Wed, 11/26/2014 - 11:40
Mike passed the stack of test papers over his back to me. I lifted one off the top, sniffed the blue mimeograph ink, then passed the rest behind me to Laylah. The teacher instructed us to begin. It started out easy enough; all I had to do was…
Thu, 08/28/2014 - 09:52
Albert Einstein once said, “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.”
On September 4 in 1957, amid great fanfare, Ford Motor Co. introduced the Edsel line of automobiles…
Thu, 05/15/2014 - 00:00
In today’s highly competitive business climate, creativity can no longer be limited to artists and inventors. The marketplace is changing rapidly, and in the words of Intel Chairman, Andrew Grove, companies must “adapt or die!” Every organization…
Tue, 02/25/2014 - 12:33
During the early 2000s, Allan Goldman, M.D., a chief physician at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children’s hospital in London, observed that too many mistakes were being made when patients were transferred from surgery to ICU. It seemed that…
Thu, 11/14/2013 - 09:14
When I was studying abnormal psychology in college, I read a case study of an unusual mental illness. It was so fascinating that I thought it would be the perfect vehicle for a novel. Thus my idea for a story was born, but it would be eight years…
Fri, 10/11/2013 - 12:44
Last spring my dog, Buddy, started chasing chipmunks. They would quickly escape into one of their holes in the ground, where he would dig for a few minutes, then give up. Then one day a chipmunk ran into the mouth of the corrugated plastic pipe…
Mon, 09/16/2013 - 14:56
When I was a boy, I heard a story about a hot-dog stand owner, who would put on a clown costume, then stand on the sidewalk every day and wave motorists into his business. He was so successful he was able to send his son to college. Upon graduating…
Thu, 07/11/2013 - 16:19
With the publication of my humorous children’s novel, The Annoying Ghost Kid (Robert Evans Wilson, Jr., 2011), I have had the opportunity to go into elementary schools and teach kids a game that shows them how the creative process works. It’s a…
Wed, 06/12/2013 - 09:23
Recently, a reader wrote me to suggest that rather than trying to encourage someone, a better way to motivate them is to issue a challenge. So, I felt challenged to write about it.
Whenever I think of laying down a challenge, I think of a classic…
Fri, 01/11/2013 - 16:24
Recently I was asked by the sales manager of a company if I could reach his staff with a message he had been trying to “beat into their heads for months” (his words, not mine).
He wanted me to accomplish what he failed to do: inspire his sales…