Texas Innovation Keynote Speaker Blog
Real-world strategies, trends and expert tips from Texas’s leading innovation keynote speaker to spark creativity and drive growth.
Why Play is Important for Creativity
Most of the articles out there about play involve children and how important it is for their development. But what about adults? I guess adults don't really have to incorporate play into their lives, but how boring would that be? According to Plato "Life must be lived...
Inventor of Coston Flares
If inventors know one thing it's how to make lemons out of lemonade. History is full of stories about inventors who have succeeded despite failure and tragedy, and inventor Martha Coston dealt with both. She married a man, Benjamin Coston, a scientist who was...
Are You a Genius?
What do you think of when you hear the word genius? If you're like most people, you think that person probably has a high IQ. But IQ test scores only measure problem solving and reasoning. It doesn't measure creativity, and it doesn't account for savants. It's...
How Daydreaming Improves Creative Problem Solving
So, you're sitting there in class, reading a book or listening to a lecture, and suddenly you find yourself on a tropical island beach sipping a pina colada as the waves caress your toes. Then, just as suddenly, you snap out of it when the teacher calls on you. We all...
The Woman Inventor That Saved the Cotton Industry
One reason only a fraction of patent holders are women is because women simply aren't encouraged to invent. That wasn't the case with Ruth Benerito, who was surrounded by encouragement in her formative years, which was spent in the grips of the Great Depression....
How Humor Affects Creativity
As a creativity keynote speaker I love seeing audience members jump up on stage and get out of their comfort zone with improv. Not that it's easy to get them to do that. But once they find out how much fun it is, their creativity is unleashed. Because creativity is...
The Surprising Reason for Lack of Women Inventors
At a recent innovation keynote speech I gave to Fortune 500 women executives, sponsored by Cognizant Technology Solutions, we examined some of the reasons fewer than 19 percent of all patents in the world are secured by women. This isn't patents held by a single...
Inventor Spotlight – Louis Pasteur
Because of the nature of their jobs, many inventors are scientists and engineers. One scientist who was also an inventor was Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist, who was known for his discovery of pasteurization and microbial fermentation. His germ...
Primitive Creativity and Innovation
Creativity and innovation cover such a wide spectrum, it's hard to say when it all actually started. Since the beginning of mankind we have had a propensity to come up with new ideas, and constantly improve on existing ideas. The need to create is built into our DNA....
Could There Finally be Diversity for Women in the C-Suite?
We've been hearing forever that there need be more women in the C-Suite. Tiny baby steps have gradually been pushing this into becoming a reality. But maybe it will finally happen... in 2030. I know, that sounds like a very long time to wait for women who have only...
Inventor Spotlight – Garrett Morgan
Garrett Morgan proves that you don't have to be a scientist or an engineer to be an inventor. You also don't have to have a college degree. But there is one trait you must have if you want to be an inventor, and that's curiosity. Garrett Morgan was the son of...
Innovative Experiential Learning
Entrepreneurs who bootstrap businesses will tell you that the best way to learn is by actually getting your hands dirty and learning by doing, or experiential learning. I've been doing this for over 20 years as a serial entrepreneur. As long as I had a passion for a...
Bra Inventor and Art Patron Caresse Crosby
Since necessity is the mother of invention it's no surprise that the bra inventor was a woman. A debutante and art patron named Caresse Crosby. Caresse Crosby grew up the very definition of an upper-class debutante, moving between New York and Connecticut in a world...
3 Reasons People Resist Change and How to Fix it
Change is something that's going to happen whether you want it to or not. As a business owner, if you wait for change to happen, your competition is going to eat your dust. Getting stuck in the same old tired ideas that aren't working anymore is a formula for failure....
The Future of Newspapers
The thing about innovation is that people are inherently resistant to change. That's never been truer than in the newspaper industry. And, I mean, who could blame them? For decades newspapers were raking in such enormous profits it was literally like printing money....