Leadership
Fostering a Mindset of Innovation
Partnerships for Innovation
April 26th 2010
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“A creative individual weds the most
advanced understandings with the
curiosity that characterized his life
as a wonder-filled child.”
— Howard Gardener
“Creating Minds”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“Curiosity is the most powerful
thing you own.”
James Cameron
Movie Producer/Explorer
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“The secret, not-often-discussed
ingredient in exceptional
leadership is curiosity.”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
How do innovators think?*
1. Associating
2. Questioning
3. Observing
4. Experimenting
5. Networking
Curiosity
*6 year study of 3500 creative executives from Apple to P&G by Harvard Business School 2009
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Frequency
113
98
83
65
41
11
32
6
2
0
5
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
8
Age
44
Retirement
“We entered school as question marks
and graduated as periods.”
— Dr. John Holt
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
2nd Law of
Thermodynamics:
The natural order of life
is toward entropy.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Primates are distinguished from
other creatures by a physical
feature known as the
thumb.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
opposable
The
Opposable Brain
Left Brain
Right Brain
Verbal
Non Verbal
Details
Big Picture
Logical
Emotional
Patient
Spontaneous
Sequential
Intuitive
1000 Words
Picture
Converges
Diverges
Yes, but…
Yes, and…
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Problem: Men missing the urinal. Not focused,
on cell phone, talking…
Left-Brain Solution
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Right-Brain Solution
words
Right brain reads the colors
Left brain reads the
— Dr. Stroop Test for Inhibitory Control
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
What does the left brain
read in this logo?
What does the right brain
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
see in this logo?
“Neu.ro.bics”
The 30-Day Extreme Brain Makeover
 Move watch to other arm
 Listen to a new radio/TV station
 Drive to/from work a different way
 Use mouse with other hand
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Look for a second
right answer.
Look from a
perspective.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Dr. Joel Katz uses Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to teach Harvard
Medical School students how to critically analyze famous paintings.
Result: 38% improvement in
assessing a patient‟s symptoms
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Look for a second
right answer.
Look from a
perspective.
Look for a different
answer this year.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
What do we have to be more
“open-minded” about to see
the possibilities?
1. Where‟s our
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
blind spot?
“Our cartoons will
never go on videotape.”
— Disney Corporate Policy 1976
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
2. What is “unique” about this
challenge?
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
What is “unique” about a
mattress?
What if “we” were like smartphones and
our bed was our charging dock?
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
3. What are the “constraints”
to spark our creative thoughts?
Change Behavior
No Budget
No Resources
Measurable Results
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Pleasure vs. Pain
“How many feet apart are these jets?”
— John Foley, Blue Angels
www.johnfoleyinc.com
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Our beliefs define our box.
“The Box”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Creative leaders help
others see what is
possible.
By finding “atypical”
analogies that re-define
what‟s possible.
“The Box”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
What is the most
important part of the
race car?
“The most critical fourteen seconds
of the race.”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
+
=
?
What can a hospital emergency room or an
operating room learn from the NASCAR pit
crew experience?
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Group Brainstorm
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Yes, and…
In improv, it doesn't matter what the question
is, the answer is always
“yes, and…”
— Drew Carey
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Yes, but…
When you want to stop the dialog the answer
is always
“yes, but....”
— Drew Carey
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Group Brainstorm Questions
1. What do we need to be more open-minded
about to drive innovation in PFI?
2. What are our “creative constraints”
that will spark our creative juices?
3. What analogies can we use to drive our
innovation performance?
Please be prepared to verbally share your top
two insights from your brainstorm.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Think in Opposites
Because today‟s ideas
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
don‟t travel in straight lines.
“All behavior consists of opposites. Learn to see
things backward, inside out, and upside down.”
— Lao-Tzu
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“When something goes wrong, ask
what went right.”
— W. L. Gore Corporate Policy 1970
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“The heart of every creative act is to
bring together opposites - wet paint
to dry paper, color to empty barren
spaces, feeling and thought into a void.
So the artist is also a diplomat who
reaches out to whatever is the „other‟
and creates unity.”
— Shoshana Alexander
Women’s Ventures, Women’s Visions
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Vision to a wayward organization.
Simplicity to a complex task.
Consensus to a conflict.
Revenue to a budget cut.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Click & Mortar
Group Purchase
Quick Service
Bricks & Mortar
House Calls
“Creative Destruction”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“Go to your room!”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
From the Energy Drink to the Anti-Energy Drink
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
See in Opposites:
Mission
Mission
Security
Security
Safety
Safety
Information Architecture
Information Architecture
Command Decision Making InfoGraphic
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
+
Budget
Resources
Time Line
Focus
Collaboration
Deliverable
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Positive
1.
Negative
Discuss what‟s
2. Discuss what‟s
3.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Opportunity
positive about the idea.
negative.
“Flip” a negative into an
opportunity.
The “Great Reversal”
What would we never do?
1.
2.
3.
Then flip the “never” into a really
cool big idea.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
What do we want to look like
in 5 years?
1.
2.
3.
What will we never look like in
5 years?
1.
2.
3.
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
“Man will always find a
complicated means to perform a
simple task.”
— Rube Goldberg
Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist
Creator of Mouse Trap Game
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Renovation
“Abandoning the obsolete, the
irrelevant, or the program with
promise that never materialized is
the key to innovation.”
— Peter Drucker
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Work-Out!
Speed
Simplicity
Self Confidence
Shared Vision
Eliminate “Junk Work”
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Become Boundaryless
What slows us
down?
What reduces
confidence?
What clouds our
vision?
What adds
complexity?
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.
Start/Stop
Brainstorm
What
should we
start
doing?
What
should we
keep on
doing?
What
should we
do
differently?
What
should we
stop
doing?
© www.whatagreatidea.com 2010.