Fear Not

 

If you have bought or sold a home in the past 5 years or so, then you are familiar the concept of virtual tours of homes. For example, your realtor might send you a link to a home that, from the convenience of wherever in the world you are, you can tour that actual home via a real video walk-through.  You can imagine the countless hours and weekend time this new method has saved all parties.

Change Agent

Being a great leader these days almost implies that you have to concurrently be a great change agent as well.  I agree with the correlation as the rate of change of both how we live and how we work has accelerated. It feels like we have been saying this for the last 20-30 years or so. In this context of constant change, the ability of leaders to orchestrate change and do it quickly is a key competency for sure.

Dangerous Ideas

Courtesy of my dear friend Kim Shepard – ask yourself how many of the ideas (home or work) you have had in the past year meet this criterion:

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”

–Oscar Wilde.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

At a session with a management team recently, I responded to this question from one of the executives, “Where do ideas come from?” She prefaced the question with “not looking for the philosophical response.” I chose to honor the parameter of question by responding using some of the latest research of the neuroscience of how thinking occurs.

Innovation & Fear

I have talked to several organizations lately who have made innovation a top priority. I don’t have any formal statistics on this, but anecdotal evidence is suggesting that a very large number of companies are trying very hard to make innovation not just a part of their business models, but an inherent part of their culture.

Entrepreneurship

Last week I had a healthy discussion with the President of my alma mater. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that “entrepreneurship” is being considered as part of academia and is considered a skill set that undergraduates can be taught.

Innovation

I have talked about this topic before but in light of the passing of one our greatest innovators, Steve Jobs of Apple, I thought I would resurface the topic. This is what he once said about innovation:

“Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you!”  Steve Jobs  

Grief – A Powerful Emotion

Yesterday, I attended the service of a friend, Lisa Marie Meloni, who died last week. Lisa was an only child, never been married, and lost a two-year fight to cancer. Her parents had moved to take care of her. Lisa was truly one of the nicest people I’d ever met, and I can’t seem to recall any time that there was not a very contagious smile on her.

Innovation

There has been quite a good bit of banter the past few weeks around innovation in America. Perhaps because it was one of the major themes of the State of the Union address by the President or perhaps because he was merely stating what many CEOs and leaders of US companies have known for a while – the heart of the American Economy relies on innovation. 

The Power of 15%

Last week I had the wonderful privilege of visiting one of our esteemed clients – 3M. I was at their Global Innovation Center just outside Minneapolis. I got a tour of the incredible facility and learned that every one of us is no more than 10 feet from a 3M product.