Innovation: Don’t Let Frameworks become Cages
We have a strange fascination with frameworks. I certainly do. A framework is a visual shortcut that offers a bird's-eye view of a complex idea. It helps us find our bearings when we're overwhelmed by…
Category: Innovate
What Design Thinking gets wrong about Empathy
Here's something that might sound strange coming from someone who's spent years in innovation and design: I'm not always empathetic. And neither are you. There's this perception in the design world that innovators, designers, and…
The Questions We Don’t Ask: How Problem Framing Determines Solution Quality
I often wonder about how we frame problems (challenges, as I prefer to call them), and more importantly, how that single decision can ripple out for decades, sometimes centuries. Back in the 1950s, the consumer…
Customer is KingDesign ThinkingDTEverydayHuman BehaviourImproveInnovateLife or something like itThe known unknown
When Did We Stop Designing for Humans?
In the past year, customer experience has taken a real nosedive. Big brand products and services making baffling choices. Let's start with recent Panasonic/Google TVs. With any TV including the good old ones, adjust the…
Gimme Your Best Question!
A few days ago, I shared how one re-framed question unlocked a breakthrough solution for a pediatric hospital project, and opened up a contest for you to share YOUR transformational questions. I've been thinking about…
Signed Copies of Think Like an Innovator – Gimme Your Best Question!
Good questions get us further, faster. And here's a chance for you to win a signed hardcover of Think Like an Innovator! One of my favourite questions, and I mention this in the book, came…
Thumbs Up for Good Design
I was getting a haircut earlier this week and got curious about the trimmer my barber (or hairdresser or hairstylist; unsure what they are called nowadays) was using on my head. It was an unusually…
The Simple, Superpower Habit for Productivity and Creativity
If you have watched Kung Fu Panda, do you remember the scene where Master Shifu is meditate? Or trying to, and his ear keeps twitching from some imperceptible disturbance he can sense some distance away?…
What is Design Thinking..
Design Thinking gets talked about a lot. But when I started using it in my innovation and growth strategy consulting practice around 2016, I noticed something: people knew the steps but didn't quite it. So…
Paperback format of Think Like an Innovator is Out!
📚 "Think Like an Innovator" is now available in PAPERBACK on major Amazon sites. It will be on Amazon India and Flipkart next week. A little hurdle to do with availability here. It's being handled.…
Book Alert: Think Like an Innovator
IT’S HERE! Stop waiting for innovation to happen. Start designing it with intention. My new book, , is a practical, no-fluff guide to Design Thinking for complex problem solving and creative breakthroughs. Or your Kindle…
Why I Wrote Design the Future: The First of the Books I’ve Had to Write
In 2017, I noticed something troubling. Innovation leaders at some large global organisations were selling 'design thinking-led' services to other companies. They ran workshops. Facilitated sessions. Bagged long-term projects. And charged good money. But when…
My Meal-Time Theory: Can Airline Dining Schedules Fight Jet Lag?
Random thought (or question) on easing travel fatigue and jet lag: For long, transmeridian flights, what if airlines timed their in-flight meals to match the destination city’s time zone? By serving lunch, snacks, or dinner…
Random musings on Lego Pricing and Positioning
I’ve admired Lego since childhood, although I haven’t collected many sets over the years, the most recent being two Technic kits about 7-8 years ago. What holds me back is the plastic. I hope Lego…
Thank Me Later – Link Episodes on OTT Series
For years, I’ve enjoyed sending free, no-strings-attached ideas to companies in various sectors; a practice I called, "RattL ’em"; and subsequently, "…thank me later." Just a small way of contributing to customer-centric innovation and striving…