As a society, we have a problem. Some years ago, the late Nobel Prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with people today?” The famous doctor was silent for a moment, then he said, “People simply don’t think!” Why do some not use our brains and think? The brain is a fabulous mechanism. It is capable of processing eight hundred inputs per second for seventy-five years without exhausting itself. Scientists tell us that humans use approximately 2 percent of...
Aug 10, 2020•5 min•Season 3Ep. 5
On January 13, 2018, the people of Hawaii woke to a shocking alert on their phones and TVs. An incoming ballistic missile was on its way and that the warning was not a drill. It was 38 minutes later that the alert was retracted. During those 38 minutes -- panic set in. People were trying to figure out what to do. People drove their families to highway tunnels in hopes it would protect them. We can only imagine the fear that raced through the population of more than a million people. How did this...
Jul 13, 2020•7 min•Season 3Ep. 4
It is normal that no two people are exactly alike. Not even twins. So the word normal should not be confused with the word average. If you leave your fingerprints on something, you might as well leave your name and address since no two people have the same prints. You hear music and see a sunrise differently from any other person. You might enjoy a movie that your spouse would do anything to avoid. You might like being in a crowd of friends while your spouse prefers an evening being just the two...
Jan 09, 2020•7 min•Season 3Ep. 3
My grandfather had an old saying when I was growing up, “Never burn a bridge." At the time, I thought it was a strange saying. It was only later that I realized what he was saying. No matter how someone treats you, don't get angry and never retaliate as to destroy the relationship. Great leaders keep cool even when the attacker is making it personal. Leaders Keep Cool Under Stress The president of a large corporation was confronted by an employee who stormed into his office and said, “I have a t...
Dec 12, 2019•6 min•Season 3Ep. 2
The world is made up of ‘yes’ people and ‘no’ people. We need more optimistic -- more hopeful people who find a way to say yes to non-obvious ideas. During Thomas Jefferson's presidency in the early 1800’s, he and a group of travelers were crossing a river that had overflowed its banks. Each man crossed on horseback fighting for his life. A lone traveler watched the group traverse the treacherous river and then asked President Jefferson to take him across. The president agreed without hesitation...
Sep 12, 2019•6 min•Season 3Ep. 1
When I was growing up, one time my grandmother baked a fantastic German Chocolate cake. I can see it now -- that moist chocolate cake and rich icing. It was great and everyone in the family let her know how great it was. We devoured the cake. But from that time on, we could count on a German Chocolate cake as THE dessert every time we would visit. It became a little boring. Needless to say, I never told her that. Everyone wants and needs change. But on the other hand, we enjoy doing what we do w...
Jul 04, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 17
I find it interesting that we usually get from other people exactly what we expect of them. If we are looking for friendship, we will likely receive it. If our attitude is that of indifference, we will get indifference. And if we are looking for a fight, we will in all likelihood find ourselves in the middle of a fight. The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude has on me. When it comes to success, attitude is more important than what happened in the past, more than your educat...
Jun 27, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 16
There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Speaking with passion but without the facts is like making a beautiful dive into an empty pool.” As John Adam’s famously said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” To convince or persuade others to support your idea, you have to base your idea on incontestable facts that are readily grasped and understood. When it com...
Jun 20, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 15
As a result of some digital spring cleaning I was doing, I found and was listening to old shows from 2005 - the first year of my podcast. Honestly, given what I know now, I wish could have re-written and re-recorded them. The technology and tools now available to podcasters are far superior to what we had back in those early days. This got me to thinking about how wonderful innovation is and how easy is for us to overlook it. Fifty years ago, we lived in a way that would be considered a burden t...
Jun 13, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 14
I was looking through some of my old idea notebooks and came across a quote that I wrote down. It is one of those quotes that cause you to pause and contemplate. To question your own personal motivations. The quote? “Institutions, like vineyards, should be judged by the quality of their vintages.” Its worth think about, isn’t it? “Institutions, like vineyards, should be judged by the quality of their vintages.” An institutions impact should be measured over time just as it takes years if not dec...
Jun 06, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Some have put forth what I believe is a false premise -- that creativity and innovation are for the young. Silicon Valley has clearly bought into this premise. If you are over 40, some could rightly argue 35, many of the companies in the valley have taken the position that you are over the hill. The average age of an employee at leading Silicon Valley companies like Facebook is 28 while Google is 30. My former employer, HP looks like a retirement home with the average age of its employees being ...
May 30, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 12
I’m not sure who said it first but I’ll give credit to Tony Robbins for the now famous quote -- “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” With a slight tweak, you can apply this quote to networks, communities, tribes, and friends you socialize with. If you changed that quote to be … “You are the average of the five social networks where you spend the most time” What would that say about you? Remember that it’s the average. Based on the networks and their communities y...
May 23, 2019•7 min•Season 2Ep. 11
As it says in Psalm 90:10, we are allotted threescore and ten years to do with as we please. Of that, we will spend the equivalent of twenty-three years and four months of it asleep. We will work nineteen years eight months practicing our religion and ten years and two months in recreation. We will spend six years and ten months -- eating and drinking. Six years will be spent traveling. Four years are spent in illness. Time is one of those resources that we never seem to have enough of. It is a ...
May 16, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Your idea was rejected. Criticized. Dumped on. You were told to give up. I have yet to find anyone who likes to have their ideas rejected. But if you want to succeed in innovation, you have to put yourself and your ideas out there which means you will get rejected. You have no other choice. The alternative is to avoid rejection and criticism which translates into 100% chance that your idea will never become a reality. To set the proper expectation, your ideas will be rejected far more times than...
May 09, 2019•7 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Want to know the secret to take ideas and make them real innovations? It is what I call the “daffodil principle” which I learned/stole from an article published by Jaroldeen Edwards. In one of the small mountain communities in the Sierra foothills, there is a church. If you take the time to pull off the road and walk around the side of the church, you will see a hand-lettered sign pointing to the "Daffodil Garden." A quick walk down the path and you will see the most unbelievable sight. It looke...
May 02, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Twelve words. Millions of 11-year-old boys, and now young girls, learn it when they join Boy Scouts. It was something that I had to memorize in order to earn my first step along the way to my Eagle Scout medal . Each weekly meeting started with everyone saying them aloud. We were expected to follow them at all times. When a person achieves Eagle, they stand in front of people attending their Court of Honor and recite them and committing to continuing to follow them. This could sound like indoctr...
Apr 18, 2019•7 min•Season 2Ep. 7
I really enjoy getting behind this microphone. It is my personal creative outlet that is separate from the day job. What was it that got me to start back in 2005? Like all things, I got inspired. My inspiration was when my mentor, Bob Davis, lent me my first self-help set of cassette tapes created by Earl Nightingale. If you are not familiar with Earl Nightingale, he produced a spoken word record, The Strangest Secret , which sold more than a million copies, making it the first spoken-word recor...
Apr 11, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The inspiration for innovation takes all forms. For some its music. For others its art. And for others its data. When I was CTO, Mark Hurd, the CEO at HP at the time, had a quote that was ingrained into everything the executive team did. “If you stare at the numbers long enough, they will eventually confess.” Mark Hurd The expectation was that as an executive you knew “your numbers”. It was not unusual to have Mark stop me in the hall and ask about the R&D investment levels last quarter for ...
Apr 04, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Great leaders - in business, government or society, know that when it comes to others, there is always more than meets the eye. Earl Nightingale once shared a story that reminds us to look beyond what we think is obvious. It seems that the NBC orchestra was about to be formed, David Sarnoff, chairman of the board of NBC, gave one directive: “Do not hire away any players from existing orchestras.” The people in charge managed to put together a superb orchestra -- all except for the first clarinet...
Mar 28, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Any writer, syndicated cartoonist, innovator or perhaps a podcast host; sooner or later will run into what some would call writers' block. They find themselves drawing a blank. They have a deadline rapidly approaching and they find themselves with nothing -- not a single good idea. Writers Block It has happened to me more times that I would care to admit. I have a show script that needs writing and I find myself looking at my laptop with nothing. I go for a walk. I read my emails. I check out my...
Mar 21, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Did you know the opposite of bravery is not cowardice? The opposite of bravery is conformity. Doing everything the same way that everybody else does it, being like everybody else, thinking the same way everybody else does. Conformity is the “safe” approach which actually puts us at more risk. It takes bravery to step out and leave the warm space of conformity — and try something new. Let’s be honest, conformity is comfortable. You know what to expect. You conform to the norms of an office. You c...
Mar 11, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 2
I’ve been in the innovation game for more than 30 years. Hard to believe. With that many years comes loads of experience but also some downsides. As with most things, when you’ve done something for a long time, you tend to fall into a pattern - a rut. You use your experience to recognize a pattern and then immediately apply the answer that worked the last time. That works great in many situations but can create major blind spots when it comes to innovation. Stuck In A Rut How many of us have fal...
Mar 04, 2019•6 min•Season 2Ep. 1
I’m an innovation guy. It may not say so on my business card, but that’s what I do. I encourage people, whether inside HP or in my meetings with customers around the world, to accept that they and their product are going to have to change. No matter how popular and successful your work is, things change. The economy shifts; your customers’ needs evolve; technologies become redundant. We’ve talked about this in earlier chapters, but looking forward, preparing for the inevitable evolutions in your...
Nov 05, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 25
On October 4, 1957, Russia launched a beach-ball-sized satellite named Sputnik, which orbited the Earth in just over ninety-six minutes. The previous frontrunner in the space race, the United States, was now the runner up. Our only competitor had trounced us, seemingly out of nowhere. A month later the Russians sent up Laika, a small stray terrier collected from the streets of Moscow, in Sputnik II . The dog became the first living creature sent into space, and an instant celebrity back on Earth...
Oct 22, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 24
I’ve never shopped at the online craft marketplace Etsy.com or even any of its competitors. Not an area of interest for me as I’m not often in the market for hand-knitted iPod cozies, customized guitar cables, or the like. As for my wife and daughters – they are big fans and very loyal and passionate users. And they are not alone. Since 2005 Etsy.com has signed up 2 million merchants and 35 million users. Their annual sales figures in 2017 were $3.2 BILLION. Even more interesting to me is not ju...
Oct 15, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
What is surprisingly inconvenient about my product? The designers and engineers who work at HP face many challenges in getting their ideas signed off on. It’s a long process from an idea to a finished prototype. Before any product can hit the market, it faces one final test. I take the prototype home, give it to my wife, and say, “Tell me what you think.” Now, my wife is an extremely smart and focused individual, but she is emphatically not a techie. She doesn’t care how a gadget works; she just...
Oct 08, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Do you sell atoms or bytes? Do you think that your answer could change over the next five years? Think about Amazon and the Kindle. Jeff Bezos asked, What is my role going to be if the nature of books changes? He realized that to stay relevant and necessary his company needed to retain control over something tangible and physical. There could have been other options. Amazon could have bet that the reading experience would fully transition to audio, but initially they ultimately gambled that the ...
Oct 01, 2018•6 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Where do we perform product research and development? Where else could this be done? What is your organization’s philosophy about design and development? Do you keep everything in-house, or do you outsource as needed? There are two schools of thoughts on this. By keeping the design process in-house, a company can build a sense of continuity and cohesion that links the entire family of products together in a satisfying way. Or you can outsource as needed, hiring talent for specific products and m...
Sep 17, 2018•9 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In the traditional R&D process, the product is developed and then handed off to the design team to “wrap” it and make it look pretty. The drawback is that this approach is out of date; in the last ten years consumers have become much more design-savvy. Consumers want functional, usable design that highlights ease of use, or a more emotive design that adds a personal connection with the product or in some way broadcasts a statement about the user’s more subtle, hard-to-define beliefs about th...
Sep 10, 2018•6 min•Season 1Ep. 19
What emotional, psychological, or status benefits could people derive from using my product? Do you have diamonds stashed away that you reckon you can sell if times ever get tough? Say, a family heirloom, or an engagement ring from a failed marriage? Perhaps you know how much the diamond was appraised for by a reputable seller and feel confident that you can get a reasonable return on your investment. If so, you’re in for a disappointing surprise. In the late 1880s, a group of British financiers...
Sep 03, 2018•8 min•Season 1Ep. 18
