Gregg Fraley

I listen to the radio when I’m in Michigan. Thank goodness because I’ve got no cable here and my web connection is pokey. It’s sort of a self-imposed news blackout. Radio is my one solid connection, so, I had NPR in the background yesterday when I heard a show that had Everything to do with Innovation — This American Life. Ira Glass hosts this eclectic show, and as many times as I’ve heard it in the past, and enjoyed it, I’ve never really thought of him as even remotely concerned with business.  So all the more amazing when his program was an Innovation business mind-blower. Listen to it: it has to do with “Patent Trolls” and their huge negative impact

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If you’re a US citizen a political Tsunami is on its way to your shores. I could be wrong, but I predict here that the USA will have its own “hacking scandal.” The hacking scandal is currently happening in the UK, it’s the press run amok — snooping, lying, bribing, and corrupting everything in its path. To be fair, it’s not all the press/media — it’s mostly press owned by the Rupert Murdoch empire. For my British friends, this prediction might seem obvious. Every day that goes by there are new and ever-more-horrifying revelations about the violation of privacy rights of ordinary citizens (in addition to celebrities and government figures). Today’s headline informs us that Gordon Brown’s family was hacked,

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If you are interested in the big picture of global innovation, you might want to download this report from INSEAD — the 2011 Global Innovation Index. It ranks 125 countries by measuring various indicators, both inputs and outputs to the innovation process. INSEAD is essentially a global business school with points of presence all around the globe. INSEAD has a number of partners in putting together this information rich report, including: Alcatel-Lucent, Booz and Company, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Intellectual Property Organization (a specialized agency of the United Nations). Don’t confuse this ranking with size of economy, that’s not what’s being measured here. The “winner” Switzerland has a population of 7.6 million and an economy of 492

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Okay, I know, leave it to a blogger (and an American living in Britain at that) to pounce on the current topic, to ride coat tails, or in this case, to float on a bride’s veil. Yes, forgive me, I’ll be making the somewhat unlikely connection between the royal wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William and — don’t swallow your Pimm’s too quickly — Innovation. Throw me in the Tower of London dungeon if you will, but I insist, the more you think about it, the biggest challenge the lovely pair have is to Innovate. All due respect, but can Will and Kate innovate? I hope they can, I do, sincerely, wish them well. I see three big things

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I’ve resisted writing this post. I have friends and family in Cincinnati and I don’t want them to think any less of me for criticizing my hometown. Still, I’m compelled to say how baffled and disappointed I am over the lack of support for the proposed Streetcar. Readers who come here for innovation stories, rest assured, this is all about innovation, or more precisely, the lack of it. Call it a sad and tearful tale of what might have been, an innovation not to be. I hope that my distance, and modest expertise in innovation will lend a perspective to my analysis here. Hasn’t anyone in Cincinnati read the work of Richard Florida? Don’t they know how vital it is to

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Communities have creative souls. Some blossom in the spring of harmoniously shared lives, others whither in the cold winds of isolation and fear. The communities that blossom, that “work” in more simple language  — are creative communities — because the collective “team” has chosen to appreciate and even encourage diversity. The bad news/good news about diversity is that there is usually more conflict on diverse teams, but if normalized, those teams are almost always more innovative than homogenous teams. You only have to examine the work of Richard Florida to understand that creative and diverse communities evolve into economically prosperous communities. Case in point: Buckinghamshire, UK. I volunteered as a graphic illustrator yesterday at an extraordinary event. I promised to

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“Coffee, tea, or, — hey, get the hell off the plane!” Nearly an entire cabin of passengers on a Ryanair flight revolted over the weekend. The incident caused a three hour delay for all passengers, even the non-trouble makers. Nearly 100 passengers deemed by the airline to have caused the trouble, were forced off the plane and must now book their own flights home. They will also incur lodging charges. Some will not be allowed back on Ryanair — those who disobeyed the cabin crew. I guess paying customers are pretty much “extra baggage” to Ryanair. And God forbid anyone should question the cabin crew!  This must be punished! The donnybrook started when a passenger (or a few) was charged

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I read with some interest, and, frankly, surprise that Intel and will.i.am are joining forces. They’ve named the rapper “Director of Creative Innovation.” Read the PR Blurb in Daily Finance for the spin on the story. This is really interesting.  Some quick thoughts: 1. will.i.am is undoubtedly a creative force as an artist. The Black Eyed Peas are monster hit makers and captivating performers. Beyond his hip-hop cred, his song “Yes We Can” used in the video for Obama during the 2008 election was nothing short of inspirational (I just watched it again, tears in my eyes). He’s dabbled in fashion, producing, acting, and more. The man has creative chops, absolutely no doubt. As a symbolic kind of guy for creativity,

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I just finished reading a wonderful novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga. It’s a brisk story told in first person by a young Indian entrepreneur.  I won’t say much more about the story, but it’s a good one, and deserving of the accolades and prizes its received. Perfect airplane reading, and, it has me thinking about how an entrepreneur gets started. Kudos to Adiga for writing a compelling, dark, fascinating examination of poverty, opportunity, and wealth. A White Tiger is a rare breed in the wild, and the metaphor was used in the novel to describe how challenging it is for a young Indian, mired in the mud of deep poverty, to move from virtual slavery to being an

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If It’s Not a Creative Solution, I’m Not Interested. The tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has me thinking about political discourse in the USA. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, and my heart goes out to all Americans. Once again we grieve over guns and politics. As a “Boomer” it takes me back to another time, in a sad way.  I am once again sitting in grade school and hearing over the loud speaker that John F. Kennedy, my hero, our President, had been shot, and once again, I’m re-living the shooting deaths of Robert F Kennedy , and Martin Luther King. Dead hero’s all, it’s not a proud legacy. I now pray

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