
Methods of the Masters
A blog on the art & science of creative action.
Redefine Innovation
The challenges to creativity inside of large organizations are well documented. But it’s a mistake to assume therefore that nothing creative happens inside of big companies.
Lots does. But it’s often hard to see…
Avoid Bureaucracy
The origin story of Taco Bell’s acclaimed Doritos Loco Taco illuminates one simple principle: most folks’ job is to find flaws in new ideas! Sometimes the best way through is around…
Call On Your Network
There’s immense power in the knowledge of a network. We’ve got no excuse: Charles Darwin had to wait months for letters to travel the globe, but we can log in and instantaneously exchange knowledge.
Tell Me Stories of Fantastic Females
I have been consistently disappointed at how few stories are widely-told about remarkable women in the history of innovation. Even so, I was shocked to see research on how broad a phenomenon the underrepresentation truly is.
Define Who’s Not Your Target
Pat Brown, Founder and CEO of Impossible Foods, is delighted that many vegetarians refuse to try his product. The best entrepreneurs are just as deft at disqualifying customers as they are at attracting new ones.
Take It Apart
Since connections are the very basis of creativity, anyone who seeks creative output should consider: what fuels new connections? Michael Dell’s early experiments give us a glimpse at a very unexpected answer…
Open A Lemonade Stand
Innovation veteran Johannes Mutzke shares the best way to answer the perennial “build or buy” decision facing organizations seeking to enter new markets.
Take An Enemy’s Perspective
Contrarians are valuable. Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos both used this government-developed toolkit for identifying strategic vulnerabilities and unlocking growth.
Explore Blind Alleys
What do Elon Musk and Albert Einstein have in common? Both of them were willing to examine things that other people dismissed as too trivial to warrant their attention.
Join A Junto
Ben Franklin is one of history’s most prolific innovators, with breakthroughs ranging from literature to science to civics. How’d he do it? A simple but profound weekly ritual to spur fresh thinking.
Fall In Love With The Problem, Not The Solution
Uri Levine is a “Duocorn” (two-time unicorn founder) on a mission to help innovators find their calling. They key, he says, is to “fall in love with the problem, not the solution.”
Embrace the Muse
How do you court the muse? Innovators from Jeff Bezos to Victor Hugo to Jerry Seinfeld teach us embrace every bit of inspiration as soon as it arrives - by writing it down.
Hug The Haters
How did André 3000 find his voice as a young artist? He and Rick Rubin dug deep into the creative process and illuminate the value of critical feedback.
Be A Skeptic
Design is an inherently optimistic field. We are, after all, trying to make the world a better place. But this optimism can lead to naïveté, and can actually hinder real progress, if left unchecked.
Try More Than One
One of the most fantastic definitions I’ve ever heard comes from an anonymous seventh grader in Ohio: “Creativity is doing more than the first thing that comes to your mind.”
Break Smart Rules
The rules for what smart people are supposed to do are often at odds with what those same smart people do to court a breakthrough. What gives?
Look for Problems
Richard Feynman advised would-be geniuses, “You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind…” Here’s how breakthroughs get started.
Look for Connections
A fascinating psychology study reveals a disturbing truth: the world around is ripe with potential inspiration that is far too often unrealized simply because we aren’t looking.
Look at Nothing
Steve Jobs said, “Creativity is just connecting things.” But to connect, you’ve got to disconnect, too. A growing body of research demonstrates the benefits of literally “looking at nothing.”
Don’t Decide
Tina Fey reveals the technique she learned from Lorne Michaels the moment she needed it most: when deciding to she’d play Sarah Palin on SNL.