Do you ever get that tired feeling shortly after lunch? You know that feeling when you’re in a meeting and you just can’t keep your eyes from slamming shut? Or the one where you can’t seem to stay focused on your work or conversations? Well, if you’re an average worker bee in the U.S., you are definitely not alone.  In fact, according to one study, 56% of American workers fall asleep at work at least once a week. We are overworked, over stressed, and over tired.  And it’s costing us. Current estimates range from $70-$100 billion lost per year in productivity, accidents, and health costs as a result of workers who are over tired.  Read the rest of this post

Lots of organizations spend time and money trying hard to figure out how to build a system or a process that encourages creativity and innovation.  I’d argue that they’re wasting their time.  Innovation doesn’t come out of a process.  Innovation doesn’t come from a systematic approach.  Innovation comes from people connecting with each other on a deeper level that can’t be turned into a system.  It’s different in every case. You can’t write an organizational document on how to be innovative. If you need proof of this, consider how Steve Jobs talks about Apple and how they innovate:

“The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient. But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.”  Read the rest of this post

On a recommendation from Brad Feld, I recently grabbed a copy of Soren Gordhamer’s book Wisdom 2.0. It is hands down the best book I’ve read so far this year.  It’s a book about how we can live with all the amazing technology surrounding us today but still remain connected to our inner self, our creative. It’s making a huge difference in how I’m approaching my life and technology these days.

I was so impressed by the book that I registered for the Boulder edition of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference today.  Looks like it’s going to be a great conference featuring speakers like Alex Bogusky (Co-founder of Crispin Porter + Bogusky), Gopi Kallayil (Group Product Marketing Manager at Google), Rich Fernandez (Head of Learning & OD at eBay), and Leah Pearlman (Facebook) and of course Soren Gordhamer.  If you’re on the Front Range and can’t make it out to the big Wisdom 2.0 shindig in Silicon Valley this February, check this out. It looks like it’ll be well worth the time.

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Alan Atlas, an old friend of mine and one of my agile mentors, would always ask this question to teams that he worked with that were flailing but resistant to change:

“Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

How do you stop flailing and begin meaningful change? Maybe take the advice of another wise person, Eleanor Roosevelt:

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

If you’re not trying something that scares you, then you’re probably not doing something different. And if you’re not doing something different, you’re perpetuating the status quo. So, what did you do today that scared you?  Read the rest of this post