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Steal Scott’s Ideas started as a writing exercise about three years ago.  Since then, it has evolved into a series of blogs and corporate workshops.  And next, in its next stage of evolution, it has become a product development & innovation gameshow!  As your host, I’ll gather with friends, family members, colleagues, some strangers from the internet, and we’ll collaborate to solving real problems, brainstorming ridiculous innovations and building…

Moving forward, in any kind of way, is simultaneously empowering and agonizing.  Because on one hand, we get to step into a newfound vision of the future that is ours to write. But on the other hand, we have to let go of some things that have previously helped us. We have to release our grip on the past and open our hands to receive the new.  As my favorite…

When I see people walking around like this world was theirs for the taking, here’s what the curmudgeon in me wants to say.  I’m sad that your innocence is not going to last.  I’m sorry that somebody somewhere is going to do something to you that’s going to wipe the smile off your face.  I dread the day when somebody tries to steal all of your hungry youth juice…

Improv comedy veterans know that the fun is always on the other side of a yes.  That’s where the most engaging, memorable and hilarious scenes and characters are born.  What’s fascinating is, in the business world, the opposite is true. Problems are always on the other side of a no.  I have a colleague who manages the call center at a company that produces charity marathons. His customer support…

The relieving part about change is, we don’t have to become different people, we just have to learn how to use what we have for good.  Especially if our condition or temperament or personal history is a liability that can work against us. Because once we understand that thing as an energy source that we’re obligated to do something with, the process of change moves from one of resistance and conversion…

Every standup is asked the same question.  Do people expect you to be funny all the time?  Which is probably infuriating for them, but it comes with the territory of being a comedian. If making people laugh is your profession, you’ve signed up for a series of choices and challenges, one of which is dealing with audience expectations.  Veteran performers actually have a name for it. It’s called the…

Every inner voice always starts as an outer voice.  It’s just that somewhere down the line, you started to internalize the message of devaluation. And after enough repetitions, you eventually accepted it as gospel.  Convincing yourself that, well, if this is the story everybody tells about me, then it must be the truth. Better not question it.  My therapist once said that the most telling question he asked each of his clients…

If we’re both trying to look good in front of each other, this won’t work.  If we’re both denying our vulnerability to maintain face, this won’t work.  If we’re both hiding behind the convincing facade of effectiveness, this won’t work.  If we’re both addicted to the image of ourselves as being fine, this won’t work.  Only when we finally break free of the constant pressure to perform can we…

Taleb’s research on randomness explores the concept of narrative fallacy, which is the tendency to turn complex realities into easily understandable narratives.  To weave explanations into our behaviors, create stories that help explain our personalities and superimpose patterns over our lives to reduce the dimensions of matters.  No wonder it’s called a fallacy.  Because our lives are rarely that simple and clean. They’re messy, complicated, multifaceted and lack the cinematic satisfaction of…

Obama’s legendary speech from his first campaign popularized the phrase, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  Which wasn’t a new idea, per se. Those words had already been used in various poems, songs and books over the years.  But it was the context in which the president used that language which gave it so much gravity.  Years later, thinking back on that moment in history, that phrase still…