How Can Boredom Be A Spark For Innovation?

It might happen while you’re taking your morning shower, or maybe you’re in the middle of your morning commute when a flash of creativity strikes: a great idea for a mobile app, a way to hack your Ikea bookshelf to solve a pressing storage problem or a brand new business idea. Why does it seem like our […]

Is There Anything That Is Truly Original?

In a recent discussion among patent attorneys and engineers, the question was asked about the requirement of originality before something can be issued a patent. Younger engineers tend to have the belief that only truly original ideas can be patented. That is not the case. In fact, when you file a patent application, you have to present the “prior art” — […]

Is STEM enough to win in the innovation economy?

Is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) the answer to preparing our kids to be the innovators of the future? That’s the question I was recently asked during the Q&A session at the end of a speech. Based on what other attendees said, I got myself wound up about the question and my belief on what […]

What Innovation Will Have The Biggest Impact On Society Over The Next 10 Years?

Note: The audio file for this podcast is not available as the podcast, The Science Layer Podcast, is no longer around. I was recently interviewed by Adam Colliers on the The Science Layer Podcast.  This is a new podcast that hosts interviews with scientists, technologists and innovators. The audio quality is a little rough but listenable (is […]

Why Does Innovation Take Longer Than Expected?

During a recent meeting where team members provide updates on their innovation projects, one of the project leads pushed back when I challenged the team to “go faster”.  All the person said was: Law #4. The person was quoting from a blog post called the 7 Laws of Innovation.  Law #4 is the Law of […]

How do you create a culture of innovation?

Yes — there is a new podcast posted! Over the last year, I’ve spent a significant amount of time laying a foundation of core attributes so that a culture of innovation can flourish. Rather than talk in hypothetical, lets dive behind the curtain and see how this has come together.  As a refresher: Core attributes are […]

6th Year Anniversary Of The Killer Innovations Podcast

On March 22, 2005, the first episode of the Killer Innovations podcast was uploaded.  Its hard to believe that we just passed the 6th year.  What started out as a early experiment to see if anyone would listen turned into source of encouragement and friendships.  Its funny how this works.  When you set your objective to give to […]

Speech on the Skills of Practical Innovation

This weeks podcast is a recording of a recent speech I gave titled “Practical Innovation Skills”. The underlying theme was on using creativity, innovation and ingenuity techniques to achieve ALL of your objectives – not just your work/professional objectives.  What do I mean by objectives? ob·jec·tive  [uhb-jek-tiv] – something that one’s efforts or actions are intended […]

Creative Economy – Recorded LIVE!

Recorded live April 4, 2008 at the Business Alliance Bootcamp for Growing Companies and Entrepreneurs … Change is something we may try to stop but never will.  From the agriculture economy to the manufacturing economy to the knowledge/information economy to that of the creative economy … where wealth creation is dependent upon the capacity of […]