Thinking About Innovation

Carnegie Libraries: A Spring in the Desert

Andrew Carnegie described a library as the greatest gift that a community could give to its citizens. He endowed over 2,500 of these buildings in the years following the Civil War in an attempt to improve the minds of the entire country. Over 100 years have passed and we all have a massive library flowing directly into our homes. How do we take advantage of that precious resource? 

Peter Drucker's 5 Principles of Innovation

Peter Drucker has been called the founder of modern management. His thinking on how to manage all kinds of organizations was expressed in 39 books on the subject which were religiously studied by managers and academics for decades. But most managers miss the fact that in 1985 Drucker wrote one of the first books to identify specific principles of business innovation. In this podcast we explore Drucker's 5 Principles of Innovation. 

Bureaucracy as Innovation

Though bureaucracy has a reputation for being antithetical to innovation, it is actually one of the most powerful innovations to be created in modern society and organizations., Without it, no large-scale enterprise could function and no projects of major complexity could be achieved. 
Tonya Smith is our guest speaker for this episode. 

Rainbow Zebra

There is an African legend about the origins of the zebra and it was much more beautiful than just black-and-white. In today's society, people have a richness of personality, mind, and spirit that goes far beyond what they are allowed to express at work. But individuals and companies that seek to be exceptional need to accept and encourage the use the entire pallet of rich colors that resides inside of every person. 

Wild West Innovation

Innovation occurs in all industries, even the seemingly established western movies of the early 20th Century. Thomas Edison's invention of the movie projector, created the need for a constant stream of movies and the western story was a staple from the beginning. But the portrait of the movie cowboy and the story that he carried were disrupted every few decades by new stars and new styles. 

Leonardo da Vinci: A Man Without Boundaries

A polymath is someone who is able to master and make contributions in a number of very different fields. No one has ever ranged as widely and contributed as many diverse ideas as Leonardo da Vinci the artist, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. We celebrate and marvel at his genius. 

The Elixir of Innovation

How do you lubricate the engine of innovation? The European Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, and Internet Boom were lubricated and accelerated by the dual stimulants of coffee and community. This episode explains how this has occurred repeatedly.