Our mattresses were made of corn shucks and soft gray Spanish moss that hung from the trees…. From the swamps we got soup turtles and baby alligators And from the woods we got raccoon, rabbit and possum. • Mahalia Jackson, Movin’ On Up Richard Wright, the bard of the Great Migration, defected to the receiving station… Read More The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson – A Big Book
The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark: random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent or definable end in sight. There is nothing yet to research. For me, these moments are not pretty. I look like a desperate woman, tortured by the simple message… Read More Before Creativity, Before Innovation, You Need An Idea
So, what do we do when the wisdom sounds so right, so obvious – but may be wrong? I am a big fan of Jason Fried. I have presented a synopsis of his book (co-authored with David Heinemeier Hansson), Rework. I have blogged about his ideas, quoting him, reflecting on his ideas a number of… Read More The Office – Interruption Factory, Or Idea Factory? (Is Jason Fried Right, Or Wrong?)
Last Friday, we ended 2010 at the First Friday Book Synopsis with synopses of Doing Both by Inder Sidhu and Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. Attendance was terrific. And special thanks to Cathy Groos for filling in for Karl Krayer. (Cathy presented the synopsis of Doing Both). As we near the completion… Read More Kotter’s buy*in & Pfeffer’s Power – Coming next month (January 2011) for the First Friday Fook Synopsis
Steven Johnson is the author of “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History Of Innovation” my selection for the December First Friday Book Synopsis. This is an important book. Recently, Johnson wrote this article on the Huffington Post: Steven Johnson’s ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’: 6 Brilliant, World-Changing Mistakes. It includes some photos, with… Read More “Slow Hunches” Trump “Epiphanies” – Steven Johnson on “Where Good Ideas Come From”
First Friday Book Synopsis 