Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 9, 2020 What are the risks for smart, powerful, successful women? For advice on that puzzle I turned to an article in the Atlantic by Derek Thompson, “When a Promotion Leads to Divorce.” I try to make a concerted effort to support and coach women entrepreneurs. The statistics […]
Neil’s Blog
Teaching how to sell invention as essential as its creation
I was invited recently to give a talk about entrepreneurship to 75 seniors in the electrical engineering department at San Diego State University. Their professor is Barry Dorr, a classic “give-back” guy, who did 35 years in the industry and is now full-time and all in on sharing and teaching electrical engineering. This guy lights […]
What do we know about the power of disruption and where it leads us?
An icon of innovation — Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen — died in January. In 1997, he wrote a book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” which changed management thinking for an entire generation. The book’s thesis was that the factors that helped the best companies succeed were also the reasons some of those same companies later […]
Your second choice might be your best idea
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 17, 2019 How do you know a good idea when you see one? According to new research by Justin Berg, a professor at Stanford Business School who studies creativity and innovation, “we aren’t very good at it.” He contends that our biases often cause us to fall in […]
Generalists, not specialists, are the likely innovators
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 10, 2020 Jack of all trades, master of none. Do you remember your mother’s voice telling you to focus, get good at one thing, or how are you ever going to get a real job if you can’t really do anything? How many times have you been told […]
A crowd can improve decision-making but can sometimes lead to overconfidence
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 3, 2020 Everyone knows the theory behind the wisdom of crowds — namely that pooling judgments from multiple individuals can lead to greater accuracy — is often exhibited when you try to guess how many jelly beans are in the jar. Ask 500 people and no one gets […]