Blog

Managing NASA’s Most Complex Mission with Scott Willoughby

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 01-08-26

Scott Willoughby, Vice President of Program Excellence at Northrop Grumman and former program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, joined Jamie Flinchbaugh to share insights on leading one of the most complex systems ever built. With 35 years at Northrop Grumman, a NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and membership

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Smart Idiots and Brave Thinkers: Rethinking Critical Thinking

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 01-06-26

Is courage the missing ingredient for successful critical thinking, and why is critical thinking still one of the most critical skills for every human? As we start to explore critical thinking, it’s a term that’s thrown around as loosely as leadership or integrity, but it is very much worth examining

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Learning To See Through Direct Observation and Drawing: Inspiration From Laurie Olin

by Susan Winter on 12-16-25

“To sit still is to see the world as it is, not as we would have it” – Laurie Olin Filmmaker Gina Angelone describes the title of her documentary Sitting Still as coming from landscape architect Laurie Olin’s conviction that “one of the best methods devised to learn from the

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Rick Pedersen of Old Norse Consulting on Knowledge Gaps in Product Development

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 12-11-25

  Rick Pedersen, owner of Old Norse Consulting, joined host Jamie Flinchbaugh to explore why product development demands a fundamentally different approach to problem-solving than traditional business processes. During their conversation, Rick explained that while most business functions involve transactional processes that can be documented and repeated, product development centers

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Reflections on AI and Humanity With Arianna Huffington

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 12-09-25

Arianna Huffington was hosted at Lehigh University for a wide-ranging discussion centered on AI, but covered much more. I certainly will not try to summarize the entire conversation, but will focus on three key takeaways and my reflections on them as she told stories and shared perspectives. Learning from Every

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Jason Trujillo: How Constraints and Frameworks Fuel Creative Problem Solving

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-26-25

Jason Trujillo, a transformational leader with a wide range of experiences, joined Jamie Flinchbaugh on the People Solve Problems podcast to share his unconventional path to becoming a transformational leader and his philosophy on structured problem-solving. With a career spanning companies like Stanley Black & Decker, IBM, Intel, and Harley-Davidson,

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A primer on AI and Problem Solving

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-18-25

AI should never replace problem-solving, as problem-solving is a truly human skill, or a combination of skills, that is an act of discovery. However, AI can act as a great co-intelligence, helping us broaden our perspective, challenge our logic, or simply get unstuck when our wheels are spinning. In this

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Norbert Majerus: Breaking Out of the Box in Design Creativity

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-13-25

In this episode of People Solve Problems, host Jamie Flinchbaugh welcomes Norbert Majerus, a creative problem solver at Norbert Majerus Consulting. With 45 years in industrial creativity and 60 US patents to his name, Norbert brings deep expertise from his years implementing lean product development at Goodyear’s global innovation centers.

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Get CEO Succession Right

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 11-11-25

Sometimes, CEO succession goes horribly wrong, and that’s very often public. We see the failings of the CEO selected and think, as they fire them, “How could they get this so wrong?” That’s convenient Monday morning quarterbacking, because the reality is that it is very tricky, and no one (except

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The Culture of Problem Solving: How Leaders Shape Success

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 10-30-25

Section 5 from the People Solve Problems Book The Culture of Problem Solving: How Leaders Shape Success A strong culture doesn’t just solve problems—it prevents them. A problem-solving culture isn’t built on processes alone—it’s built on behaviors. Key Behaviors of a Problem-Solving Culture explores the role leaders play in shaping

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