This is a nicely written piece by Stephen McElhinney reflecting on the challenges faced by Singapore in its attempts to become more creative as a nation.

The “Missing T” refers to Richard Florida’s three T’s required to jump start a creative economy: Technology, Talent and Tolerance. McElhinney argues that Singapore’s key challenge is the historical suppression of the last T.

On the subject of tolerance, …

Does the subtleties and nuances, the richness and adaptability, of a language impact a culture’s (a population group’s) ability to innovate?

If the language:

is rich with borrowed words;
is open to playful metamorphosis by the majority of the population and not just the hyper- educated elite;
is actively used by many people in diverse (but not isolated) geographical regions so has to promote both variation and cross pollination);
has been in use …

In a long conversation with Anita Kapoor yesterday about creativity and innovation in Singapore, we touched on the topic of the government’s interest in encouraging businesses to get involved with the arts.

One idea that appeared was this: artist in residence programmes within corporations.

Businesses do buy art. So why not buy an artist?

The really interesting, meaty part of this is: how can a business leverage the …

I am going to use my twitter feed - http://twitter.com/zern - to deliver a constant stream of visual, aural, emotive, olfactory snippets of nows.

As a source of idea germs, to spark divergent thinking.

In response to my article Problem solving model: Four phases on FlyingSolo, Heather Smith from Brisbane asked for my thoughts on brainstorming alone.

One of my suggestions was: “Look for unrelated …

A nice piece on design, seeing, opportunities and creative thinking: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/43

Observation: Sidewalks in Singapore appear to be built without any awareness of the buildings on either side. I am not just referring to aesthetic differences either. Walking down a street often entailed the constant stepping up, stepping down, or stepping over ledges or open gutters between sidewalks of different buildings.

Thought: This approach to urban development seem to indicate compartmentalised thinking. The designers and planners of a new …

Wonder

The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other …

The service on Singapore Airlines is impeccable and faultless, even in Cattle Class. It was certainly not your average domestic no-frills flight.

And they know it.

The global airline industry is as competitive as any global business. While American Airlines is struggling with their inability to keep their aircrafts compliant with basic US FAA maintenance regulations, Singapore Airlines seem to be actively leveraging their reputation and record of good …

Here are some ways to make a difference to the world, using Tim Berners-Lees as an example: A World Wide Web of Ideas.

My take on the key concepts are:

Altruism – giving something away returns far more, and enables more people, in the long run.

Influence – a personal story attracts more attention than the best message-managed PR gloss.

Freedom – the freedom to explore ideas is a …

Reflecting on my current feature post Businesses that have persistent IT emergencies:

Most businesses are not ready for innovation. Or indeed the latest technology, the latest practices, … At least, not until they get the basic basics right first.

The basics being:

Who are you?
What are you about?
What do you do?
Why are you doing it?
How are you doing it?
Are you doing it effectively?
Are you doing it well?
Is your work …