“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” ~Alvin Toffler Suddenly it’s feeling like spring here in Chicago, and I am reminded of my own commitment to be the driver — and not just passive...

Once again I woke up this morning to a white world, with Chicago getting more snow overnight. That means I need to think differently now about people and plans and how I’m going to travel (as I hear a car spinning its wheels in the distance, desperate to leave a parking space). Suddenly the way...

“We need to make 2010 what Obama should have made 2009: the year of innovation.” ~Thomas Friedman in the New York Times As I continue to speak out, discuss with others, and read/hear thought leaders grappling with how to make our culture more innovative, I am struck by common themes and agreements....

I’m a big fan of J.D. Salinger, who passed away this week at 91, and of the Grammy Awards, which celebrated music in its stunning spectacle of creative performance on Sunday. Now, Holden Caulfield would likely take issue with the superficial celebrity culture of pop music. As you may recall, Holden,...

Still tasting the tortillas from my recent excursion to Mexico, I am most struck by one cultural difference here: a distorted sense of urgency of American life. We always have somewhere we have to get to, something else we must do, this to get done, that deadline to meet. It’s a badge we wear....

I’m sitting on a rooftop in Oaxaca, Mexico, attempting to de-rat-ify from the American ratrace, seeking creative renewal as I wrap up a year of “blarticles.” This is the 86th time I’ve reflected on creativity and innovation this year (Click to access my full Innovation on My Mind...

“Where will your next big idea come from?” asks the year’s final 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review. In its “Spotlight on Innovation,” HBR offers articles exploring issues ranging from open innovation to career paths for innovators to social technology tools that foster...

The incomparable Matt Groening (his self-portrait, below right), creator of the Simpsons, spoke here recently as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. Alongside cartoonist and former college friend Lynda Barry (who frankly overshadowed him with her bubbly storytelling), Groening (pronounced “Gray-ning”)...

As a culture–and as individuals and organizations–we more than ever need to make some breakthroughs. Sometimes this can be in the form of a “Breakthrough Innovation” that changes the way we work, communicate, access information, or structure our healthcare system (this would be...

Sure, I loved the candy-accumulation of Halloween as a kid, but I think I love the holiday even more as an adult because it gives us rare permission to try out a new self, to experiment with who we think we are. In case you haven’t decided on (or whether to wear) a costume yet, here are my creative...

Last Saturday night I found myself walking off the elevator into a dark room on the 24th floor of Chicago’s John Hancock building. The only thing lit in front of me was a rectangular portion of the floor where two miniature, white water towers stood. For about ten minutes I watched with other barely...

This summer a student in my Depaul Mindset of Innovation course was researching U.S. government policy on innovation, and he claimed to be unable to find anything updated in years. He ended up talking as much about Canada’s innovation policy as that in the U.S. Now, that’s not completely...

Recently I stirred up a little innovation at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, initially surprised to be hired by them and then even more surprised to learn of their ongoing focus for leaders: To stimulate their right, creative brains to keep them thinking differently and staying ahead of the curve....

“I believe it is essential that each of us find his or her Element, not simply because it will make us more fulfilled but because, as the world evolves, the very future of our communitieis and institutions will depend on it.” ~Ken Robinson One of the goals of my work is to help you develop...

The Prez was dropping the “I”-bomb again and again last week, talking up innovation on last weekend’s radio and Internet address and in Elkhart County, Indiana, last Wednesday. It’s nice to know that for the moment “Innovation” is a favorable term for both Democrats...

In his research investigating what helps drive economic growth in cities, Richard Florida discovered that the concentration of certain groups of people in geographical areas is clearly correlated to economic success. One of those groups he calls “Bohemians”–the artists, hippies, non-conformists...

“Each of us is born with two contradictory sets of instructions: a conservative tendency, made up of instincts for self-preservation, self-aggrandizement, and saving energy, and an expansive tendency made up of instincts for exploring, for enjoying novelty and risk—the curiosity that leads to creativity...

To become more creative individually and to foster more innovative workplaces and communities, we need to develop a whole new set of skills that have not been part of our formal education. Actually, skills are not quite enough. Creativity requires something else–a shift in attitude or, as I prefer,...

I was just talking with my old friend George Aguilar, with whom I once shared a rat’s nest of an office in our volunteer roles for the now-defunct National Poetry Association (once a groundbreaking nonprofit, its web address has been taken over by a French sex site). George ran the poetry-film...

Here’s a creative challenge for you: I’m going to give you a microphone and the undivided attention of a willing audience for about seven minutes. In advance I ask you to put together exactly 20 images–of anything you want–which will be projected on a large screen for exactly...