Thinking About Innovation

Innovation as a Sign of Hope During a Pandemic

Innovation is a sign of hope. COVID-19, the Spanish Flu, the Black Death ... though our situation is serious, it has not destroyed hope in the hearts of the population.
The Black Death was so severe that people expected nothing from the future but a gruesome death. Hope for a better future was extinguished for 50 years. The fact that people and businesses today are still innovating for a better future is a sign that hope for the future is still strong in our hearts. 

Googol is a Very Big Idea for a Little Boy

Googol was actually invented by a 9 year-old boy in 1938. But it was rebranded in 1998 as one of the biggest companies in the world. Let's talk about this big idea and how your company can be their favorite partner. 

Microinnovation

Product or service innovations do not have to be huge to have a big impact on customer demand and sales. Microinnovations can solve problems that customers have faced for decades, but which have been overlooked or ignored. 

Why would anyone create another podcast?

There are over 850,000 podcasts on the internet, with over 30 million episodes posted. So why would anyone create another one? Hint: why do people paint, sing, and dance? Do they expect to become rich and famous? 

5 Types of CTO

The CTO position has been applied in 5 very unique ways by different types of businesses. Understand the Genius, Administrator, Director, Executive, and Advocate forms of CTO. Read the CTO Book.

The Scribal Tradition vs. the Printing Press Innovation

In 1492, the Abbott Trithemius was fighting the slow disintegration of the holy calling of the scribe in reproducing books. Gutenberg's printing press was gradually replacing the scribe with a machine that could work much faster. 

The Field Grade CTO

Technology has become so essential to every major corporation that technology leaders are needed in every business unit to focus on the unique types of technologies that are relevant to that business unit. We argue that CTOs are best deployed as field officers, rather than relying on a single C-suite position at the head of the company. 

Innovation in a Post-COVID World

This podcast is the preview of an article that will explore the positive stimulative effect that COVID will have on business innovation, research, and development. 
The COVID virus has upended every economy in the world. Politicians and large business leaders discuss how to bring the world "back to normal" once the current wave has passed. But there will be no return to the "normal" that existed in 2019. Instead, 2020 and beyond will be defined by a "new normal" that fits our new needs in a Post-COVID world. 

Artificial Intelligence is the 21st Century Printing Press

Gutenberg's printing press is often considered responsible for the impact of Martin Luther's "Theses" in launching the Protestant Reformation in 1517. But it also transformed every other social activity as its use spread. The 21st century has seen the emergence of a technology with an equally huge potential to change society. Artificial Intelligence - empowered by cloud computing, unlimited data storage, and the digitization of all human endeavors - will be this century's Gutenberg printing press. 

On the Greek Origins of Innovation

Innovation as a positive social force is a relatively young idea. When the concept was first introduced by Greek philosophers, statesmen, and writers it quickly became a dangerous concept to be guarded a against. The concept evolved toward a positive force over centuries.