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…
I used to sign up for a lot of webinars but, over time, I found that I was not deriving enough benefit from most of them to make it worth my while. Today, I listened in on one that turned out to be a gem. The topic was “Design Thinking: Transforming Teams” presented by Bill 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…
Some information about 2 of the Singularity team projects that I liked best: Matternet and Ignisolar.
A couple of teenage sisters have developed a new energy bar that feeds the brain as well as the body. Their award winning product has already been flown into space – they have a patent pending.
With the spread of mobile services to remote areas devoid of internet capability, new opportunities abound. Several talks at TEDxBayArea TEDWomen related to the incredible potential of the mobile market and how women have used and can use it to improve the lives of themselves and others.
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…
I just finished facilitating my interactive class on Teaming for Innovation at Stanford Continuing Studies. As is true for all my programs on innovation, the opening activity is an improv game I use to have people introduce themselves. The reaction is always the same: rolling eyes or blank stares. I want them to do WHAT? Read the full article…
Trust and innovation are not usually used in the same sentence. It’s not that they are inherently in opposition but rather that they’re considered in different contexts. The concept of trust is highlighted in articles about leadership and teamwork while innovation is associated with creativity and risk taking, profits and products. But ultimately they are Read the full article…
When I was on an assistant professor of organization behavior at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, the students (about 30% were engineers) complained about the required class on the subject. They were there to learn how to be captains of industry. That meant mastering finance, marketing, accounting, and quantitative analysis, not managing people. Few “got” Read the full article…