 2021 Last October, I signed up for a 30 kilometer (18 mile) trail run that hugs the perimeter of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. I haven’t run a race of that distance in four years. During that time, I’d begun to travel quite a bit more for work. My family and I moved to Spain and back …
April 22, 2021 In one of the episodes of the US version of the comedy series The Office, Michael Scott rushes into the scene, demanding everyone give him ideas. As the regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, he has a reputation for his narcissistic behavior as a supervisor. On his way into the building that …
January 7, 2020 TAKE THE 30-DAY CREATIVITY CHALLENGE One the first day of class, a pottery teacher split her class into two halves. To the first half she said, “You will spend the semester studying pottery, planning, designing, and creating your perfect pot. At the end of the semester, we’ll have a competition to see whose pot is the best.” …
December 17, 2020 Find just the right something for the creative person in your life can feel like a lot of pressure. Some original thinkers are more hands on and others prefer more techie things. Regardless of the type you’re looking to please, here’s a list of 28 gifts that will show them you understand their tastes and want to …
November 5, 2020 The manufacturer of window-unit air conditioners wanted customer input but they weren’t sure how to go about it without being overly technical in their questions. They knew the noise level of their units was loud, but they wanted to figure out if customers would pay more for a quieter unit. And if they did, how much would …
October 22, 2020 For innovative leaders, critical thinking is at the heart of everything they do. We’ve developed a tremendous reliance on technology to deliver data and analytics. Heck, I’m not sure I’d know how to get from home to the grocery store 3 blocks away without Google maps. But researchers from McGill University have determined that all the help …
September 3, 2020 If you asked 10 different people to define innovation, you’d get 20 different responses. It’s one of those things that seems simple to define and understand but turns complicated when you’re pressed for specifics. It’s no wonder. Innovation has turned into one of the biggest cliché words executives use to talk about how they differentiate their companies …
August 13, 2020 “Haven’t I seen you before?” It’s a cheesy pickup line that’s been around for ages. And while it makes people roll their eyes, there’s something to the familiarity quotient. Studies show that we’re attracted to what we find familiar. The more we’re exposed to certain people, the more familiar they become and the more we like them. …
