IdeaConnection :: Articles

Zero-Gravity Thinkers

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:23:35 -0700

"Innovation is the application of an idea that results in a valuable improvement".

Releasing our Mental Blocks

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:14:06 -0700

We become locked in our old ways of thinking, and we often assume our past and current successes are the path to future success. But inevitably every current success will become a future failure if we keep thinking and doing things in the same manner.

The Wisdom of Not Knowing

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:39:02 -0700

“The one thing Socrates knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that he didn’t know anything beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Using Your Mind to the Utmost

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:06:31 -0700

What do fifth century BC Athens and 2008 New York City have in common? A man could, and can, be seen dressed in a toga and wearing a headband, exploring complex ideas by asking probing questions of his fellow citizens.

Solving Tough Problems (Part 2)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:40:49 -0700

Last week we learned that the authoritarian approach to solving tough problems, where the expert, the boss or the politician attempts to solve it does not work. Rather, it hurts and as Adam Kahane, author of Solving Tough Problems, learned from his dental nurse, when something you are doing hurts then stop doing it.

Solving Tough Problems

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:54:29 -0700

Tough problems in families, businesses, communities, countries and other organizations often don’t get solved peacefully. They either remain unsolved or are dealt with by force. There is another way. Talk and listen to each other in order to reach a solution peacefully.

Mental Models

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:21:31 -0700

Use of mental models can stimulate innovative ideas, including ideas for new products and services for customers. This is a tool that can ensure our customers are front and centre in the design process. Author Indi Young describes design as organizing the way in which you enable “digital, physical, and environmental interactions that people carry out to accomplish something”.

Demystifying Mind Mapping

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:47:06 -0700

Not often does one encounter a productivity tool that will support group brainstorming and creative thinking, organize complex information, help solve problems, support SWOT analysis, enhance memory, help make decisions, manage projects, support strategic planning, prepare for major meetings, take notes, write papers and presentations, manage “to do” lists, support process and quality improvement, assist teachers to structure their presentations and students to increase their learning, and facilitate individual ideation (generate new ideas). Visual mapping supported by mind mapping software may be a must tool for all knowledge workers who are increasingly inundated with data and information.

The Power of Cool

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:27:55 -0700

Jazz music fans will know the English slang “cool” means excellent. According to Coolhunting by Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper, cool goes beyond the usual definitions of “excellent” and “fun”. To be cool something must “make the world a better place” and exhibit “altruism” in its development and realization.

Don't Blink, Think (part 2)

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:44:11 -0700

Last week we ended with my question to Michael R. LeGault, author of Think! Why Critical Decisions Can’t Be Made in the Blink of an Eye, regarding fear. We continue this week with his answer to that question and a number of other questions.

Don't Blink, Think

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:16:57 -0800

We are what we think. Faulty thinking results from the inability to think critically and a lack of will to think clearly. Critical thinking plays a significant role in our physical and mental well-being. Critical thinking depends on analysis and logic, and on action. Critical thinking requires gathering, processing and evaluating information, and creative thinking uses this information to produce a result that would not have happened without that effort. Therefore, critical thinking is the key to releasing the mind’s higher cognitive powers—creative thinking.

Myths and Methods of Innovation

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:11:46 -0800

Myths simplify and distort reality but as human beings we have a propensity for believing them. When it comes to innovation the myths surrounding it can stand solidly in your way.

Not Leaving Good Ideas on the Shelf

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:45:12 -0800

BrainBank Inc. is located in Montreal, Canada. It provides systems, implementation consultants and technologists that enable organizations to implement idea and innovation management processes that deliver measurable and sustainable improvements in financial results; and positive cultural change. I recently had an opportunity to interview Andre Laurin, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BrainBank.

Interview with Richard Ogle, author of Smart World

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:48:57 -0800

We are making our world “smarter” all the time by creating more and more “idea-spaces”. Idea-spaces are those places, outside ourselves, where we store information, allowing us, as brain scholar Andy Clark says, to “be dumb in peace”. These spaces can be as mundane as a grocery list or as sophisticated as the computers that help spacecraft reach their destinations, do their jobs, and return to earth.

Right Brain Workouts Explained

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:18:55 -0800

Last week I wrote an article summarizing my interview of Peter Lloyd and Steve Grossman, co-authors of Animal Crackers. In this article I continue to explore Peter's creative ideas.

Animal Crackers

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:04:51 -0800

People need a slight switch in their mood -- in a positive direction -- before they can create. When you get creative insights it is thrilling; it gives you energy.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:09:10 -0800

What is a Tipping Point? It is “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.”

We are Smarter than Me

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:00:41 -0800

After only a decade and a half of being in existence, the “Internet Age” is being compared to the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. With about one billion people “connected” and the numbers growing exponentially, businesses are harnessing the power and ideas of their online community of customers, employees and shareholders to make better decisions, improve services to their customers, and make bigger profits.

Democratizing Innovation: The Shift of Innovation to Users

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:16:04 -0800

A major reason for the frequent commercial failure of manufacturer-developed products is poor understanding of users’ needs on the part of manufacturers’ innovators. To avoid this problem, some businesses have begun to shift the task of custom product design to their customers, in some cases providing them with toolkits for innovation.

The Power of Story

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:50:15 -0800

The most precious resource we humans possess is our personal energy. The key to almost all our problems is faulty storytelling, because storytelling drives the way we gather and spend our energy. We need to constantly infuse our personal story with new thinking and new energy in order to bring about sustained shifts in happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, joy and inspiration.