064: Bill Donius (Thought Revolution)

Bill Donius on Innovation City

“Instead of staying in that bad zone and staying stuck…you don’t have to, you can figure out why and fix it.” — Bill Donius

Welcome to Innovation City—powered by Venture Cafe—where Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, creators, and disruptors to discover how business is changing in the modern world.

Created and produced by SLAM! Agency in cooperation with Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami, Innovation City gives you an inside look at how rapidly business and culture are changing thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. Venture Cafe is the largest combined gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators anywhere in the world. Events are held every Thursday in St. Louis, Miami, and other leading innovation cities around the globe.

Today’s guest is Bill Donius, Author of the New York Times Best-Seller, “Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your Inner Genius.” Bill is also a regularly contributing writer for Huffington Post. Previously Chairman and CEO of Pulaski Bank in St. Louis, MO, Bill has over 20 years of experience in the corporate world. Bill sits down with the team to discuss his best-selling book, the theory and research behind the right-brain approach, his work with global brands and startups to get “unstuck,” and St. Louis’ ever-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. Find Bill on Twitter at @bdonius and find his book on Amazon and in bookstores everywhere.

• Author of New York Times Best-Selling book: “Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your Inner Genius”
• Writes for Huffington Post
• 20 years of experience in the corporate world
• Previously Chairman and CEO of Pulaski Bank
• His “app” for activating the neural pathways to the right hemisphere of the brain
  • Roger Sperry’s theory behind it
• Learning to tap into the right hemisphere of the brain to think differently about obstacles
• Using the non-dominant hand as the activation point to access right-brain
• Being willing to let go and allow the solution to come to you rather than forcing the thought of a solution
• Teaching companies and individuals around the world who are stuck with something through his right-brain tapping approach
• Conducting 200 interviews for research for the theory and book
• The brain being the least understood organ in the body
• Correlation between Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg
• Using his approach to get an independent view on whatever he is working on
• Working with global brands VS startups
  • Seeing the difference between the two types getting stuck on one problem
• Finding solutions fast
• Helping big companies think and respond to issues faster
• Healthy impatience to try new things
• St. Louis being a great place to live and work
• St. Louis’ investment in the entrepreneurial ecosystem
• Other cities being harder to start in due to space, talent, cost, etc.
• Working with teams big and small to solve major problems in under 2 hours
• ‘Thought Revolution’ is available Amazon and in bookstores now
• Reach out to Bill through his website: www.williamdonius.com