Writing
Frameworks, observations, and ideas on innovation, leadership, and navigating uncertainty.
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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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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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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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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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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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We love our funnels in the business world, don't we?...
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Let's be honest about something – working on an innovation team is hard. Really hard....
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Ever notice how some of the most revolutionary innovations started with someone getting really frustrated?...
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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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Let me tell you what really keeps innovation from happening in most organizations....
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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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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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Here's this week's Field Notes....
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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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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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Here's this week's Field Notes....
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Let's start with a deceptively simple question: How far will someone walk to throw away a piece of trash?...
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Innovation strategy....
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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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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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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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Every time I stand at the edge of the vast ocean, I feel two opposing forces....
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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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Innovation Leadership Series Part IIILet's be honest – we love our innovation hero stories....
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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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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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"Fail fast."...
Field Notes
Raw insights on embracing uncertainty, managing risk, and discovering breakthrough opportunities.