Last week, we began a series of posts on the traditional creativity methodology called Design Thinking. Though many professors have enhanced the design thinking process, I prefer a simplified model. Keeping design thinking simple with just two steps makes it easily applicable to every business, including small businesses and entrepreneurs testing out new ideas. Last…

Over the past years, I’ve learned that many organizations make the same mistake. It doesn’t matter if the are a $600M revenue-generating department within a huge, multinational conglomerate or a one-person local shop. I’ve also learned that mistakes cost time, money, and brand reputation. What is this giant mistake? Forgetting the customer. In large companies,…

Trust in relationships involves two people: a trustor (one who is giving trust) and a trustee (the one being trusted). Many studies indicate that we consider ourselves to be more trustworthy than the people who we ask to trust us. In other words, we think we are reliable while other don’t. Reliability is based on…

Honesty is the first and most important ingredient in trust. If we question the truthfulness of another person, we question their motives and intents. Someone who habitually tells lies has questionable character. Deceit – except for a surprise party – is usually rooted in selfish desires, ultimately eroding trust. We tend to trust people who…

I recently had the opportunity to moderate a couple of roundtable discussions on hybrid teams. The question was centered on alignment and engagement of team members. Everyone on the virtual conference was associated with project management in one way or another – technical, managers, leaders, and creators shared their views to increase engagement on hybrid…

I’ve been working in the field of innovation most of my career. All of it, if you count technical research (working on a doctorate degree) as part of innovation. Innovation stretches from generating a new idea; testing it; scaling it for production, manufacturing, commercialization, and marketing. The ideas isn’t what makes an innovation successful and…

What’s Your Dream Workspace? The key ingredient to building a workspace for leadership development is self-awareness. Leaders need quiet time for reflection and inner growth. Too often, leaders are consumed with the management of a project and the people. I love that diligence and dedication. Your team members appreciate it, too, but you end up…

As a kid, I truly loved Neapolitan ice cream. Three flavors in one carton – what could be better? It was amazing: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. It was a rare and special treat for me because my mother was allergic to chocolate, so it was normally banned from our house. The beauty of Neapolitan ice…

Like a hound dog on a fox hunt, team members can sniff out a hypocritical leader with no effort. The Greek root word for hypocrite means “actor”. When you are acting, you are pretending to be someone you’re not. Your team members immediately recognize the lack of authenticity. On the other hand, team members and…