In a recent interview, Ed Catmull, the cofounder of Pixar, shares his views on risk, failure and culture. The entire interview is worthwhile, but I found Ed’s perspective on these three issues to be especially insightful and applicable to all industries. Taking Risks The nature of innovation requires risk taking. This creates a fundamental tension[…]
Photo by Rachele Caretti, Licensed under CC by 2.0 One of the qualities shared by great decision makers is the rare ability to disregard the opinions of others and think for themselves. There is a strong gravitational pull to conform to the conventional wisdom. If you’re looking to avoid accountability or even regret (which is[…]
I recently had an opportunity to hear Gail McGovern speak to a group of high-potential leaders at the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, DC. She shared her personal history from her early career at AT&T where she started as a computer programmer and rose to Executive Vice President. There were a lot of lessons[…]
In 2015 we celebrated the one-hundred-year anniversary of the publication of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. What Einstein was able to achieve was so astounding and so creative, it is worth reflecting on how he did it. Thought Experiments. Einstein’s intellectual journey toward the General Theory of Relativity did not begin with complex equations and high[…]
Before you can lead a change effort you must first identify the forces that are driving change and build the case for why change is critical. Gathering support from other leaders, as well as your team, depends on how well you understand the change that’s needed. Considering these questions will help you prepare and ultimately[…]
It’s easy to think of innovation only in terms of the big developments or breakthrough concepts – the iPod, Frappuccino blended coffee, hybrid cars. We don’t think as much about the teams of people behind those ideas. More importantly, we forget that those teams are led by leaders who embrace and create environments where innovation[…]
Innovation isn’t just about creating new products or developing a new design. Innovation also plays a key role in employee engagement, customer satisfaction and company success. Here are five things you can do to drive innovation in your organization. 1. Encourage Story Telling. Employees that are more engaged are also more innovative. So, how can[…]
How Mark Zuckerberg has grown into his role as CEO of Facebook. Emotional Intelligence as a predictor of success. Video of my friend Jit Chopra addressing a group of executives on the creative process. If you like my post on “start with the bad ideas first“, then you’ll love to hear Jit tell the story about[…]
For most of Google’s history, and especially in the early years, it took a laissez-faire policy toward leadership. The company hired smart engineers, promoted the most brilliant into leadership positions and then pretty much left them alone. The assumption was that they were smart and would figure it out or ask questions if they needed help.[…]
At one time or another we’ve all been invited to attend a brainstorming session, where the leader stands up in front of a whiteboard, pen in hand, and says something like, “Innovation is critical. We need to come up with some good ideas to stay innovative. So who wants to start?” As any survivor of one[…]