Paint + Pipette
A blog on the art & science of creative action.
Embrace AI Despite Uncertainty
Last week, I had the pleasure of delivering keynotes to two remarkable audiences of scholars and entrepreneurs. One thing was clear: folks have legitimate concerns about AI. But my strong belief is that it’s a dangerous mistake to wait to dive In, even amidst legit concerns.
Unleash Your Inner Kindergartener
Puzzled by underwhelming results despite your expertise? Discover the surprising insights from a groundbreaking study that can help you tackle challenges and achieve better outcomes.
Declare an AI Recess
One critical reason folks in organizations aren’t imagining radical new applications of GenAI is, their imaginations aren’t stimulated. My recommendation might fly in the face of convention, but it’s been demonstrated highly effective in both this AI-moment and in times past.
If AI Hasn't Made You Giggle, You're Not Pushing Hard Enough
For all the existential angst spilled regarding AI on the news, there's one danger I haven't heard get much attention. It's not the threat of sentient machines or the loss of jobs—it's the risk of AI disappointing us, not because of its limitations, but because of our own.
Mind the (Generational) Gap: Bridge the AI Divide with Your Expertise
Are you an experienced professional watching the AI revolution from the sidelines? It's time to get in the game! Discover why your hard-won expertise is the secret weapon to unlocking AI's full potential and turbocharging your career.
Augment Your Intelligence: Embrace AI to Enhance Decision-Making
Generative AI represents enormous potential for innovation. But even well-intentioned leaders can undermine their own efforts to explore. If they aren’t careful, they can end up reinforcing counter-productive biases amongst the very teams they’re trying to unleash.
Express Appreciation
As holiday season comes upon us, it’s worth considering the outsized impact that simple gestures like expressing appreciation for others can have on our collective creative potential. One of the highest-ROI activities you can pursue is spurring someone else on in their craft.
Commit An Epiphany
Inside every single human being lies the potential to discover hence-unknown possibilities, to have an epiphany. My mission in life is to teach others the tools that turn that seemingly-magical moment into a methodical, repeatable reality.
Practice Inspiration
What’s routine to accomplished “creatives” like Steve Jobs and Lecrae isn’t even on the radar for many innovators-in-training. Learning to get inspired is one of the fundamental instincts we have to develop.
Recognize When You’re Stuck
Most breakthroughs sneak up on us, and can easily recede from our memories. Seeing when we’re stuck is an important step in rewiring some of our default ways of working.
Put Up With The Mess
Maya Angelou and Thomas Edison have given me unexpected permission. One of their secrets — quickly becoming mine — is to not tidy up so much.
Be Vulnerable
Jake Karls, co-founder of Mid Day Squares, flips the “perfectionist” script. Here he shares his unexpected formula for crafting deeply engaged fans.
Prioritize Learning
The single-most important decision I make weekly is to shed the “teacher’s cap” and put on the student’s. The only way to continue to inspire is to seek inspiration, myself.
Steal And Let Steal
Innovation is all about unexpected recombinations. Sometimes, it seems like theft. My belief is we need to normalize such acts of recombination by sharing our own!
Cherish Wake Up Calls
How did Harvard’s B.F. Skinner became one of the most influential psychologists of all time? An eccentric nightly habit may shed fresh light on the answer.
Allow Folks to Play
If innovation is a numbers game, subject to considerable odds, then how can a leader bend the odds? IDEO’s Brendan Boyle says play is a key lever to drive the breadth of experimentation required to succeed.
Don’t Multi-Task
Stanford Professor Clifford Nass studied hundreds of students to explore what distinguished self-proclaimed “multitaskers” from the rest of us. His conclusions, and their implications, won’t surprise you.
Crystallize Your Knowledge
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Charles Duhigg explains how we can turbo-charge sense-making, and turn information into valuable knowledge.
Say, “I Don’t Know”
“I don’t know,” might be three of the hardest words to say, especially for a professor. A leader is often conceived as the one who knows. And yet, not knowing creates space for the unexpected to emerge…