Why America Needs More Immigrants

In this Wall Street Journal article, the author makes the case for why educated professionals who come from other countries (yes, these definitely would be boundary crossers) help keep our economy healthy. Photo by ElvertBarnes. Key points: Immigrants make up a larger percentage, proportionally, of patents and co-founders of Silicon Valley companies. Foreign students are…

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Notable and Quotable from an Engineer/Artist

Love this quote from Julio Ottino, Dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University: "I believe that finding new things requires a prepared mind, and a prepared mind is being aware, consciously or not, of surroundings.  The most spectacular ideas happen when someone sees connections between two different fields that…

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Great HBR article on when it comes to your network, bigger is not better. Instead, *bridging* is better. http://bit.ly/qYOBkK

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Digital Breadcrumbs for Your Dreams

When I originally started this blog in 2008, new ways of spreading ideas were still in its infancy.  Twitter was largely the domain of early adopters. While blogs had become mainstream, online video had not yet become a pervasive tool for connecting to an audience.  Books were still largely consumed in hard copy and the…

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Four Weeks In: Laughing, Reading, and Writing

I'm starting the fourth and final week of my summer hiatus.  I'm in the mood to laugh, and to read and write. It doesn't get more basic than that. This past weekend, I went to our local library and checked out several books.  I noticed that I was drawn to stories and humor, including Marlo…

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