Like all of us, a month ago I woke up to a new world. Since then, I have tried to keep my sanity through regular practices — from meditation to online exercises and listening to talks. I wanted to find meaning in these challenging times. As I integrate meditation as a daily practice (and sometimes failing but I try to be gentle on myself), I [...]
A list of resources for the mind and body Personal resources These are resources that are mostly local to the San Francisco Bay Area/East Bay (but now can be used anywhere) as I am trying to support our teachers and local businesses: Online live yoga classes Namaste Yoga https://ilovenamaste.com/ (paying classes) The Graceful Yogi https://thegracefulyogi.com/ (free yoga/pilates classes with suggested donation) Online live circuit training [...]
I just came back from a workshop at Esalen. It was a great way to start the new year inspired and ready for action, and wanting to bring more creativity and joy into my life. One morning, I took a yoga class and the teacher had this great greeting “welcome to the best day of your life” because that is the only day you have [...]
I have a confession to make: I have an addiction — to TED conferences and particularly TEDWomen. While it is not a cheap habit, it is a healthy one as TEDWomen continues to be a nourishing and enriching experience that keeps me coming back year after year. If you have not attended a TED event (which is different from the TEDx events which are independently [...]
Helene Cahen was interviewed by JP McAvoy on his Podcast The Millionaire's Lawyer. It was a fun interview where she explained the process she uses with her clients to build innovation skills. And for the French speakers, there is even part of the interview in French! PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Innovation Sovereign: An interview with JP McAvoy on The Millionaire’s Lawyer Welcome [...]
If I had a hammer I’d hammer in the morning I’d hammer in the evening All over this land… Words and music by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger Whenever I read an article or a book that explains how brainstorming "does not work" I cringe. These authors typically describe brainstorming as a forced and badly organized group activity for coming up with new ideas, before [...]
I had the pleasure to be interviewed by Doug Sandler for a new podcast on the human side of innovation call Human with Resources. The conversation focused on how I work with organizations to to help them be more innovative and how. Transcript of full podcast: How can one foster innovation within an organization? There is a great framework that was created by Mel [...]
Visual thinking seems like a simple enough idea - add visuals to your work to complement your thinking. Simple and powerful, yet challenging for those with traditional training whether it is in business, literature or science and arguably also for artists, designers and scientists. This latter group may be familiar with creating visuals as a piece of art, to illustrate their design or draw models [...]
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a "Thinking Weekend" and it was transformative. It was a day and a half with a group of 30 participants. The theme was an inquiry into ethics in tech. We considered the topic through different lenses: corporate, education, arts, governance (local), an outside perspective to American approach, individual and operative. For each lens there was an hour [...]
In his recent book, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain, Teixeira examines the myth that innovation should be focused on technology disruption because new technology companies are replacing traditional ones (think Facebook, Google and Amazon). His argument is that “…new technology isn’t driving more disruption today. Consumers are.”(p.2).” He believes, based on his research, that innovation comes from new business models focused on the needs of [...]