Stephen Shapiro, hall of fame speaker, has always considered himself to be a nerd. He was part of the math club, he loved chemistry and wanted to be a chemist, finally, he became an engineer.
He was always using his left brain, engaging in engineer style endeavors, but he was working in an era when innovation was crucial and business growth, and he felt that he had to become more innovative.
His first job was to figure out how to make companies more efficient. What he discovered was that when companies became more efficient, they reduced the workforce, and thus if Stephen did a good job, many other people would lose their jobs.
Quotes by Stephen Shapiro
Evey one is innovative, everyone is creative, we just participate in different ways.
I decided to optimize the innovation process
The best innovation starts with a problem
To find better solutions we need to ask better questions
The key of a leader is to create other leaders
Stephen Shapiro cultivates innovation by showing leaders and their teams on how to approach, tackle, and solve their business challenges. Applying the knowledge he has accrued over decades in the industry, Stephen is able to see what others can’t: opportunities to improve innovation models and the cultures that support them.
The first innovation opportunity Stephen spotted was the opportunity to innovate within his own life. Halfway through his 15-year tenure at Accenture, while co-leading the company’s business process reengineering practice, he realized he no longer wanted to be responsible for people losing their jobs. So he did exactly the opposite by building Accenture’s thriving 20,000-person process and innovation practice focused on growth and job creation.
In 2001, after publishing his first book, 24/7 Innovation, Stephen left Accenture to become a full-time innovation speaker and advisor to clients around the world. Since then he has published four more books – Goal-Free Living (2006), The Little Book of Big Innovation Ideas (2007), Personality Poker (2010), and Best Practices are Stupid (2011) — and spoken to audiences in 50 different countries. His sixth book, Invisible Solutions, will be published in 2020.
Today, Stephen continues to focus on transforming the way businesses like 3M, P&G, Marriott, Nike, and Microsoft improve innovation practices through customized keynote speeches, advisory engagements, and other services. Passionate and captivating, Stephen’s high-energy approach to innovation gets audiences out of their seats and into new ways of thinking about their business challenges.
Stephen just finished serving a six-year term on the Board of Directors of National Speakers Association (NSA) and is the recipient of the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, NSA’s highest earned designation. In 2015 he was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame.
He has a degree from Cornell University in Industrial Engineering, which has helped him optimize the entire innovation process using the engineering techniques he learned there.
He was also involved with Girl Starter, a movement that encourages and enables young women to launch their own businesses. He was a judge and mentor on the television show (TLC) and has supported the speaking tour and other endeavors.
Invisible Solutions
Solve Any Problem Faster, with Less Risk and Lower Cost
Unprecedented access to infinite solutions has led us to realize that having all of the answers is not the answer. From innovation teams to creativity experts to crowdsourcing, we’ve turned from one source to another, spending endless cycles pursuing piecemeal solutions to each challenge we face.
What if your organization had an effective and systematic approach to deal with any problem? To find better solutions, you need to first ask better questions. The questions you ask determine which solutions you’ll see and which will remain hidden.
This compact yet powerful book contains the formulas to reframe any problem multiple ways, using 25 lenses to help you gain different perspectives. With visual examples and guidance, it contains everything you need to master any challenge.
This book will help you:
- Discover why we are hardwired to ask ineffective questions and learn to work through those barriers.
- Understand the power and importance of well-defined questions.
- Reframe any problem multiple ways to help you find the optimal solution.
- Move from idea-based innovation to question-based innovation that drives higher ROI.
Apply just one of the lenses and you will quickly discover better solutions. Apply all of them and you will be able to solve any problem—in business and in life.
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