Connor Trombley

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Albert Einstein famously noted, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.” In our post-COVID world of skyrocketing inflation, supply chain meltdowns, the great resignation, geopolitical turmoil, extremist politicians, and an impending recession, there’s never been a more important time to rethink our thinking. The mindset that … Read more

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Ever get stuck on a problem, only to realize you’re solving for the wrong thing? That’s exactly what happened when the rocket scientists at NASA were trying to make astronauts’ pens to work in the zero-gravity environment of space.   According to Scientific American, “During the height of the space race in the 1960s, NASA scientists … Read more

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Do you prefer the crispy mozzarella, tempura watercress, and black garlic mayonnaise cheeseburger or the pumpkin mustard, bacon, cranberries, and sage hot dog? For something sweet, would you rather try the black sesame milkshake, the pancake and bacon frozen custard, or stick with a cold brew float? What sounds like a scene from the Culinary … Read more

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For some reason, we’ve been taught that for creativity and innovation to count they need to have a magnitude the size of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. As you may recall, earthquakes are measured on something called the Richter scale. According to the American Heritage Scientific Dictionary, the Richter scale is “a numerical scale for expressing … Read more

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There’s more confusion around the meaning of the word innovation than the chaos at the airline ticket counter after a cancelled flight. Is there a difference between creativity, innovation, and imagination? Let’s start with imagination. Imagination is the raw material that can be formed into creativity and innovation. Think of imagination as our ability to envision anything new. … Read more

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When we hear stories about iconic leaders like Salesforce.com’s founder Marc Benioff, or widely celebrated virtuosos like Lin-Manuel Miranda for that matter, we immediately think these people must have some special gift that we normal folk are missing. As if the skies opened for a brief moment and the gods anointed the chosen few with … Read more

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When the misguided leaders at Enron, Tyco and Worldcom committed fraud and marred their shareholders with huge losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission rightfully swooped in to prevent future cons. The problem is that the corrective measure came in the form of legislation known as Sarbanes-Oxley, which became a stranglehold on business. It was a … Read more

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Fact: Creativity has become the most needed skill in business. It’s gone from a nice-to-have to becoming mission-critical. Fact: Creativity is a learnable skill. All humans have enormous creative potential and can unlock a reservoir of dormant capacity. Fact: Most of us don’t feel all that creative. Most of us have radically underdeveloped inventive thinking and creative problem-solving … Read more

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As kids, we go out to play. Later in life, we play sports or play music. But then, in sharp contrast, we leave our homes each day and go to work.  The term “work” implies uninspired, tedious and generally yucky things. Parallels of going to the dentist, waiting in line at the DMV or filling out endless forms come to mind. Trading … Read more