Catmull’s had two childhood idols: Einstein and Disney. Both, he said, do work based on acute observation. His original ambition in life was to be an illustrator- a dream that was crushed when he discovered he couldn’t draw. That’s when he turned to CS and physics for his studies, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Read the full article…
A couple of days ago I got the latest issue of Fast Company. The headline story is the 50 most innovative companies. Top of the list: Nike, Amazon, & Square. I also happened to be looking at BCG’s latest report on most innovative companies. Apple, Google, & Samsung top that list. I checked out Insead’s Read the full article…
One of the joys of living in Silicon Valley is the wealth of meetings and conferences available to us. Today I had the privilege of attending 2 fabulous events related to innovation. The first was Changing the Game, a day-long conference organized by Churchill Club. Then, in the evening, I attended a panel on The Read the full article…
Last night, I heard Adam Lashinsky, author of the just released book, Inside Apple, at TEDxBayArea. He started his talk by saying that Apple breaks all the rules taught in business school. I would add- it also breaks the rules of creating a culture of innovation. When working with clients on creating an organization that Read the full article…
In my previous post, I mentioned traveling to Stockholm in January (which is definitely not tourist season there). I had been invited to speak at the Forest Beyond conference sponsored by Innventia, KTH, & Vinnova. The theme was creating new businesses based on forest products. My particular talk was on creating a culture of innovation. Read the full article…
The September issue of Fast Company has an article titled, “They Have Hacked Your Brain“. “They” refers not to aliens but to companies hoping to design products, services, and/or marketing materials that will grab your attention and lead you to buy- by studying your brain. NeuroFocus is providing an alternative to focus groups using its Read the full article…
Are the brain structures of men and women the same or different? Does it matter? Here are my thoughts…. what are yours?
The last several weeks I’ve been totally immersed in helping organize TEDxBayArea TEDWomen (designed to coincide with the first global TEDWomen event in Wash, DC). We had about 150 attendees plus an unknown number watching the livestream. Breaks were filled with energized conversations about all manner of topics. It was an exciting day. Like the Read the full article…
Earlier this month I attended a TED X program where I heard John Hagel talk about his new book, Power of Pull. A basic tenet of the book is that in a world where the rate of change is forever accelerating, companies have to be willing to accept that they won’t always be able to Read the full article…
Wise words from Randy Komisar in closing last night’s VLAB session at Stanford in response to a request to provide a lesson on innovation in 6 words It aptly summed up the entire session of “Entrepreneurs Uncensored”. It’s better to test early and often, quickly discovering what won’t work, correcting and improving upon what will. Read the full article…