Michael Plishka
Michael Plishka
Michael Plishka is the President and Founder of ZenStorming Solutions, LLC an innovation design consultancy. He believes in co-design methodologies, sharing design thinking essentials - empowering people and companies to make a difference with their products and services.
Designing the Future? Check out these 5 Websites for Innovative and Inspiring Materials
Reflect for a moment on where you are now: Probably sitting somewhere….Wearing something (if not, I hope you are not in public)…Your feet are resting...
Innovation, Design, Beauty and More From the International Home + Housewares Show
I went to the Home + Housewares Show today. I love this show – the new ideas, the color, the food and cooking,...
Tips for Innovative Problem Solving, or, How to Shovel Snow Without a Shovel
This past evening, just shy of midnight, I was getting ready to head outside for my second round of shoveling. I had already...
Makers – The New Industrial Revolution (Book Review)
The other day I picked up a copy of Makers – The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson. It's an exploration of the Maker movement...
Finding the Real Niches for 3D Printing
3-D printing is cool and it has its place, but we keep asking it to do everything. We want it to be the...
The Goal: Making Innovation Disappear
Some years back I was involved in an inter-religious dialogue with a Muslim group. During the course of many conversations, one thing became...
Virtuous Innovation – A Way to Sustainable Design and Development
Click to go the Virtuous Innovation Tool For every good idea brought to fruition, for every implemented idea that sees the light of day, there...
Innovation and Weeds
First on the scene – last to leave Opportunistic Propagate brilliantly Efficient Thrive where others struggle Become the new 'normal' Difficult to get rid of…
Innovation (and Living!) Starts with Seeing
"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." – Henry David Thoreau At the end of August I was watching a...
Innovating Healthcare Using Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design
The above scene is from the home of a person who has some pretty serious lung problems. This equipment is sitting next to...
Building Empathy on the Road to Innovation (and a Better World)
While the woman on the table braced herself for the extremely invasive transvaginal ultrasound, the technician tried to calm her: "You know, when I was...
Four Insights Into Great Innovation From Ernest Hemingway
"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice."–Ernest Hemingway I...
When US Healthcare Delivery Meets The Cheesecake Factory: The Stuff Innovation is Made of
What do the U.S. healthcare delivery system and The Cheesecake Factory have in common? According to Dr. Atul Gawande, potentially a great deal. The...
Looking to Outliers For Innovative Brilliance
(Before reading please watch the above short video) I can't help but smile every time I watch this video. The innocence of Butters (the…
Want to Innovate? No Excuses, Make it Happen!
I recently looked at some simulation software to help me do some analysis for a project I'm working on. I wasn't looking for...
Great New Tool for Collaboration (and More!) – Use a ‘Big Marker’
What do GoTo Meeting, Dropbox, and Ning have in common? Not much really. So, if you want to web conference, share files and create a…
A Look at Different Approaches to Innovation via NeoCon 2012
Yesterday, I was at the NeoCon 2012 Design Expo. While many, if not most, of the companies touted themselves as being innovative,...
Censoring the Censor – The Key to Increasing Creativity
Inside your brain there's a creativity censor. With finger poised above the 'Bleep' button, he's constantly protecting you from ideas that he deems...
Is There a Will For The “Why?” – Uncovering Innovative Product Opportunities
One of the best ways to generate innovative ideas is, in some ways, the simplest (but not necessarily the easiest!) When confronted with a problem,...
What Makes Successful Products, Services and Brands?
"If I eat a pink cake, the taste of it is pink; the light sugary perfume, the oiliness of the butter cream are the...