E121: 3 Secret Ingredients of Branding with Bryton Udy
CanInnovate
This episode is for anyone professional and business owners that need to pivot. Bryton is now taking his knowledge and experience and helping small businesses and thought leaders find clarity and confidence in their own branding and marketing with his brand coaching company, At Heart Branding Co.
info_outline
E120: Find Flexible Talent & Work Environments with Jennifer Hargreaves
CanInnovate
Jennifer is the Founder and CEO of tellent and is on a mission to make work, work better for women. Her professional experience spans three continents across brand strategy and international market development and while her primary school teachers didn’t appreciate her questions challenging “why”, she embraces that curiosity and the perspective that comes with challenging the status quo to create impactful and lasting change.
info_outline
E119: Empower entrepreneurs to build better businesses and change the world with Keith Ippel
CanInnovate
This week, I sat down with Keith Ippel, the CEO & Co-founder of Spring. They are on a mission to help entrepreneurs change the world. First of all, Keith is the most down to earth person who is full of compassion, kindness and is genuinely there to help small-medium businesses get through whichever phase they are in. From idea to growth.
info_outline
E118: Driving change during a downturn with Richard Batchelor
CanInnovate
I get a chance to sit down and chat with the infamous Rich Batchelor, who is a global Organizational Change Management guru and disruptor. We are always told to embrace change, but COVID-19 has definitely been more than most people have bargained for. Rich and I really get down to talk about how to navigate change, when it’s so disruptive.
info_outline
E117: COVID-19, The Adult ‘Time-Out’ is a Gift w/ Jessie Lynn MacDonald
CanInnovate
COVID-19 is always on our mind, it’s what everyone is talking about. We look at the COVID-19 for the things that it took away from us, but what has COVID-19 provided us? Did COVID-19 actually give us a gift? Is this an opportunity?
info_outline
E116: How to beat procrastination and be productive during the Covid -19 Pandemic w/ Paul Minors
CanInnovate
Paul Minors is a productivity blogger and virtual consultant. In this episode we talked about how to beat procrastination and be productive.
info_outline
E115: Explore your curiosity during COVID with Julie Shum
CanInnovate
Are you finished baking and looking for other ideas to entertain yourself… well… I have the perfect guest. I get to chat with Julie Shum, who has been a friend for over two decades and she always provides me with the perfect boost of inspiration. I’m so #Grateful for having such a down to earth, inspirational friend
info_outline
E114: Could COVID-19 actually kill Narcissism?
CanInnovate
As we all embrace and adjust to the ‘New Normal’, the impact on humankind is going to be instrumental. The biggest thing that we have just been reminded us to stop and be really present.
info_outline
E113: 7 Tips on how to deal with overwhelm
CanInnovate
Life is always a rollercoaster! Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed by all the key activities that are in my life. It doesn’t help that I have a heightened sense of urgency. I like to get things done. It’s my favorite mode. Come up with a strategy, a plan to execute and just go!
info_outline
E112: 8 Secrets of Strong Women
CanInnovate
Everyday is Happy Women’s Day! You know why? because we choose our mindsets each day. Every morning when I’m in the shower, I’m thinking about the day and how to conquer it. Not, thinking about how it’s going to be a struggle. I look at all the opportunities in front of me and decide where I want to spend more time or less time on.
info_outlineHey Innovators,
We keep hearing the same words over and over again - innovation, innovator, agile thinker, lean startup, design thinking expanding our horizons. Ugh! What on earth does it mean?
Let’s go back to reset and define Innovation. Innovation simply means continuous improvement, a way to produce new value. Very different than inventive, where it’s completely new. This is about innovation, taking something existing and refreshing it to provide new elements. This is where we get to be unapologetically curious and look at things with a new set of eyes.
How do you train people to think outside the box? It’s such a mindset shift. When we grow up, we are expected to do certain things (i.e. get married, have kids, get an education, save for the future). What about training people to say that it’s okay to go off course? The best way to really develop thought leaders is to embrace the notion of curiosity. Allow your teams to develop points of views, challenge the norm and provide them with a valued voice.
It’s interesting to me, how the Impostor Syndrome has become a growing syndrome that is impacting so many individuals. Impostor Syndrome is basically self-doubt. We all have this and experience it. I did a podcast episode (E84) & blog about how feeling like an impostor is a competitive advantage. It’s called I’m an Imposter and let me Roar! I’ve also created a Free Imposter Syndrome Cheat Sheet to overcome this self-doubt.
It’s quite the paradox - be adventurous and overcome impostor syndrome, and follow the organizational rules & expectations. Organizations and Individuals need to start to create time for innovation and creativity. We need to get from reactive mode to a proactive mode. The challenge is that we are not given enough time to think, only time to react.
Here are a few tips to slowly start to shift a little bit of your thinking.
The innovator mindset is to
- Embrace Curiosity and become a Learn It All - explore different dimensions/avenues. What tools do you have at your disposal? List them out and also think about the non-traditional tools. Books/podcasts/free webinars/ articles/ talking to people across different industries. You know, I had a client that put me on retainer, just to brainstorm with. She’d have a few ideas and wanted to bounce it off all the wall and see what other elements could give it legs. Don’t dismiss the idea of talking to others and listening to understand where they are coming from. It might provide the perfect ‘AHA’ moment.
- Encourage Points of View. A lot of individuals have thoughts but are afraid to provide their point of view (PoV), because it won’t be inline with the ‘status quo’. Encourage and reward people for having ½ baked points of views. They will gain experience and courage to develop full points of view. No point of view is perfect. Think about all those folks that put out 2020 trends, they are just an opinion, a point of view.
- Failure - companies and individuals need to define their tolerance of risk. How far can you go in terms of failure? Encourage people around you to really test early, with minimal risk. Allow people to help develop the idea with you. You can start to test early and re-jig things based on feedback. It’s a perfect way to do a temperature check (just putting a toe in the water, to see what the temperature is).
- When developing solutions/services/concepts offer three (3) options. Give something for your leaders to react to. Present a conservative approach, a crazy out of this world approach and a hybrid of the two (2) approach. One of these crazy ideas
Management Consultants have been using these approaches for years. Some of these concepts have been re-marketed under the umbrella of Design Thinking. These are classics that have worked for centuries! They just change the names to make them a little more ‘glamorous’.
So, I challenge you.
What are you interested to learn more about (Learn it All), what are you curious about?
As promised, here is that little gift that I have for you.
FREEBIE ALERT: Free Imposter Syndrome Cheat Sheet to overcome this self-doubt
Thank you so much for your time.
If you know someone that could benefit from this episode/blog, feel free to share with others. Drop me a line anytime, I love hearing from you.
Best Always,
Sapna
Links:
4 Steps to Cultivating an Innovation Mindset in Your Organization