By now I'm sure you've read at least one article with a title like "Detroit Hopes To Drive Tech Startups Away From Silicon Valley," or "Five Cities Poised to Become the Next Silicon Valley" or my personal favorite, "Move Silicon Valley to Cleveland."

Even I have played with these types of comparisons, but that was more than four years ago and I think it might be time to give it a rest with all this "next Silicon Valley" business. I just don't think we're gaining any real insights by trying to correlate any other place on the planet with what has happened in the last 50 years in a "one-in-a-billion" place like the Bay Area.

The question I get asked most is the single question I feel most uncomfortable answering: "So, what do you do?"

I'm an entrepreneur. It's as simple as that. Strangely, the e-word has always rubbed me the wrong way. Perhaps because I've experienced firsthand how challenging being a business owner is, I think it is used loosely these days and has begun to lose meaning.

In a world exploding with new technologies and gadgets to fit the up and coming generations, it seems that the older generations are getting cast aside. Even though it seems like new healthcare entrepreneurs are always moving forward, some companies, like HomeHero, took a generational step back to work in the senior care industry. Kyle Hill is the CEO and co-founder of HomeHero, a website to find in-home, affordable care for seniors. He started the company in the hopes of making caring for loved ones easier, especially when distance separated them.

I’m going to post these quotes without any commentary; I think they hold up well on their own. Some background: 70 years ago at an ALA Executive Board Meeting (October 1945) they devoted a morning to discussing the future of librarianship. The conversation was summarized and published in the A.L.A. BULLETIN from February 1946. Here are a few notes that I found interesting and still relevant today:

Image: Photograph of check out counter of the East Branch on Jane Street of the Bridgeport Public Library ca. 1945 copyright Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections.

The norms they are a-changin. It’s not quite Bob Dylan, but this bowdlerization of the 1960s protest-era song speaks to a larger truth: Widely held beliefs about issues — and the sense of what is acceptable — can change quite quickly. Perhaps the most extraordinary example has been in public attitudes toward gay marriage in the U.S. According to Gallup, the percentage of people who agree that same-sex marriages should be legal generally hovered in the 42 to 44 percent range between 2004 and 2010. But in the last five years, the percentage of those approving has climbed consistently— to 60 percent in May 2015.

My father has long been fond of the old expression “Better lucky than smart.” He spent years in the drilling and blasting business, an industry fraught with uncontrollable variables and unintended consequences despite rigorous calculations. More recently, I have come to see this adage as a simple tool for improving decision analysis and overcoming outcome bias — particularly among those not formally trained in decision science.

I’ve been working with large companies and the U.S. government to help them innovate faster– not just kind of fast, but 10x the number of initiatives in 1/5 the time. A 50x speedup kind of fast.

Here’s how.

In the year since we released “The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America,” Brookings has visited or interacted with dozens of leaders in burgeoning innovation districts in the United States and Europe. In so doing, we’ve sharpened our knowledge of what’s happening on the ground and gained some important insights into how cities and metros are embracing this new paradigm of economy-shaping, place-making, and network-building.

It’s too often said that some event “changed everything” in technology. But when it comes to the history of broadband in the United States, Google Fiber really did. Before February 2010, when Google asked cities to apply to be first in line for the fiber-optic lines it would install to deliver Internet service to homes at a gigabit per second, the prospects for upgrading Americans’ wired broadband connections looked dismal. The Federal Communications Commission was on the verge of releasing its first National Broadband Plan, which stressed the importance of affordable, abundant bandwidth and the need to spread it by “overbuilding”—stringing fiber to houses and businesses even if they already had service over cable and phone lines with relatively low capacity. Yet at the time, as Blair Levin, executive director of the broadband plan, told me, “for the first time since 1994, there was no national provider with plans to overbuild the current network.”

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. But fortunately, team building is a skill that can be learned and practiced, for those willing to put in some effort.

Image: http://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Aside from their health and environmental benefits, bikes are probably best known for being cost-effective methods of transportation.

But that doesn’t mean that all bike owners are looking to cut transportation costs. In fact, a new group is now making an impact on the biking industry – the super rich.

E-bikes are battery powered bicycles that have become popular in several European countries. They sell for up to 40,000 euros ($45,000). And they don’t even require users to pedal. So riders can even go up and down hills without really breaking a sweat.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland has been named to the 2015 class of Innovation & Economic Prosperity Universities by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The designation honors 18 universities working with public and private sector partners in their states and regions to support economic development through a variety of activities, including innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development, and community development.  

In 2012, Emilie Holmes needed money to kit out her 1970s Citroen H van, and she needed it fast. With grand ideas for the old truck – she wanted to transform it into a travelling tea shop – she signed up as one of Kickstarter's first UK projects and raised £14,500 in five days, which was 45 per cent more than her target.

"At the time, it felt serendipitous," she remembers, midway through another round of funding, this time with Crowdcube. "It felt good to bring people together, and ever since, this community has been a really lovely source of support." She will soon open a bricks-and-mortar version, with another not far behind.

SOME WEARABLES INTERACT NOT JUST WITH THEIR USERS, BUT EVERYONE AROUND THEM. HERE ARE THREE DESIGN RULES FOR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DEVICES.

Google’s very public experiment with Glass in 2013-2014 provided an important lesson for the designers of wearable devices. Glass failed not because of the product itself but because the design generated socially awkward situations at every turn.

Is there anything more American than a road trip? The interstate highway system, which enabled our famous car culture and iconic suburbs, were a symbol of our country's prosperity in the post-war era. But the time when family owned businesses and quirky attractions lined two-lane highways has passed, replaced by freeways, fast food chains, and Holiday Inns.

Image: http://www.fastcodesign.com 

Most of us have had that coworker that seemed to be a perfect fit for the company or team. She always had the right answers. He seemed to know what needed to be done before the company leaders even did. And that "sixth sense" and insight was rewarded with responsibility, autonomy, accolades, and advancement.

"When employees bring those qualities, they’re perceived as leaders in the company, no matter what position they hold," says Katharine Halpin, CEO and founding principal of The Halpin Companies, Inc., a leadership consultancy in Phoenix, Arizona. "They take ownership for problem solving and dissolving conflict. They naturally have this sort of alignment with the company."

Image: http://www.fastcompany.com 

It’s a stereotype that men would rather be lost than stop and get directions, but it turns out asking for help carries a psychological penalty for guys. A study from researchers at Duke University, the University of San Diego, and the University of Pittsburgh found that male leaders who ask for help are perceived as being less competent. When female leaders solicit help, however, the negative image didn’t apply.

If you’re the kind of boss who fails to make genuine connections with your direct reports, take heed: 91% of employees say communication issues can drag executives down, according to results from our new Interact/Harris Poll, which was conducted online with roughly 1,000 U.S. workers.

In the survey, employees called out the kind of management offenses that point to a striking lack of emotional intelligence among business leaders, including micromanaging, bullying, narcissism, indecisiveness, and more. In rank order, the following were the top communication issues people said were preventing business leaders from being effective:

Image: https://hbr.org 

Chancellor Brit Kirwan reflects on the progress the University System of Maryland (USM) has made during his tenure as chancellor. He expresses gratitude to the USM community for the work it has done to elevate the quality of USM education, fuel the state’s economic development, and establish USM as a national model for higher education.

Image: http://www.umaryland.edu/ 

Boise State University researcher Juliette Tinker developed a vaccine that may protect dairy cows from staph infections in their udders. The university’s technology transfer office shepherded Tinker through the patent application process. The office may help find an industry partner to fund Tinker’s work through the expensive testing and approval process in exchange for rights to sell the vaccine. “Or, we could just hand it off to industry when it gets to that point,” she said. “Industry will have more resources to really test this vaccine properly.”

Image: http://legacy.idahostatesman.com