Josh Linkner's Blog

Albert Einstein famously noted, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.” In our post-COVID world of skyrocketing inflation, supply chain meltdowns, the great resignation, geopolitical turmoil, extremist politicians, and an impending recession, there’s never been a more important time to rethink our thinking.

The mindset that got us to this point in our careers – and history – is simply not durable enough to unlock success in a climate of volatility...

Ever get stuck on a problem, only to realize you’re solving for the wrong thing? That’s exactly what happened when the rocket scientists at NASA were trying to make astronauts’ pens to work in the zero-gravity environment of space. According to Scientific American, “During the height of the space race in the 1960s, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in zero gravity. They therefore spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars developing a ballpoint pen that could put ink to p...

Do you prefer the crispy mozzarella, tempura watercress, and black garlic mayonnaise cheeseburger or the pumpkin mustard, bacon, cranberries, and sage hot dog? For something sweet, would you rather try the black sesame milkshake, the pancake and bacon frozen custard, or stick with a cold brew float? What sounds like a scene from the Culinary Institute of Paris is actually playing out at the Shake Shack over on Varick Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

These strange dishes are not on the bur...

Just before she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, I watched Lady Gaga dazzle the live audience with a pitch perfect performance of her hit “Shallow.” From her stage skills to her vocal ability, the talented performer made it all look so easy.

When we see people performing at the top of their fields— from Broadway to business—they often make it look simple. But people who achieve Lady Gaga levels of success arrive at the top by way of rigorous training. They refuse the elevator, prefe...

For some reason, we’ve been taught that for creativity and innovation to count they need to have a magnitude the size of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

As you may recall, earthquakes are measured on something called the Richter scale. According to the American Heritage Scientific Dictionary, the Richter scale is “a numerical scale for expressing the magnitude of an earthquake on the basis of seismograph oscillations.” Simply put, the higher the number the more damage it does. The San Francis...

There’s more confusion around the meaning of the word innovation than the chaos at the airline ticket counter after a cancelled flight. Is there a difference between creativity, innovation, and imagination?

Let’s start with imagination. Imagination is the raw material that can be formed into creativity and innovation. Think of imagination as our ability to envision anything new. Imagining the world’s biggest skyscraper floating sideways in the Suez Cancel and covered in a 1980s pastel argyle pat...

When we hear stories about iconic leaders like Salesforce.com’s founder Marc Benioff, or widely celebrated virtuosos like Lin-Manuel Miranda for that matter, we immediately think these people must have some special gift that we normal folk are missing. As if the skies opened for a brief moment and the gods anointed the chosen few with heavenly powers. We’re led to believe that we’re either creative or we’re not, and there’s very little we can do about it.

This is what we’ve been told our whole l...

When the misguided leaders at Enron, Tyco and Worldcom committed fraud and marred their shareholders with huge losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission rightfully swooped in to prevent future cons.

The problem is that the corrective measure came in the form of legislation known as Sarbanes-Oxley, which became a stranglehold on business. It was a broad-based, sweeping regulation that undoubtedly was well-intentioned but ended up significantly hampering the competitiveness of U.S. businesses...

Fact: Creativity has become the most needed skill in business. It’s gone from a nice-to-have to becoming mission-critical.

Fact: Creativity is a learnable skill. All humans have enormous creative potential and can unlock a reservoir of dormant capacity.

Fact: Most of us don’t feel all that creative. Most of us have radically underdeveloped inventive thinking and creative problem-solving skills, largely suppressed by fear.

With these facts in mind, why don’t more of us unleash our full creative p...

As kids, we go out to play. Later in life, we play sports or play music. But then, in sharp contrast, we leave our homes each day and go to work. 

The term “work” implies uninspired, tedious and generally yucky things. Parallels of going to the dentist, waiting in line at the DMV or filling out endless forms come to mind. Trading our souls for money is not the ideal career choice.

The elements of play include being present. Enjoying the intrinsic value of the moment. Using imagination. Savoring ...