Growing by Design
Engaged?
Are you and your people fully engaged? A typical reaction is "YES" but in reality many of us are not. If you are multitasking, you may be busy, but you are not fully engaged. Why does this matter? In today's world, people are proud of how many things they can juggle...
Q&A on Design Thinking
Recently, I had a chance to participate in a new learning format, a MOOC at University of Cincinnati. MOOC stands for Massively Open Online Course, where anyone can sign up and take virtual free instruction on a topic. At UC, they offered an Innovation MOOC this past...
The Outdated Snow Day
When I was a child in school, we looked forward to the snow day, the day of freedom from responsibility and the unexpected joy of spontaneous play. While I don't want to sound like the Grinch, I wonder if the Snow Day is outdated and if even the institution of...
Seeing is Believing: Holy Socks!
Seeing is believing. That is why a picture is worth a thousand words and a prototype is worth a thousand pictures. There are times you just cannot visualize what you might need until you see it. I often hear the complaint about how consumers don't know...
Brainstorming doesn’t work!?!
Recent research suggests the long "go to innovation tool" of brainstorming doesn't work*. How can that be? I remember the brainstorming sessions of the 80's. Friday afternoon a bunch of us might go into a conference room and start brainstorming on an issue. We...
Just Get On With It!
"Just get on with it!" People are impatient when it comes to innovation. They want to get doing right away and they want to know right now that they have a great idea. Both of these orientations can hinder the very outcome that they seek. Before jumping to solve the...
Designer? Design Thinker?
Are all designers Design Thinkers? I think the assumption by many is "yes". I would disagree. I think Design Thinking derives from Design, but it is not synonymous, nor are the practitioners. I definitely think designers have a leg up on others since they use many...
Control is for Beginners
In the beginning of any new skill, you work hard to "stay in the lines" and maintain control, to 'do it right'. The same is true for design thinking. People want a play book, the rules, the steps they can logically follow each time. To leverage design thinking this...
Rebels at Work
Are you a rebel at work? I heard a former CIA director, Carmen Medina, speak at BIF 9 about being a rebel at work and I was intrigued. The language was provocative, yet it felt familiar. My language for the same thing is "change agent". Corporate...
Empathy! Compassion! Early Moral Adopters….Oh My!
It is all around me. Perhaps I am suffering that phenomena of when you tune in to something it seems to keep presenting itself in various forms. For me, it is the power of Empathy to unlock so many positive things, such as creativity, innovation, employee...
