Tag Archives: Artificial Intelligence

When Grant Writing Isn’t the Problem

Earlier this spring, I wrote about the structural pressures bearing down on the nonprofit sector. The numbers are not comfortable. According to the State of Nonprofits 2026 report, a national survey of 380 nonprofit leaders published by the Center for … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Nonprofits | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When Confidence Becomes the Problem: The Most Dangerous Step in Problem Solving

A few years ago, a large Midwest-based paint and coatings manufacturer asked me to help them crowdsource a redesign of a new industrial pump. The new pump worked beautifully in the lab, but clogged constantly when used outdoors. The engineers … Continue reading

Posted in Innovation, Problem-solving | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Defence of AI

There is a well-known framework for understanding how people respond to loss. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It was meant to describe how individuals cope with death and dying. It turns out … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Global Innovation, Science & Technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

From Process to Practice: Who Runs It and How

This is the fifth and final post in the series “Problem First: AI-Assisted Problem Solving for Organizations That Can’t Afford to Get It Wrong.” After I published the second post in this series, the one laying out a five-stage problem-solving … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Creativity, Innovation, Nonprofits, Problem-solving | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AI as Problem-Solving Partner: Doing It Right

This is the fourth post in the series “Problem First: AI-Assisted Problem Solving for Organizations That Can’t Afford to Get It Wrong.” I ended the previous post with a claim that deserves scrutiny: that the real value of AI for … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Creativity, Innovation, Nonprofits, Problem-solving | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Organizations That Need Problem Solving Most Are the Ones Doing It Least

This is the third post in the series “Problem First: AI-Assisted Problem Solving for Organizations That Can’t Afford to Get It Wrong.” The first two posts in this series made a general case. Organizations are bad at defining problems. They … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Creativity, Innovation, Nonprofits, Problem-solving | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why We’re So Bad at Solving Problems (And Why It Matters More Than Ever)

This is the first post in the series “Problem First: AI-Assisted Problem Solving for Organizations That Can’t Afford to Get It Wrong.” Clients always come to me knowing what they want. Very often, however, they don’t do enough due diligence … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Innovation | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The AI Paradox: Why SMEs Might Be Losing Ground Just When They Thought They’d Caught Up

Three months ago, I declared AI the great equalizer for small and medium enterprises. Today, I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m worried we might be celebrating prematurely — and that the very technology promising to level the playing field … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Innovation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Putting the Cart Before the Horse: What We’re Getting Wrong About AI

The debate about artificial intelligence has become exhaustingly predictable. On one side, we have doomsayers who celebrate every misstep—a misdrawn map of Europe, a miscounted number of r’s in “blueberry”—as proof that AI is fundamentally flawed. The word “hallucination” has … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Crowdsourcing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Unlocking SME Innovation: Why AI-Based Problem-Solving is the Great Equalizer

In mid-October 2009, I was visiting with a client, a large, Midwest-based paint and coating manufacturing company. As part of their product development process, the company’s engineers built a powerful outdoor pump to paint industrial buildings. The pump worked beautifully … Continue reading

Posted in AI, Innovation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments