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FIELD NOTES

Frameworks, observations, and ideas on innovation, leadership, and navigating uncertainty.

01

The Uncertainty Readiness Index™

Your Organization's Navigation System for the UnknownPicture this: the ground shifts beneath your organization overnight. A new competitor emerges. Regulations change. Technology leaps forward. Your s...

December 19, 2024

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02

5 AI Prompts to Enhance (Not Replace) Customer Understanding

In my previous article, AI & Customer Empathy: Finding the Human Balance, we talked about finding the sweet spot between AI and human empathy in customer development. Today, let's get tactical. I'm go...

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03

AI & Customer Empathy: Finding the Human Balance

Let's be honest – AI is everywhere right now. In our board rooms, our pitch decks, our product roadmaps. Everyone's talking about it, everyone's using it, everyone's trying to figure out how to levera...

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04

Beyond Brainstorming: How Real Innovation Leaders Create Breakthrough Change

Innovation Leadership Series Part IIIf I had a dollar for every time someone told me they were "fostering innovation" through brainstorming sessions and sticky notes, I'd have enough money to fund a u...

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05

Beyond Resolutions: A Leader's Guide to Thriving in Uncertainty (2025 Edition)

We all feel it. That mix of excitement and apprehension as we stand at the threshold of a new year. The blank canvas of 2025 stretches before us, full of possibility and uncertainty....

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06

Beyond the Funnel: The Real Path to Customer Connection

We love our funnels in the business world, don't we?...

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07

Building High-Performing Innovation Teams: Commitment vs. Consensus

Let's be honest about something – working on an innovation team is hard. Really hard....

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08

Building High-Performing Innovation Teams: From Pain to Possibility

Ever notice how some of the most revolutionary innovations started with someone getting really frustrated?...

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09

Building High-Performing Innovation Teams: Leading Through Uncertainty

Let's start with a reality check: if you're comfortable leading an innovation team, you're probably doing it wrong....

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10

Building High-Performing Innovation Teams: The Art of Core Team Design

Let me tell you what really keeps innovation from happening in most organizations....

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11

Building High-Performing Innovation Teams: The Customer Immersion Imperative

Let's start with an uncomfortable truth: you probably don't know your customers nearly as well as you think you do....

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12

Field Notes: AI Empathy Trap, Yellow Brick Road, and Einstein

I. Notes From Me 1. Finding the Human Balance"AI works great for understanding the broad middle of the bell curve. But innovation? Innovation happens at the edges. It happens with the customers who ha...

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13

Field Notes: Beyond the Funnel, Alien Robot Banker, and Brian Halligan

Here's this week's Field Notes....

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14

Field Notes: Moneyball 2.0, Starbucks, and Vin Scully

I. Notes From Me 1. Playing Moneyball 2.0"Here’s the thing about innovation – what worked yesterday rarely works today. Fast forward to 2024. The Dodgers are World Series Champions again, and they got...

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15

Field Notes: The Empathy-Gratitude Connection, Clarity, and William Arthur Ward

I. Notes From Me 1. The Empathy-Gratitude Connection"Empathy and gratitude are distinct forces that, when properly understood and intentionally combined, create something powerful."...

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16

Field Notes: The Lost Art of Customer Connection, Emotional Intelligence, and Brené Brown

Here's this week's Field Notes....

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17

Field Notes: Why Your Corporate Innovation Program Is Failing, AI Politeness, and Unknown

I. Notes From Me 1. Why Your Corporate Innovation Program Is Failing (And How to Fix It)"Here's the paradox: The more you try to control innovation, the less innovative your organization becomes. Your...

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18

Grace Under the Tree: Navigating Family with Empathy This Holiday

Let's be honest – the holidays can feel like running an innovation workshop where none of the participants got the brief....

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19

Innovation Leadership in the Age of AI: Balancing Technology and Human Ingenuity

As AI reshapes industries at an unprecedented pace, innovation leaders face a new challenge: how to harness its potential while maintaining the human ingenuity that drives real transformation. In a re...

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20

Navigating The Innovation Landscape

Unveiling Progress Metrics For Pre-Market Product Development Portfolios What Are Progress Metrics?My childhood was filled with the captivating storytelling of Mark Twain in classics such as The Adve...

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21

Progress Metrics Applied

A Blueprint to use Progress Metrics for Pre-Market Product PortfoliosIn my previous article, I introduced the Progress Metric Framework as a tool for measuring the success of pre-market ventures, wher...

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22

Playing Moneyball 2.0: Innovation Lessons from the Dodgers' Roster Revolution

I still remember my first Dodger game. It was 1988, and I was six years old, sitting in the nosebleeds at Chavez Ravine with my mom. The smell of Dodger Dogs wafted through the air, Vin Scully’s voice...

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23

The 30-Step Rule Part 1: A Lesson in Customer Observation From Walt Disney

In the early planning stages of Disneyland, Walt Disney employed an unconventional research method that would forever change the way theme parks approach waste management. Instead of relying on assump...

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24

The 30-Step Rule Part 2: Beyond Disney, How to Apply the 30-Step Rule to Uncover Customer Insights

Let's start with a deceptively simple question: How far will someone walk to throw away a piece of trash?...

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25

The 4 Anchors of Innovation Strategy (And Why Most Companies Get Them Wrong)

Innovation strategy....

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26

The Anchors of "Innovation Strategy"

I spent the week developing and facilitating an innovation strategy with one of the most recognized CPG companies in the world. It’s been fascinating and challenging work. One of the challenges is the...

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27

The Empathy-Gratitude Connection: More Different Than You Think

You hear it all the time in innovation circles: "We need more empathy." And right alongside it: "We need to show more gratitude to our customers."...

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28

The Empathy Revolution: Leading Innovation Through Human Connection

Innovation Leadership Series Part IIn an age obsessed with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital transformation, I'm about to tell you something that might sound counterintuitive: the...

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29

The Exploration Imperative: Answering the Call of Your Highest Potential

Every time I stand at the edge of the vast ocean, I feel two opposing forces....

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30

The Lost Art of Customer Connection: Why Face-to-Face Still Drives Innovation

In boardrooms across every industry, leaders are racing to implement the latest customer intelligence tools. AI analytics, sentiment tracking, automated surveys - the technological arsenal for underst...

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31

The Myth of the Lone Innovator: Why Great Innovation Leaders Think Different

Innovation Leadership Series Part IIILet's be honest – we love our innovation hero stories....

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32

There is Nothing Permanent Except Change

The Next HorizonIn contemplating the inevitable nature of change, I'm reminded of the insightful words of Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher from Ephesus. His assertion that 'There is nothing permanent...

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33

Why High Performers Often Feel Unstable During Growth—and What to Do About It

There you sit, scrolling through LinkedIn. Another connection landing their dream job. Another peer launching a successful side hustle. Another industry friend sharing their speaking engagement at tha...

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34

Why Your Corporate Innovation Program Is Failing (And How to Fix It)

"Fail fast."...

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