innovation
129 posts
When Things Catch On
When things catch on, we often assume that their success happened en masse and out of the blue. One day an idea is invisible to us, the next it’s everywhere. The truth about ideas that fly is that they gain traction in increments. One story, one believer, one advocate at a time. We earn the…
The Will And The Way
My grandmother was fond of repeating the proverb: ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.’ She’d say it to encourage us to try. I don’t think I’ve fully appreciated its power until now. Seeing how our communities and local businesses have adapted to the pandemic restrictions is proof of how innovative
Leveraging Our Mistakes
Each day we overlook some opportunity to see or to serve. We fail to challenge our assumptions and hold fast to our opinions. The result is that we sometimes miss the opportunity to do better. This feels like bad news. But it doesn’t have to be. What if instead of saying; ‘I could kick myself…
Start To Finish
Conventional wisdom states that you can never have too much information when solving a problem or executing on a plan. But we all know that information and data alone won’t get us to where we want to go. All problem-solving and innovation require us also to imagine a future we can’t yet see. And per
Ideas Worth Keeping
Sometimes our best ideas come to us when we’re working with constraints. We’ve all seen hundreds of brilliant ideas and initiatives come into being as a result of communities being in isolation around the globe. Local councils in London are calling at-risk elderly to ask if they need groceries or me
Lessons From A Low-Touch World
Technology presents opportunities for efficiency and scale. And for the last century, conventional wisdom equated progress with efficiency—doing more with less friction. We’ve worked hard to build systems that scale. Frictionless innovations for a low-touch world. Now, we’re beginning to realise tha
Balancing Wants And Needs
On a normal day, our local supermarket stocks fifty different kinds of pasta. Right now they’re stocking two. On a normal day, customers would complain bitterly about the lack of choice. Today they’re grateful to leave the shop with two boxes of a brand of penne they’ve never tried. What we’re witne
What Did You Do?
A walk down my local café strip shows just how resourceful we can be when we’re in a tough spot. Because of world events and government guidelines around group gatherings, restaurants and cafes can no longer welcome diners into their premises. But they are quickly adapting. Every café has come up wi
On Resourcefulness
When things don’t go according to plan. Remember this isn’t the first time you’ve had to change course. Make a list of all the other times you pushed through. Remind yourself of the skills and strengths you previously called on in challenging times. Tell yourself those stories today. They will stand
Don’t Be Right, Be Early
Seven years ago, a member of the Zoom video conferencing sales team worked hard to demonstrate the value of their service to me. She emailed, she Zoomed, she answered questions. And I didn’t sign up. ‘I will one day,’ I promised. ‘Just not now. It’s just too early for me.’ Which was true. Few of…
Why This? Why You? Why Now?
Why This? Why You? Why Now? Three simple questions we are often reluctant to answer. When you sit with the discomfort of reflecting on them before you embark on a project, you’ll be clearer about what the world needs from you and why. You’ll also have the beginnings of the story your audience wants
The Power Of Reflective Practice
My mother can practically bake a killer apple tart in her sleep. It’s a skill she’s learned over decades of trial and error. We hone any skill by doing. We get better by practising and observing, then reflecting and iterating. The doctor perfects her bedside manner by reflecting on how a consultatio
The Best Laid Plans
This day ten years ago you probably had plans in place for the year ahead. Maybe you achieved some of those goals in 2010. But I’m guessing that you could never have planned for some of the unexpected events, opportunities, twists and turns of the decade you’ve just lived. It turns out that it’s har
The Advantage Of Not Knowing For Sure
Success is as unpredictable as failure. Nobody knows for sure what will be a hit or a miss. Every runaway success is only obvious with hindsight. And yet we expend so much of our creative energy trying to be successful to our detriment. When you liberate yourself from the pressure of having to win,
People Want Places, Not Platforms
Whatever you’re building, think beyond features, functionality and design and think first about how the person you serve wants to feel when she arrives at the place you’ve built.
The Power Of Describing The Problem
t’s tempting to jump ahead to creating solutions before describing the root of the problem. But we can’t we begin to have honest conversations about how to solve problems before we own them.
How Obstacles Create Value
The better we understand the obstacle, the better we get at solving the problem. And the better we can describe the obstacle, the better we become at selling the solution.
The Bounds Of Possibility
Now that we are no longer bound by the constraints of probability, we must face the fact that we have a responsibility to own what’s possible. Opportunity abounds.
Try Anyway
Texas head teacher, Belinda George, doesn’t have access to more resources than her colleagues. So how does she change her students’ lives for the better? Instead of focusing on the things she and her team can’t control, like educational policy and budgets, she concentrates on the things she can infl
What’s On Your ‘Not To Do’ List?
Back in 2007, the New York Times called Apple’s decision not to add a mechanical keyboard to the iPhone their billion dollar gamble). That decision worked out pretty well for Apple. Some of the most successful ideas in the world were born from a conviction about the things the creator, founder or co
