The innovation process started at the invention labs of Arthur D. Little. The inventors were curious about the fact that some days they had great innovations, and on other days, ideas were sabotaged and meetings were difficult and unproductive.

They studied themselves, and over a 40-year period they discovered what worked and what didn’t. They systematically refined their knowledge until they had a great process, and then spun off a company called “Synectics”.

I was trained in this proven innovation process by the late William S. Cope, a former partner of Synectics, who further refined the process during 25 years facilitating innovation sessions for Fortune 500 companies.

We’ve all been in meetings with “facilitators” and we’ve all done “brainstorming” and it’s often been dreadful. Why is this different?

1. The techniques weren’t invented—they were discovered. The inventors were already doing them—to varying degrees of effectiveness. Their breakthrough was to increase doing what worked, and stop doing what didn’t work.

2. Thus their process removes the group dynamics that sabotage meetings, unleashing enormous creativity to bear on the problem at hand.
   
   
3. Unlike traditional “brainstorming”, their process gets real results. The inventors required a strong process to get all the way to implementation and the marketplace.

The process allows me to bring your blue sky ideas back to earth. Just like an airplane, blue sky is great, and is much, much better with a soft landing.

A mentor said I was a square peg in a round hole; I said I was a dodecahedron. People understand square pegs—they don’t quite know where to place me.

That’s because I love technology as much as the next geek, and I can also explain it and its ramifications to the CEO—and be invited back.

I define my dodecahedron as a shape that has one foot each in the technology and business worlds.

With that firm standing, I bridge the two worlds, and bring great ideas back to earth without crashing. (If you can draw the shape, you’ll win a prize.)

I have a broad and varied background, having worked in disruptive technology, cyber security, forensic technology, consulting, network analysis, product marketing, sales, IT support, and more.

My organisational experience is even broader, including professional services, large government, small start-ups, regulated telcos, a non-profit, and a web design company that sold long distance phone service. I’m not making it up.

I have passions for music and design. I’m a dog trainer/ behaviourist and a student pilot.

I’ve executive-produced an interactive video and a number of CDs, I’ve judged technical writing competitions, edited a quarterly magazine, and organised conferences. All on top of my day job.

I’m Canadian and British, and I live in London after spending ten years in San Francisco.

Exactly.