We’re always on the lookout for big ideas that challenge the status quo, reveal new insights and champion our healthiest and most fulfilling future.
Here’s what we’re reading this week that help us (and you) do just that:
Are there more Sherwin-Williams stores near your home than Starbucks? Sometimes that’s the case – and it’s because you’re not the customer, your painter is. David Robertson, author of The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation, makes an insightful case for innovating around the box, rather than in or out. He also explains why the late Steve Jobs wasn’t a disruptor, though it’s not quite what you think.
Somehow the creative process became about volume – no idea too outlandish, just add it to a post-it, and we’ll sort it out later. Unfortunately, this no-holds-barred approach leaves designers with a stack of post-its and no real grasp of “the why” of their design. Which is too bad – because “the why” is everything. Don’t ask designers to simply color in the lines to make your idea into a graphic. More from the design firm behind Apple, Google and Nike in the article.
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Ten Kinds of Abuse No Job-Seeker Should Tolerate (Forbes):
In our eyes, we see the employee-employer relationship as a two-way street. We can also say the same for our mix+shine client partners. Over the years, we’ve gone through our fair share of all ten abuses the author outlines, as individuals and as a small business. There is a better way, and a lot of it begins with what we’re willing (and not willing) to tolerate. Come 2018, we’re reclaiming our time.
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Meet the Trail Blazers Who Became the 15th and 16th Black Women to Raise $1 Million (Werk blog):
That women in business face inherent and explicit challenges in the workplace is nothing new. For women of color in the startup world, raising funding is a challenge, particularly when they solve problems for other women of color that male, white VCs don’t relate to. The good news is that the women who founded Mented Cosmetics are turning the trend around – shattering the proverbial glass ceiling and raising millions.
