We’ve all heard the story of the lone genius. Steve Jobs building the first Apple computer in the garage of his family home. Albert Einstein toiling away at his thought experiments as a Swiss patent clerk. Thomas Edison tinkering with prototypes to create the perfect incandescent lamp. It makes for …
Creativity
Make a mistake? Here’s what to do.
As a young boy growing up in Istanbul, my vision of America was put together from an eclectic set of American TV shows selected for translation to Turkish. America’s ambassadors to Turkey included Cousin Larry in Perfect Strangers, the Tanner family in ALF, and Al Bundy in Married with Children …
What innovators do differently
You’re a science professor. A colleague asks you to arbitrate a dispute with a student over a question on a physics exam. Your colleague thinks the student deserves a zero, but the student demands full credit. Here’s the question: “Show how it is possible to determine the height of a …
This strategy revolutionized a field. Here’s how you can use it.
When Steve Martin first started performing stand-up comedy, there was a proven formula for telling jokes. Each joke came with its own cringeworthy punchline. Here’s an example: How does NASA organize their company parties? They planet. But Martin wasn’t satisfied with the standard formula. It bothered him that the laughter …