Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoram Solomon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Yoram. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Born in Israel and served in the Israeli Defense Forces, 35th Airborne paratroopers brigade. The first member of my family to go to college, albeit 12 years after finishing high-school. After a 7-year career in a technology company, started my first startup company in Israel in 1995. Shut it down in 1998, and moved to the Silicon Valley, where I joined another startup, and eventually sold it in 2000, right before the market crashed. Became an executive in the acquiring company, and then joined Texas Instruments. After a year and a half of driving 200 miles a day to and from my office in Santa Rosa, CA or flying 6 hours to and from the company’s HQ in Dallas, we moved to Plano in 2003. TI named me as “TI’s Great Innovator.” In 2008, I left TI and joined Interphase. Meanwhile, I completed my MBA and Ph.D. in organization and management.
In July of 2010, I presented my latest invention, penveu, to the company’s board of directors. One of the board members said to me “this kind of idea happens once in a lifetime.” When I asked why, he went on to say that “great ideas are accidental!” Somehow, that explanation didn’t sit well with me, and I started researching the neuroscience and psychology of creativity.
When it was time to work on my Ph.D. dissertation, my mentor asked me, trying to get a topic I would be passionate about: “what pisses you off?” My answer was: “what pisses me off is that people are so much more creative in startups than they are when they work in mature, large companies.” That became the topic of my dissertation, published in “From Startup to Maturity.”
In 2013, I decided to give back to my community. Not that I didn’t before, as I served on the board of “Plano Youth Leadership,” was an entrepreneurship instructor in “Young Women Incorporated,” and a volunteer transport mission pilot and aerospace education officer in the US Air-Force’s Civil Air Patrol. But since education was very important to me, and the reason we chose Plano as our home, I decided to run for the board of the Plano Independent School District. I ran a good campaign but lost.
In the next two years, I became even more involved in my community and participated in the Leadership Plano program. In 2015, I decided to run again. This time, I won and since then, I have been serving on the Plano ISD board of trustees, most recently as the board vice president.
But something else happened in 2015. I turned 50. Instead of buying a Corvette, I started wondering what I wanted to do when I retire. I realized that there are three things that I enjoy the most: learning, writing, and teaching. In one word–inspiring. In fact, if there is one line I can have on my headstone once I pass, I’d like it to be “he inspired me.”
And that’s when I decided to launch “Large Scale Creativity.” I truly believe that every company has the potential to be the most innovative company in the world. If I had to explain why some companies are more innovative than others, it’s because their employees are more creative. If I had to explain why employees are more creative in one company more than others, it’s because that company has a culture of innovation. If I had to explain why one company has a stronger innovation culture, it’s because they have more trust ingrained in them.
And thus, I set out to help companies build trust, build a culture of innovation, and innovate. I published 8 books so far, 22 patents, and more than 200 articles. For two years I was an innovation columnist at Inc. Magazine and was ranked in the top 40 innovation bloggers in 2015, 16, 17 by Innovation Excellence. I conduct workshops and give keynotes on a national basis.
But at the end of the day, I come home to my wife Anat, a teacher and event planner, Shira, a senior in Plano West High School, and Maya, a sophomore in college.
Has it been a smooth road?
Is anything even smooth? Paying for college, and going to college while working full time was hard. I got my law degree, MBA, and Ph.D. all while working full time.
Moving from Israel to start a new life in America with a wife who was six-months pregnant and ten suitcases to a country I visited only twice was challenging. Trying to squeeze those ten suitcases into the compact car I rented was challenging by itself…
Then, of course, came the recession of 2000, and the future became bleak.
And in 2015, deciding to leave the corporate world to pursue a dream (with two girls about to go to college) was, to say the least, scary.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Large Scale Creativity – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The focus of Large Scale Creativity is to help companies build trust, develop a culture of innovation, and then find the next big thing. I’m a trust-builder, and innovation-maker to the companies and teams I work with. I’m known especially for one phrase: culture of innovation. Many times, I’m approached by people I never heard of, who heard of Large Scale Creativity. And not only in the US.
One of the most unique things about our approach is the scientific formula that I developed on how trust is being built in teams, and in leaders and their followers.
I’m proud of the 8 books (9th in the works…) and most of all, the impact we have on companies such as AT&T, Qorvo, Dannon, Northrop Grumman, and many more.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I like the friendliness of the people around me. I know everyone who lives on my street. I like how much people volunteer and give to their community here.
The thing I like the least are the things that cause insurance claims. Mainly, the severe weather…
Contact Info:
- Website: www.largescalecreativity.com
- Phone: (972) 332-1490
- Email: info@largescalecreativity.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LargeScaleCreativity/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoram
Image Credit:
Yoram Solomon
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
