David L. Peterson

International Speaker, Bestselling Author, Serial Entrepreneur, Shipwreck Survivor

Innovation ThinkTime

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Making Business Meetings Unique and Fun

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I periodically talk about having fun at work. I truly believe when we make our workplace fun, our team members enjoy their work and their environment more. This translates into more productivity and also transfers to our clients. Trust me, even if it is just over the phone, your customers know whether your staff enjoys their work or not. So, you should be looking for any reasonable way to make the work environment more fun. As a strategic planning facilitator, I am also looking for ways to break up the sometimes tedious nature of sitting in a meeting room, simply talking with one another. I use interesting and thought-provoking exercises to break up the brainstorming and ideation; most often, an evening of strategic planning is a good …

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Preparing for the Worst

I attended the American Bankers Association’s Annual Conference in October in New York City. One of the sessions on the opening night was a vendor showcase, where seven presenters were each given five minutes to present their solution. There was an open bar and the session was standing room only. Now, as a professional speaker, I am always interested in watching other presenters give presentations. I just like to study the craft. I know speaking is more of an art than a science, but just like art, there are some basic rules and “not to do” elements. The first speaker rocked, had a smooth delivery and easy to read and understand visuals. Another speaker constantly poked at his inability to be a good speaker. Now self-deprecating humor can be very effective, but only in moderation. …

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Enabling Someone to Do the Right Thing

If you travel as much as I do, you’re bound to be a frequent customer at the dry cleaners. Since my move to Sugar Land, I found a cleaning business conveniently located on my way to work; they are very efficient and have been a delight. However, upon closer inspection, a shirt of mine was damaged by the cleaners--bummer, it was one of my favorites, an UnTuckIt shirt I wore often. I returned it to them and spoke to the owner; we went over the shirt damage, and while she asked good probing questions, she never indicated they were not at fault with the shirt. This is in stark contrast with my previous experience with a South Georgia cleaner who treated me like a cheat and miscreant over a similar issue. She finally agreed to “look into the issue and get back with me.” Luckily, she did; …

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Our Future is in Good Hands

As a frequent speaker to financial services audiences, I talk often about the future customers of financial institutions, including Gen Z, the youngest generation, who are mostly still in some form of school as I write this. So when I have a chance to interact with an actual Gen Z member, I generally ask a lot of questions; about how they interact online and, even at a very young age, pay for things online and just how they think generally. So it was on a beautiful fall day, I was engaged in serious conversation with my great niece, Avery. Every time I am around Avery, I have renewed hope for our future as a species. If even half of her generation is as smart, thoughtful, and energetic as she is, we will all be OK. She is truly a renaissance young lady, active in volleyball and a …

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Can We Really Trust Our Memory?

Current events have placed old memories into our watercooler conversations, and it just so happens that I have been binge listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast series called Revisionist History. In season 3, he provides a series of episodes on memory. In these, he documents, in his unique professorial style, every detail fully researched yet with an everyman, engaging delivery; how what we KNOW to be true as a memory is almost always not  exactly so. One of the examples he gave is how people remember 9/11. Since this was a seminal event, it has a “flashbulb” effect, one that would sear deep into your memories. Yet, Gladwell relayed a conversation he had with a close friend who was certain that he had told her about his certain flight the next day, and that it would be OK, since it …

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