Last month, I did a presentation at Linn Area Credit Union in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on innovation. The CEO, Jenny Lorenz, had heard me deliver this talk at the Symitar Annual Conference and arranged for me to come and also deliver it to her entire team. It’s one thing to talk a good game related […]
Category Archives: Innovation
VR at DBSI Booth at Symitar Conference
I was in San Diego, one the most beautiful cities to visit in the U.S. with incredible weather, and because I was the closing keynote speaker at the annual Symitar Educational Conference and TechConnect, I had most of the day free. This gave me an opportunity to cruise the exhibit area where dozens of vendors […]
Paying for Parking on The Way Out of Ark Encounter
My brother Larry and sister Linda and I took our elderly parents on a bucket-list road trip to Kentucky to visit the Ark Encounter. As we entered the main parking lot, I immediately noticed something radically different from every other park or attraction I had ever visited: there was no booth to collect parking fees. […]
Reverse Brainstorm To Great Insight
In July, I teach two weeks at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado (GSBC). One of my students once showed me a great video called “7 Ways to Maximize Misery.” The idea is to get people to focus on happiness by showing how absurd it is to embrace being miserable. I […]
Transformation of the Sink, Soap and Dryer
As a frequent traveler, I have seen my share of bathrooms. It always amazes me to see how many different combinations of automated elements that get incorporated into the bathroom experience; automated flushing, automated water, automated soap dispensing and a vast array of dryers. I am all for hand drying instead of paper towels, but […]
Jamaican Blue Coffee
While I was in Jamaica for the Destination Experience event, I took the opportunity to learn more about Jamaican coffee production. As an owner of an artisan coffee roasting business (www.thebeanery.com), I try to learn as much as possible about coffee production. Since I was in Jamaica, I wanted to connect with someone who makes […]
Eliminating Out-of-the-Box Thinking
You have most probably heard of the phrase, “thinking out of the box.” This comes from a classic exercise where a diagram is presented in this manner: If you have never done this exercise, see if you can following the rules and complete the challenge before reading on. How did you do? In order to […]
Insights into Influencers
I had a chance to meet the fascinating Jon Levy at the Destination Experience. He said, “I’m a behavior scientist. When I’m not consulting, doing research out of C Lab or speaking, I spend my life convincing strangers to cook me dinner and I travel around the world studying the science of adventure.” Sounds like […]
Yanik Silver at Destination Experience
One of the many compelling speakers at the 2017 Destination Experience was Yanik Silver. Yanik’s focus is assisting entrepreneurs in making a difference in the world. His latest book is called “Evolved Enterprise” and focuses on how companies without a “core impact” will be at a distinct disadvantage in the coming years. His message is […]
Dr. Kingsley Chin and Knowing Your Why
Upon arrival in Jamaica, I was alerted that one of the Destination Experience advisory board members would come to the airport and pick us up for the long ride from Montego Bay to Kingston. This saved us from an even longer bus ride. We met up with Ron McKay and during that 3-hour drive, I got […]