Ideas, insights and inspirations.

To find one’s voice and to have the courage to speak it is sacred. But to be heard is divine. This wisdom applies to both people and brands alike. The art of listening is a great gift of life. Cultivating it has been incredibly hard for a person like me who has been struggling and striving most of my life. Crossing cultures made it even more challenging. Landing at fiercely competitive Cornell and Carnegie Mellon was no respite. Becoming the CEO of an entrepreneurial company made it harder. As a Muslim, being under relentless attack has made it very difficult to stay silent and simply listen. True listening begins when you are in equilibrium, when you have arrived, and when you are neither fighting, nor in flight. I have been conscientiously working on getting better at this divine art. All my life, I have searched for quiet spaces where I could be who I truly am. Nature, mountains, parks and … Continue reading

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Recently I was reading an interesting SME article about 3D printing technology and its emergence in the medical industry. Stryker Orthopaedics, a leading medical technology company, is partnering with hospitals to manufacture a 3D printer that will allow for the creation of customizable implants for patients. The long-term vision is to have 3D printers in hospitals, where 3D “print engineers” will have the ability to receive patient data, design a unique implant, print it in six hours, sterilize it, and send it off to a surgeon for implementation. How cool is that. A customized, patient-specific implant designed to comfortably fit a person’s body. I imagine this adaptive solution will lead to a more effective product and a more satisfied recipient. This got me to thinking about Elliance and how, similar to custom implants, our most successful manufacturing marketing campaigns are those that are user-specific. We know that marketing is more effective when it “fits” a person’s digital activity and lifestyle. … Continue reading

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You know, the creative business is an odd bird. Anyone who has a creative bent knows what I mean. My uncle was a welder but when he came home, he was welding crazy little metal sculptures, (which later on became crazy big metal sculptures) transferring what he did at work, welding, into art… his art. The tension between mind (his working as a welder) and heart (his desire to create) did exist. At the time, I didn’t really didn’t understand how a welder could be a sculptor, but I do remember his enthusiasm for doing it. For him it fit…being a welder and an artist. An inner drive to create and to make. He resolved the tension within. Pure happiness. Oftentimes throughout my career I have been asked how we, as designers, arrive at the solutions we present. How do we arrive at solutions that speak directly to the mind and hearts of our clients. Much like my Uncle Jim, … Continue reading

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I hope you enjoy these as much as we do at Elliance: Designed by Apple in California Productivity future vision by Microsoft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozLaklIFWUI What inspires you?

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James Turrell, the artist of light, recently said “In a lucid dream, you have a sharper sense of color and lucidity than with your eyes open. I’m interested in the point where imaginative seeing and outside seeing meet, where it becomes difficult to differentiate between seeing from the inside and seeing from the outside.” I decided to share some inspiring work from him, which was published in a recent issue of Interview Magazine. All photo credits go to Grant Delin. Enjoy.

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Inspiration by German industrial designer, Ingo Maurer, who focuses on lighting design. Enjoy.

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I sense that the 21st century will be the century of generative thinking. Internet, search, social media, and mobile communications are opening up conversations that were simply hard to coordinate and imagine just 30 years ago. Now, we are truly operating at the speed of thought. Though our schools and colleges could be teaching this, our education system is designed to teach classical methods of thinking based on logic. Only liberal arts and art schools produce generative thinkers. Leaders who embrace it create value and comparative advantage. Generative thinking embraces possibility creates new permutations and realities where none existed before is creative and non-linear is right-brained springs from curiosity thrives on “and” is playful and inventive Generative thinking should be a complement to, but is often opposed to: logical thinking process thinking analytic thinking precedent-based thinking left-brained thinking incremental thinking craftmanship either-or thinking

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After disciplines were divided into smaller components, we have reached a turning point. New integrated disciplines and new paradigms of thinking are emerging. This-AND-That paradigm is replacing the This-OR-That thinking. A few data points to consider: The zeitgeist: In 2010, Parker Palmer and Arthur Zajonc make a case to re-envision education to integrate mind, heart and spirit in a book that I would call a manifesto for this tectonic change. In 2007, Roger Martin, the dean of Rotman School of Business writes the book titled “The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking” which posits that “And” thinking as opposed to “either-Or” thinking powers most successful businesses. In 2004, Andrew Weil authors the book “Health and Healing: The Philosophy of Integrative Medicine and Optimum Health” which claims that the best healers combine western medicine with alternative medicine such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, yogic methods and Chinese medicine. In 1995, Bill Moyers drew national attention to the emerging field … Continue reading

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