Eyes Wide Open with Sue Siri - Many Faces of Innovation

 

"Great stories inspire us. They help us to reflect on our own experiences, and they provide us with pearls of wisdom which we can adopt for our own purposes. They remind of things that we once knew, that over time have been forgotten. In essence they help to advance our own understanding and learning through the experience of others" (B. Melnick, 2023)

I loved Sue's story for these reasons. I was able to pull so many lesson's about innovation from our conversation.

Lessons Learned about Innovation

  • Mindset is key - developing the skills and attributes of an innovator is what builds the Mindset for Innovation
  • Don't be afraid to take risks - risks lead to insight, learning and continuous improvement 
  • Build from your existing knowledge base- More opportunities to innovate come from leveraging your accumulated expertise and knowledge.
  • Don't try to be all things to all people
  • Engage in design thinking and rapid prototyping at the ideation stage so you can start to visualize your idea
  • Perfection is the enemy of done - get your ideas out to the world and use feedback to accelerate your future iterations
  • Identify the niche for your innovation and what need it fills - great ideas and innovations need context
  • Stay focused on function rather that features 
  • Good innovations speak for themselves - if you've identified a compelling need or void, your customers will find you
  • Seek knowledge from outside your domain of expertise - look for convergence and context.