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Stephen Shapiro is an American business author, consultant, and public speaker. He is notable for his expertise on business innovation and has written five books, including two best-sellers, on the subject.

Career
Shapiro began his career in the mid-1980s, and he spent 15 years working for the consulting firm Accenture. While at Accenture, he delivered training on innovation to over 20,000 consultants, and he helped the company establish its Global Process Excellence Practice.

In 2001, Shapiro wrote his first book, 24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change, which was published by McGraw-Hill. The book was a major success, being featured in Newsweek, Investor’s Business Daily, and The New York Times, and it helped Shapiro further establish himself as an innovation expert.

In 2006, Wiley published his highly acclaimed and controversial Goal-Free Living. The book built on Shapiro’s corporate innovation work and outlined ways individuals can live more creative lives by eschewing societies overemphasis on goals. The book was featured on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine.

Shapiro further developed his theories on innovation, and in 2007, he self-published his Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas. That year he also launched Personality Poker(r), a card game that helps organizations understand personality mixes and the impact they can have on creativity and innovation.

In 2010, Portfolio Penguin published the Personality Poker book, which included a deck of Shapiro’s playing cards. The next year, Shapiro released his fifth book, Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out Innovate the Competition. The book was also published by Portfolio Penguin Books, and became an international best-seller.

Shapiro has worked with organizations in 50 countries such as Marriot, 3M, P&G, Nike, Microsoft, Staples, NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Honda,The United States Air Force, Fidelity Investments, Telefónica and Nestlé to help them increase innovation.

Shapiro’s work has been published in several sources  including Fortune (magazine), Inc. (magazine), ABC News, CNBC, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The European Business Review, The New York Times, and Success Magazine.

Shapiro has also written columns for Forbes, American Express OPEN forum and Harvard Business Review.

Innovation Philosophy
Shapiro established his philosophy based on the premise that old models of innovation are broken, and that fresh ways of thinking about almost everything is the surest way for an organization to increase its innovative output. He recommends dispensing with standard best practices in many business situations, and advises clients to adopt more unconventional practices, like hiring people they may not like, or seeking the opinions of individuals from different, even completely unrelated areas of expertise to help overcome business challenges.

Awards and Recognition
Shapiro has received recognition and several awards for his work, including:


 * His work was featured on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine
 * Personality Poker was nominated for Best Innovation and Creativity Book of 2010 by CEO READ
 * Best Practices Are Stupid won the Best Innovation and Creativity Book of 2011 by CEO READ
 * Best Practices Are Stupid was the #1 best-selling business book in Canada according to the official Globe and Mail ratings
 * CPAE Award - Inducted into Hall of Fame for the National Speakers Association (Council of Peers Award of Excellence) 2015
 * CSP - earned the Certified Speaking Professional from the National Speakers Association in 2014