The UK and Ireland are caught in a web of snow, cold weather, and lack of preparation. Let’s face it this kind of snow is not supposed to happen and the UK/Ireland are simply not prepared to deal with the kind of snow that Chicago and Buffalo routinely get — and handle. Not enough salt, not enough trucks, not enough knowledge of how to cope are the culprits. Government officials and corporations should learn from this awful experience, but for now, 45% of the countries workers are at home sitting on their hands. Most of them would really prefer to be working. The loss of productivity is massive and will put a dent in the fragile recovery — if action

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I’ve realized while reading Winners & Losers, Creators & Casualties of the Age of the Internet that the role of the storyteller in innovation is under respected. Author Kieran Levis has written a book that is chock full of real life business stories.  Reading these stories I’ve learned a great deal about why companies succeed or fail. Is there anything more valuable when it comes to preparing yourself for innovation?  Why fall on the same sword that, for instance, Webvan did?  Instead why not emulate the team that founded Sony just after WWII? If you want to catch up on your business reading, this book is essentially an MBA in a box. It’s fascinating. Levis uses real world business stories

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For about a week I’ve been struggling with how to frame Grant McCracken‘s latest book, Chief Culture Officer, How to Create a Living , Breathing, Corporation.  I like the book a great deal — it makes me want to run out and get a degree in anthropology.  To start, this book has a wealth of insight and perspective on how culture — and I mean that in the broadest of all possible ways — impacts innovation. That said, I didn’t have a theme for my comments, but it came to me this morning, and the theme is… “holistic.” Holistic Innovation is something I preach and it’s amazing it took me this long to connect the dots of my current mantra and

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Frankie Boyle’s autobiography, My Sxxx Life So Far is not for everyone.  It’s filled with obscenities for one, and his relentlessly irreverent view on nearly everything is sometimes too much to bear.  On the other hand, I have to say, I loved it, because this is a guy who somehow never learned to pull his creative punches.  This is absolutely 100% authentic, honest, creative, interesting, and funny.  Inspiring for me, and I suspect many innovators would find this book a breath of fresh, albeit blue, air. Frankie Boyle is probably best known as a panelist on the UK comedy show “Mock the Week”. The show is improvised outrageousness and Frankie is clearly the most spontaneous and out-of-the-comedy-box person on it.

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As promised here’s the official link to the TEDx NASA conference.  I was a featured speaker, and, there were a great many excellent people speaking and performing.  I suggest that you link through the TEDx NASA site — it provides some context and it has a nice list of all the speakers with direct video links. I’ve gotten an unprecedented number of unsolicited emails in the last couple weeks — people who’ve seen my video. It’s delightful to receive the feedback — keep those cards and letters coming. http://www.tedx-nasa.org/

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I occasionally post my notebook drawings.  I’ll let this one speak for itself…

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I just noticed that the video from my talk at TEDxNASA is now available online. I spoke at that wonderful event about two weeks ago in Newport News, Virginia. (Oops… I’ve been advised that I’ve posted this link pre-maturely… that the editing isn’t done, etc.  Stay tuned, I’ll update this post when it actually becomes available, my apologies.) This is a short 18 minute video about how to be more creatively effective. I talk about having heart for what you do, deferring judgement, play, note-booking, tools, and the link of creativity to innovation.  I link all these topics with the visual metaphor of a creative coat. I would love to hear your comments, and, please send this link to anyone

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I’m still giddy over the University of Cincinnati Bearcats (UC) victory over the University of Pittsburgh Panthers yesterday. Don’t worry, this is not going to be a post about sports, it’s about what it takes to make a great success. Creating a winning major college football program at UC, while not some earth stopping innovation, is surely a story about creating a culture of excellence — and all innovators can learn from that. Let me take you back to the early 60’s for a moment. I was a young lad living near the UC campus in Cincinnati. I attended a few football games with my father and brother, and usually, UC got trounced. Sometimes they would eek out a narrow

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I watched and read with interest reports of yesterday’s Obama Job Summit. I’ve got a simple point to make here; one day brainstorming sessions are close to useless. Brainstorming gets a bad name because what is really a “discussion” (aka bullshitting) is often labeled as brainstorming. The meeting yesterday was not about serious idea generation.  It was a meeting to discuss things, which is not wrong, but it’s not going to generate breakthrough ideas. Real breakthroughs happen when people do idea generation over a longer period of time.  Getting to the “fresh snow” of truly new ideas, innovative ideas, means a lot of imaginative thinking. This means plowing through all the already-skied-down-to-ice “old snow” ideas. One day is Never enough

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I posted recently on a really spectacularly bad customer service experience I had at the hands of easyJet.  It’s just two posts down if you want some detail, but essentially I paid for priority boarding and didn’t get it.  I complained and asked for a refund. I finally heard back from them with regard to my complaint. Their answer: No. My interpretation/summary “You Screwed Up, You Trusted Us.” I find the letter (see below) almost comical, and will post it here for your comments.  Am I crazy or what?  Are they really saying they are not able to guarantee a service that I PAID FOR? I understand taking a risk in Vegas…I don’t quite get it here.  I’ll take a

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