Probably the most common challenge I have come across throughout my career is the human tendency to jump to solutions. We are naturally inclined to solve problems. But sometimes we jump to solutions before we understand the problem we are solving. Problem Design is the structured approach I use to force understanding of a problem […]
Category Archives: Blog
The Tortoise and the Hare in Innovation – Go Slow to Go Fast
Aesop’s fable of the Tortoise and the Hare is well known from our childhood. The braggartly Hare spent his time gloating about how fast he was until the Tortoise finally had enough and challenged him to a race. Laughing at the slow Tortoise the Hare happily accepted the challenge. When the race started the Hare sped […]
Podcasts for Constant Learning
I am a strong believer in ongoing learning as a mandatory activity for anyone who is looking to progress in their life either personally or professionally. I am continually looking for new options for reading and learning everywhere I go and I try to bring a curious attitude to each new experience. I am always […]
Learning to Maximize Your Business
At some point in the growth of a business, every entrepreneur realizes that they need to shift their focus and work “on” their business instead of working “in” it. In fact, it has been written about so many times that many entrepreneurs actually believe that this is the one transition they need to plan for in […]
Happy World Innovation Day
Today is World Innovation Day – the final celebration of World Creativity and Innovation Week. This week marked World Creativity and Innovation Week. Open minds, hearts, eyes to new ideas, new decisions, new actions: one week worldwide. The movement has gained so much momentum that the United Nations has added World Innovation Day on April […]
Working Smarter Using the Eisenhower Matrix
Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, serving as president from 1953 to 1961. He faced challenges such as the Korean War, the start of the space race, the Lebanon crisis, and a growing conflict with the Soviet Union. One of his famous quotes was: What is important is seldom urgent, and […]
Scaling to Differentiation
I recently wrote about the importance of “Framework Thinking” as a way to simplify how you look at problems, structures, and processes so I thought I would extend that thinking as an example of how you can think about how you organize your business structure. Scaling an organization requires an evolution of maturity in your […]
Simplify Alignment with Framework Thinking
Entrepreneurs get started in business with a great idea and the energy to bring it to reality. Then they grow the business based on hard work. Hopefully that hard work translates into a growing team of exceptional team players around them. But at some point the outcomes of raw desire and entrepreneurial energy start to […]
I Am Canadian – Canadian Values
Today, as my neighbours to the south celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day to celebrate the life of one of the greatest spokesmen for Civil Rights we have ever seen, I have found myself bombarded with messages in the news and in social feeds that scare me as a Canadian. This is a unique MLK […]
ROI Comes From Customer Value Creation
I read a post the other day looking at the ROI (Return On Investment) in immediate payment systems (banking speak for instant payments) and one particular statement made by the author made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. In fact, the real driver may not be the ROI but just keeping […]