Monthly Archives: July 2012

Another genius business idea: real-life fairy tales

on July 31, 2012 in Blog, Creativity, Entrepreneurship

Today’s post in the series of genius business ideas may not be a sustainable business model, but it covers a product I think today’s children would benefit from as adults. Market demand Parents want the best for their kids. They don’t want them needlessly hurt, especially by going down paths they know will create unnecessary pain and hardship. A friend suggested to me that many people have problems in relationships[…] Keep reading →

Great Bruce Springsteen article in this week’s New Yorker

on July 30, 2012 in Art, Blog, Creativity

I just finished reading and enjoying an article on Bruce Springsteen in this week’s New Yorker. I recommend it, especially if you like the long New Yorker articles. This one is over 15,000 words. I’ve mentioned Bruce before. Growing up in the 70s and 80s in Philadelphia you couldn’t miss him. I remember a radio promotion on one of the stations I listened to quoting a fan yelling, I guess[…] Keep reading →

What works in X web page mind map

on July 29, 2012 in Blog, Creativity, Education, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

Following up a comment on my post on the What Works in X web page genius idea, I created a mind map as a rough outline for the site to illustrate it better. It’s only a rough outline, but I think a good start. Copying from my response to the reader’s comment I envision people at What Works in X sharing anecdotes of things they’ve done at a higher level,[…] Keep reading →

Do you overvalue originality at the expense of getting the job done?

on July 28, 2012 in Art, Blog, Creativity, Tips

Society values originality and creativity in problem solving instead of getting the job done. I’ll illustrate how. Imagine you have a problem you need solved. For concreteness let’s say you need plumbing work done in your house, but it could apply to any problem, personal, professional, or otherwise. Say you ask two plumbers how they would fix the problem to decide whom to hire. The first plumber says “I have[…] Keep reading →

Another genius business idea: the “What Works in X” web page

on July 27, 2012 in Blog, Creativity, Education, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

Following up on yesterdays’ genius business idea for a book series of successful solved problems in many fields, today let’s look at a web page doing something similar. Instead of making it just like a book, let’s take advantage of the web’s interactivity and let users create content. It’s based on the principles of the Art of What Works (the book I mentioned the other day) The product A web[…] Keep reading →

How I could be wrong about North Korea’s stability

on July 26, 2012 in NorthKorea

My book on North Korean strategy concludes that North Korea’s government is stable because everyone who could influence it is motivated to maintain its stability and that those who would benefit from changing it have no influence. I tried to look for holes in my theory. I thought of a few. South Korea continues to become increasingly prosperous. Combined with a more porous border, more information reaches North Korean people,[…] Keep reading →

Another genius business idea: the “What Works in X” book series

on July 26, 2012 in Blog, Creativity, Education, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

For the first genius business idea (the series I mentioned a couple days ago) I propose a book series based on the principles of the Art of What Works (the book I mentioned yesterday). The product A series of books like the “for dummies” and “for complete idiot” series, all with the same dimensions, cover design and color scheme, tone, writing style, etc called “What works inX”, like “What Works[…] Keep reading →

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