Shelli Baltman shares an article on exploring how to unlock the creative potential of the next generation of innovators. Our mission at The Idea Suite is to unlock the creative potential of people and businesses through innovation – but that mission goes beyond just business, and the day to day work of our company. We also share a strong and deeply-rooted belief that every child deserves to learn the creative problem solving, design thinking and entrepreneurship skills that will help…

In the current environment of information saturation, Rahul Bhargava highlights the importance of critical thinking skills and how to improve them.  Now and then, every individual comes face to face with some challenge or a problem, which requires them to make a decision. For an entrepreneur, it could be something as simple as deciding a name for their venture or something as crucial as choosing a location for the office. If you’re an employee working for an organization, you could…

Greg Acton shares a podcast that explains why you should challenge assumptions when solving problems. While leadership entails guiding people in the direction of success, it also requires the ability to look at problems and seek solutions. How you frame those problems can have much to do with the solution arrived at. Mark Twain once said, “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know, it’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” Remaining convinced that…

David Gronchi shares an article designed to simplify problem solving. Advanced analytics and machine learning are some of the ready-to-use technologies that help discover correlations and drive conclusions out of complex data sets that often describe our business and production processes. This is very helpful to take decisions aiming to prevent something unwanted to happen e.g., set process parameter to X in order to obtain product spec within tolerance. There are many other opportunities to eliminate “waste” out of business…

Dan Markovitz shares a short but insightful post and an introduction to a workshop on the importance of word choice when problem framing to ensure a positive outcome.  In 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” In 2017, President Trump declared a “public health emergency” to battle the opioid crisis. These two declarations were essentially about the same thing: dealing with the financial, emotional, and social scourge of drug abuse that was destroying individuals and communities. But the framing…

  Robyn Bolton reflects on lessons learned as a child that she brings into her field to help problems solve and drive innovation.  Innovation is all about embracing the AND. Creativity AND Analysis Imagination AND Practicality Envisioned Future AND Lived Reality Looking back, I realize that much of my childhood was also about embracing the AND. Mom AND Dad Nursery School Teacher AND Computer Engineer Finger paint AND Calculus A few years ago, I wrote about my mom, the OG…

  Rahul Bhargava provides a post designed to help you think critically and develop better problem-solving skills, a skill that is crucially important in today’s daily deluge of news from a diverse range of sources.  Now and then, every individual comes face to face with some challenge or a problem, which requires them to make a decision. For an entrepreneur, it could be something as simple as deciding a name for their venture or something as crucial as choosing a…

  From Jared Simmons’  company blog, a post on why motherhood is a leadership development boot camp. Motherhood builds skills that are competitive advantages in the workplace.  “Motherhood and apple pie” are meant to evoke an image of something universally good – something everyone can agree on. But, like most things about moms, this phrase has morphed into patronizing passive aggressiveness, at its best.  When someone at work says, “That’s just motherhood and apple pie,” what they are really saying…

  Davide Gronchi provides two simple tools that can help collect answers to powerful questions. Advanced analytics and machine learning are some of the ready-to-use technologies that help discover correlations and drive conclusions out of complex data sets that often describe our business and production processes. This is very helpful to take decisions aiming to prevent something unwanted to happen e.g., set process parameter to X in order to obtain product spec within tolerance. There are many other opportunities to…