Mike Carruthers

I'm Mike Carruthers, and this is Something You Should Know.

One of the biggest problems with texts and emails and posts is they're not very good at conveying tone.

Sarcasm, teasing, and irony are especially easy to misread because there's no voice or facial expression to guide the reader.

Research shows that we've quietly solved some of the problem with emojis.

Certain emojis act as tone markers, helping readers understand what a message is really trying to say.

The classic wink emoji is one of the strongest signals of sarcasm or playful intent.

It tells the reader, don't take this literally.

A tongue-out face emoji often signals joking or exaggeration, while a laughing emoji usually softens criticism and signals friendly humor.

Even a simple smiley face can turn what might sound blunt or cold into something warmer and more cooperative.

So emojis aren't just decoration.

They're kind of digital body language, helping us to say what we actually mean when the words by themselves fall short.

And that is something you should know.

When people ask, where do great ideas come from, I think they're usually hoping for a really simple answer.

But there isn't one.

Great ideas come from all over the place, sometimes from places no one expected at all.

In fact, some of the most important ideas in history were not planned, they were accidents.

Penicillin, the slinky, Teflon, even potato chips, all came from mistakes, chance encounters, or experiments that went sideways.

And when you look closely at how those ideas actually happened, you start to see some patterns, clues about how creativity really works, and how breakthroughs are often less about brilliance and more about noticing what other people overlook.

Here to share some of those stories and what they teach us about generating better ideas is Paul Sloan.

He's a recognized authority on innovation and creative thinking, and he's the author of several books, including The Art of Unexpected Solutions.