Why it’s groovy to be in a jazz combo
Like most middle-class parents in the 1970s, my mum and dad dreamt of me becoming an accomplished pianist. At the age of seven, they shipped me off to piano...
It’s time to make workplace stress history
Let’s take a trip back 10,000 years. You’re a hunter-gatherer living on the plains, trying to provide for your young family. While tracking a deer, you hear a sound...
Keep Your Sole Forever Young
This is an extract from Iconic Advantage by Soon Yu and (our founder) Dave Birss. It’s already a best-seller on Amazon. And you can get your hands on the...
I’ve just killed my brand. Here’s why.
Two months ago I launched a new business. I’d spent months developing it and refining it. I’d created assets for it, a twitter account, a website, films. Hundreds and...
Why your innovation-lab is not working – and what you should do instead
All over the world, established companies are joining the race to develop disruptive and customer-centric innovations. Looking at successful startups from the likes of Uber, Airbnb, Amazon and Facebook,...
Start small, think big
As an individual who prides himself on being ‘creative’ (and self-employed), I am always on the look-out for the next big project. That big one to challenge me mentally...
When the going gets tough, the tough get playful
“The 13 tracks on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are the pinnacle of the Beatles’ eight years as recording artists. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo...
Great ideas aren’t enough: the inside story of how Kodak missed the digital boat
As you sow, so shall you reap. You’ve heard this proverb before, and you’ve undoubtedly had the experience of realizing its simple truth: the initial conditions of a process...
What driving instructors could learn from Henry Kissinger
I’m learning to drive. Yes, I’m 35 years old. Don’t judge me. The point is that I am in the unusual situation of being a 35-year-old man undergoing formal,...
Hippo: The missing chapter.
This month we’re giving away 40 copies of Pete Trainor’s best-selling book, Hippo. Half to existing subscribers and half to new ones. To celebrate, we got him to dig...