For Bethany; Make Science Communication Great Again

(Note: This draft has been sitting open for a few days so I figured what the hell lets just share it and get comments. It jumps from first to second to third person, generally rambles, and uses too many passive sentences. Also, no sources. Read, then let’s discuss! ) If I was better-read, I would start this […]

What can I learn, then apply to a new context?

This post is inspired by a course I completed through IDEO, Leading for Creativity. My big question (the question that guides my life) is “What can I learn, then apply to a new context?” I’ve never considered that I might have a big question, so I did some reflection and started with a flowchart. Two things. […]

Change needs more than data

I’m reading Black Swan by Nassim Taleb (of Anti-Fragile fame), which is nominally about “the impact of unlikely events”, but seems to be about (some of) everything. Taleb is talking about examples of “empirics”, medical doctors that didn’t rely on reasoning and theory. Instead, they relied on chance observations, guessing, experimenting, and tinkering. A fairly recent […]

Collaboration; And don’t waste your time critiquing trash.

A recent post in The Economist caught my eye. Possibly because I enjoy revising titles for accuracy. The Collaboration Curse Suggestions: Collaboration, done poorly, has some measurable negative effects. Or, Collaboration, when it isn’t actually a collaboration, has some measurable negative effects. I’m leaning toward “when it isn’t actually a collaboration.” ‘interruptions, even short ones, increase the total time required to […]

What to do when you hear a rhetorical question.

“…you should develop a sensitivity for rhetorical questions in any argument or polemic. Why? Because, like the use of “surely,” they represent an author’s eagerness to take a short cut.”—Daniel C. Dennett, Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking Today I caught myself leaning on the boom-crutch known as the rhetorical question. In a rush […]

Rather and Surely—Two Words Used to Prop Up Weak Arguments

“Rathering is a way of sliding you swiftly and gently past a false dichotomy.” –Daniel C. Dennett’s Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. Why Intuition Pumps David Kelly’s Creative Confidence led me to read Intuition Pumps. Short version; Kelly gains creative inspiration by attending out-of-field conferences. I decided to take the poor man’s path toward creative inspiration […]

Rapid Prototypes: Genius Level

“Welcome to the Intellevator. Please select your language.” This elevator prank by Ylvis (of “What does the fox say?” fame) is making the rounds on the Facebook. Like it says on the tin, this post is about rapid prototypes, but before I ruin the humor entirely, check it out: If you watched the whole video, you […]

Five Reasons First Structured Brainstorming Sessions Fail

Recently I wrote about using structured brainstorming to get better results from meetings. I met someone at Jax Innovation Connection Conference that was interested in running a structured session for his team. I consulted with him on the design of the meeting and anxiously awaited the results. After he ran the meeting he provided notes on the […]

Creativity—Candor as bellman at a nice hotel

I’m re-reading Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace. If you haven’t read it yet, do it. It’s about the work Catmull did to create a supportive culture for creativity at Pixar, and the work needed to maintain the culture over time. Pixar gave us Toy Story and Finding Nemo and Up! What else do […]

Brainstorm with structure—get something useful.

The last few weeks I (and my team) have fine-tuning our brainstorming strategies, attempting to create a repeatable process that we can hand off to other teams. Today I had two experiences that convinced me we’re on the right path. My highly-effective co-conspirator ran a modified version of our strategy, putting his own flavor and […]

Joseph Greaser

Re-imagining education. Really!