Underneath one of the many Shake Shack restaurants in New York City lives the breakaway restaurant chain’s Innovation Kitchen. The full-time team isn’t filling the orders of hungry guests; rather they’re inventing what diners may enjoy for years into the future. The underground lab focuses all its resources on inventing what’s next rather than delivering on today’s … Read more
Jonathan Deisenroth
On a recent business trip to Denver, I was able to grab breakfast at one of my favorite morning spots. Snooze Eatery is a funky, retro-themed breakfast joint with incredible food and service. They have an inventive menu and cool vibe, but so do many other AM cafes. As I sat down, I wondered what … Read more
You’ve got a tough decision to make, yet conflicting interests and perspectives can render you frozen from taking decisive action. We’ve all been there. Having observed how the most successful people evaluate their options and then make a thoughtful decision, here’s a framework that may be helpful when you’re trying to make a choice in … Read more
In our increasingly busy and scattered lives, getting clear and focused can feel like an insurmountable task. We live in an era of distractions vying for our attention the way high-strung paparazzi try to capture that perfect celebrity photo. Knowing that most of us can’t take a three-month sabbatical to hang with monks in mountainous … Read more
For decades, transportation experts and city planners who studied traffic congestion in major cities came to the conclusion that not much could be done to improve gridlock. Based on available street widths, speed limits, and other constraints, they were correct. But Elon Musk approached the problem in a completely different manner. Instead of reaching a … Read more
The promo for tonight’s local news runs across your screen: “Two of the items in your pantry right now could kill you. Tune in at 11:00 to find out which ones.” After hearing this announcement, you can’t not tune in. When you learn about a hot tech company that offers unlimited days off, tuition reimbursement, … Read more
Gaining competitive advantage, better serving customers, and standing out from the pack can feel just about as challenging as running a double marathon…barefoot. The difficulties are exacerbated if we find ourselves in mature industries with deeply entrenched market leaders possessing the resources of a small country. How can we compete and win when facing such … Read more
As the competitive nature of our world continues to increase, success can feel elusive. Whether your sights are set on landing a promotion, raising capital, wining that new account, or inventing a game-changing product, you’ll need to break free from traditional thinking in order to seize success. The ones who score the brass ring are … Read more
Studying jazz guitar in college, I had a professor that would force me to remove strings from the instrument. One, two, sometimes three strings had to be removed before I attempted a performance. You might guess that gutting half of my available resources would crush my ability to play, let alone be creative. Yet a … Read more
We all get provoked. An angry associate; a cranky customer; a snarling spouse. In these cases, the primitive part of our brain designed to protect us in the wild kicks in and our autonomic response is to recklessly fire back. We lash out, hit below the belt, and respond with uncontrollable emotion. That’s where the … Read more