Despite a constant barrage of negativity, there is uplifting news out there; you just have to look harder to find it. For example, Fast Company annually publishes a list of World Changing Ideas that create “substantive, positive change in the world”. The winning ideas improve lives, society, or the environment — not just businesses bottom lines. This…
During my technology career, the phrase ‘the Russians used a pencil’ was a vivid reminder that the simplest solution is often the best one. For those who may not have heard the story about the Russian pencil, it goes something like this: When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered ballpoint pens did…
In the early 2010s, it became increasingly common to suggest that robots were stealing our jobs. Dozens of headlines breathlessly warned (e.g. MIT, BBC, The Conversation, Fast Company) nearly 50% of 700 common occupations would be completely automated – filled by machines, rather than mankind. Only it didn’t really happen. Turns out it wasn’t even…
Each year for more than 20 years, TIME has published an article on “the most impactful new products and ideas” which are evaluated based on originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. A decade ago, I wrote about Time Magazine’s Best of 2014 and noted I was most intrigued by wireless electricity technology. Since then, wireless electricity…
The vestigial pattern bias explains why we get trapped by prevailing wisdom. In biology, vestigial structures are ones that have no apparent current function and appear to be left over from a past ancestor. Common examples are the human appendix, the pelvic bone of a snake, and the wings of flightless birds. In business, vestigial…
Weather modification, also known as geoengineering, is intentionally altering or controlling the weather. The most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, spraying small particles, such as silver iodide, onto clouds in the attempt to increase rain or snow. Weather modification can also have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hail or…
We sensationalize innovation as moments of eureka leading to novel ideas but most innovation comes from exploring the adjacent possible. The concept of the adjacent possible originates from Stuart Kauffman’ work on biological evolution. Kauffman’s theory is biological systems morph into more complex systems by taking small, incremental steps rather than extreme jumps or more…
If you’ve listened to a talk from a tech company over the last few years, you’ve almost certainly heard someone proclaim that data is the new oil. The phrase is widely attributed to British mathematician Clive Humby way back in 2006 who explained: Data is the new oil. It’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot…
Leonardo da Vinci might have been one of the earliest adopters of exponential thinking. da Vinci was born more than 500 years ago in semi-rural Tuscany to parents of modest means. Despite little access to formal education, he was able to extrapolate forward-thinking ideas about subjects as diverse as architecture, engineering, mathematics, urban planning, science…
When I ask people to name the most revolutionary technology, the most common answers are the Internet and the mobile phone. Both have certainly fundamentally changed our lives and it is difficult to imagine living without either of them. But a case can be made that the telegraph was just as impactful. The telegraph, for…