Michael Balch

Out of the Ordinary Michael Balch

As a person who has spent my life on the intersection of creativity and innovation, I have watched our country's businesses and society stagnate. What do I mean by stagnate? We have become a nation of followers. We have been taught, largely through our educational system to perfect the already known. In school we try to master the standardized tests. The best test takers get the high-profile jobs and help to perfect the processes already in place. Meanwhile, in a country built on ingenuity and hard work, the creative thinkers are dwindling or being muzzled. Commonplace thinking would lead you to believe some people are highly creative, while others have little to no creativity. That same thinking would also make you believe that some people are born to be leaders and other followers. I am here to say that is false. Everybody is born with creativity. The question is, are you encouraging creative thinking, or have you suppressed it to follow the status quo? Not only will I debug the notion that some people are not born creative, or leaders, but will show you how to become a leader that is creative, innovative, and courageous.