Gregg Fraley

I was just named as one of the Top 50 Innovation tweeters by Innovation Excellence. A tweeter is one who uses Twitter. It’s a fairly informal sort of top 50 list — I don’t think there is a great deal of analysis around content or reach, but still, it’s nice to be recognized. I crossed the 10,000 follower line about a month ago, and weirdly, it felt like a real accomplishment. Then I saw that my friend and colleague Dr. Cindi Burnet (@Cyndiburnett) is over 50,000 followers and I didn’t feel quite so glamorous. And, you get out of Twitter what you put into it. I’m happy with my results at my current time-investment level. 10,000 feels like a “very

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This post is about an innovative company called aXess America, but first… Do you assume that broadband web access is nearly universal? It’s not. Millions of rural Americans have no, or quite poor, web access. Our government allocated part of the 2.9 billion in the stimulus package (The American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009) to solve this problem. For many, probably most rural Americans — this had no impact at all. This inequality of access has the USA ranking 26th in the world. In Internet access! And we’re slipping. This does not bode well for USA innovation. Historically, many breakthrough innovations have originated in the countryside. Philo Farnsworth, the Idaho farm boy, helped invent TV. Edison was a country boy

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I got the news in the modern way, Facebook. Sid Parnes had passed away. I felt a grey milestone pass through me, and I smiled. If there is one person I know who gave life his all, who did his best, it was Sid Parnes. He was 91 years old. For my readers who don’t know who he was — Sidney Parnes, Phd is the co-inventor of what is known as the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process.  He helped start the CPSI Conference with Alex Osborn, and, was the  co-founder of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State University. Sid wrote many books — including a very popular one Optimize the Magic of Your Mind, and was a prominent and prolific

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  Dr. Orin Davis (@DrOrinDavis) has written up two more short pieces — essentially his reflections from the talks of Rebecca Henderson and Dan Pink at the recent World Innovation Forum. His comments on Pink are somewhat provocative, so, be aware I do not share Orin’s views exactly. Orin is a well read academic (and practitioner as well) and he knows a lot about the wide array of literature that exists for creativity and innovation — that’s why I’ m publishing his insightful work here. His critique of Pink is interesting to me because I was not aware of who Pink borrows from, and, if he is borrowing faithfully to the original research. That said, I think there’s a real value for people

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When it comes to sparking the imagination, much is made of that lovely phrase, “What If?” It’s a good one, no doubt. Just the mention of the phrase has folks going down a more imaginative path. However, quite often, we get to the end of that imaginative path, and, good news, we have an idea in mind. We might express it, we might not. Often, instead of moving forward with self-expression, like writing it up, talking to others, or taking some action, we just let it go. Why? Lots of reasons. It might seem impractical. Or expensive. Or just hard to do. Or, we might start thinking about what everybody is going to say about it, and mercy sakes, don’t

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It’s all about Fear. I’m of the belief that fear is the opposite of creativity. Fear leans towards the darkness in our souls. Creativity leans towards the light. Creativity is high order thinking, fear is not thinking, it’s letting our lizard brain dictate our action. Fear is the hidden truth in what happened with the Zimmerman sentence and the Martin murder. Some would question, now, my use of the word murder when Zimmerman has been acquitted. I’m sorry, but George is responsible for the death of Trayvon Martin. He put himself in that position, he fired the weapon, in my view he’s responsible. George Zimmerman was operating from a fundamental place of fear. He could have chose differently. Fear is

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Beg forgiveness for writing again about CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute) but feel compelled to share my experience at the conference. I’ve just returned and am still digesting a very rich creative learning experience. I’m thinking differently. Disclosure: KILN was a sponsor this year at CPSI. CPSI 2013 returned to a college campus, and to Buffalo, after many years of bouncing around the country. My first thought is to say I hope it stays there. CPSI is not a “corporate” conference and it does not belong at a hotel. It’s a learning conference (where anybody who can afford it) belongs. Of course, many corporate folks attend, they need creativity in the worst way and some actually know it. AND also attending: educators,

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My good friend and colleague Orin Davis, Phd is covering the World Innovation Forum 2013 and I’m pleased to post his reporting here. Dr. Davis has the unique perspective of a bona fide psychology and innovation researcher, see his website here for more on his interesting work. Orin has worked directly with the famous Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of “Flow” — suffice to say he not only knows Mihaly, he can pronounce his name properly! Here he comments on PepsiCo’s Mauro Porcini’s talk at WIF. Stay tuned to this blog for more posts on WIF 2013. **** PepsiCo’s Mauro Porcini packed a lot of great information into a one-hour talk, but one of his key points was that design-driven innovation requires a focus on

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I’m leading a Springboard session at the 2013 edition of the CPSI Conference — June 20th through the 23rd. CPSI is the annual Creative Problem Solving Institute. I’ll also be doing a demo of new techniques for conceptual blending as part of an “extending” session. This demo will feature the new tools and techniques KILN has developed as part of it’s IdeaKeg offering. What better place to demonstrate innovative techniques for innovation than CPSI right? KILN is sponsoring part of the event and we’re pleased to lend our support to what is an essential institution in the creativity and innovation space. For more (5 key reasons!) on why you might want to consider attending CPSI, see my post at the

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“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to meet it.” Jonathan Winters Last week, a personal hero of mine, Jonathan Winters, passed away. He had a long, full, complicated, crazy, and indeed, mad, mad, mad, mad, life. If you don’t know who he is or why I’d be doing a post about him in a creativity and innovation blog, please just go to YouTube and watch this. If you really want to snort milk through your nose, try this one. Winters was a comic genius, a creative tour-de-force, and, a man who “used” his affliction with bi-polar disorder positively. He was one of the first public figures to admit to treatment for mental illness having “gone to the zoo”

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