The Innovation Show

When postwar American business was a vast sea of gray flannel suits and tasteful ties, a few unorthodox individuals were not so quietly shifting the paradigm toward the breezier, Google-ier work-place of today. These change agents include a raft of idealistic social scientists as well as nonacademics, like labor organizer Saul Alinsky, who pioneered the use of shareholder activism to open Kodak's doors to more African Americans. Alinsky, who was literally willing to smash dishes to get attention, was the embodiment of the activist principle that behaving badly is sometimes necessary because, in the words of the civil-rights anthem, "The nice ways always fail." Today's guest uses religious terms to title each of the chapters of his book— "Monastics," "Pelagians," Mystics," and so forth. At first, that seems an odd choice for a study of modern corporations and other secular institutions. But he is insightful to do so. Like the heretic whose rejection of religious orthodoxy might send him to the pyre, our guest's organizational heretic "is someone who sees a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom of the institution to which he or she belongs—and who remains loyal to both entities, to the institution and the new truth." The person who is willing to make a great sacrifice to change an institution he or she loves is a hero as well as a heretic because, our guest writes, "the future of industrial society depends on our ability to transcend the destructive management of the past, and build a better kind of business." We welcome the author of "The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management" and the earlier subtitle was Heroes, Outlaws, and the Forerunners of Corporate Change, Art Kleiner. More about Art here: https://wiseadvoc8.com

Because the fundamental unit of growth in any organization is the individual, our starting point for talking about growth is you. Some of the questions we will answer are: • Why, despite the desire to learn, can it be so difficult to start something new and stick with it? • What does it take to gain and maintain momentum? • Once we've made considerable progress, why do we sometimes tire of what we're doing and even feel we can no longer do it? Why do we outgrow things so quickly? The more you understand about your deep longing to grow and how to grow yourself, the greater your capacity to grow your people, to grow your company. That's smart growth. The S Curve of Learning is a map to look at your life: where you were, where you are, and where you want to go—a continuous pathway to achieving potential. When you can picture yourself moving along this growth curve, you can more easily plan a trajectory and plot your progress. You can get smart about your growth. We welcome the author of "Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company", Whitney Johnson. Timeline: 3.00 To Want to Grow is Human 5.12 S-Curve as a Map, Post-Traumatic Growth 10.15 Speed of Change 13.08 Transforming Leadership, Leaders must lead from the front 15.00 Former Ford CEO Alan Mulally and rituals 16.20 Principles and Values 20.30 Feedback, Collector Phase of S-Curve 29.53 Shadow Values 33.50 Inner Child, Feeling Seen 35.50 New S-Curves don't always work out 39.50 What do you do when you have more than one really great choice? 45.54 Watch your self talk at the launch phase? 48.48 C.A.R. Framework: Origins in Self-Determination Theory Connectedness Autonomy Relatedness 52.15 Myron Scholes, all is explained by the tails 56 When leaders peak 60 An ecosystem of/for growth, keystone species In whose ecosystem are you a keystone species? Whitney is available here: https://whitneyjohnson.com https://smartgrowthbook.com

Structural racism has impacted the lives of African Americans in the United States since before the country's founding. Although the country has made some progress towards a more equal society, political developments in the 21st century have shown that deep divides remain. To bridge our divides, our guest, a renowned political scientist calls for 'radical empathy' – moving beyond an understanding of others' lives and pain to understand the origins of our biases. Deftly weaving together her own experiences with the political, she offers practical steps to call out racism and bring about radical social change. We welcome the author of, "Radical Empathy, Finding A Path to Bridging Racial Divides", Terri Givens. More about Terri: https://www.terrigivens.com

Amazon is the most extraordinary and important business story of our time. Facebook has more members and is our social network. Google sits right at the heart of the information tsunami. Apple has by far the prettiest toys. But starting 25 years ago as a tiny online bookstore, Amazon now stands astride the e-powered river of goods that flows through the many economies. It is a retailer, a marketplace, an electronic infrastructure, a publisher, an advertising channel, a distributor. It is increasingly the arbiter of retail, the pacesetter for employment, and private taxing authority, taking its bite of every transaction on its Marketplace. And Amazon is just getting started. Across all its business, Amazon is automating rapidly and leveraging the power of enormous and growing capabilities in AI and machine learning. The sheer range and pace of change is formidable. It's an extraordinary story, and it raises plenty of questions: Where did Amazon come from? How did it grow so big so fast? What can we learn from history? Can we distil key lessons about objectives, strategy, tactics, and especially corporate culture? Where is Amazon going? What will it look like ten years from now? What should we – the collective we – do about it? Is Amazon a threat? Should we simply applaud? Are there characteristics to worry about? And if so, what should we do? Our guest today addresses these questions and many more. We welcome the author of "Behemoth, Amazon Rising: Power and Seduction in the Age of Amazon", Robin Gaster

Vaughn Tan, author of "The Uncertainty Mindset," navigates the dynamic world of culinary R&D and its impact on innovation. He delves into how high-end cuisine has shifted from consistency to constant change, emphasizing an 'uncertainty mindset' that embraces risk as a path to creativity. Tan shares insights from top culinary teams, highlighting their innovative processes and the importance of psychological safety in leadership. He draws parallels between culinary challenges and those faced by traditional organizations, offering a fresh perspective on fostering innovation.

Our first face-to-face live episode with Greg Orme. Even before the pandemic, it seemed the world was spinning so fast it's difficult to keep up. Arguably a lot of the technological disruption that was around in 2019 simply got accelerated – remote working, digitization, and AI to name just three. Our guest today notes in his book: Two hundred and fifty years ago the Industrial Revolution replaced our arms and legs at work. The fourth Industrial Revolution is now replacing our brains. He says The Machine Age is engulfing both organizations and people. This shift is challenging the very essence of what it means to be human. His book The Human Edge, how curiosity and creativity are your superpowers in the digital economy won Business Book of the year in 2020. He explores the skills you need to survive and thrive in a world of smartphones and AI. He urges you to stop competing, and instead do things machines can't. To become a more human, human. We welcome the author of "The Human Edge" Greg Orme. https://gregorme.org

Elliot Aronson, an acclaimed American psychologist, is known for his groundbreaking work on cognitive dissonance and the Jigsaw Classroom, a method that promotes cooperative learning. He discusses how situational context shapes human behavior and the importance of rigorous experimental design in social psychology. Aronson shares insights on mentorship and personal growth, emphasizing supportive feedback. He also delves into obedience dynamics and the complexities of self-justification in moral decision-making, showcasing the transformative power of empathy in educational settings.

How you see risk and what you do about it depend on your personality and experiences. How you make these cost-benefit calculations depend on your culture, your values, the people in the room, and even unexpected things like what you've eaten recently, the temperature, the music playing, or the fragrance in the air. Being alert to these often-unconscious influences will help you to seize opportunities and avoid danger. Today's book is a clarion call for an entirely new conversation about our relationship with risk and uncertainty. Our guest examines why it's so important to understand your risk fingerprint and how to make your risk relationship work better in business, life, and the world. She shares insights, practical tools, and proven strategies that will help you to understand what makes you who you are –and, in turn, to make better choices, both big and small. We welcome a friend of the Innovation Show and the author of "You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World", Michele Wucker, welcome back. More about Michele: https://www.wucker.com

To compete with today's increasing globalisation and rapidly evolving technologies, individuals and organisations must take their ability to learn to a much higher level. Today's guest combines recent advances in neuroscience, psychology, behavioural economics, and education with key research on high-performance businesses to create an actionable blueprint for becoming a leading-edge learning organisation. Today's book examines the process of learning from an individual and an organisational standpoint. From an individual perspective, the book discusses the cognitive, emotional, motivational, attitudinal, and behavioural factors that promote better learning. Organisationally, it focuses on the kinds of structures, culture, leadership, employee learning behaviours, and human resource policies that are necessary to create an environment that enables critical and innovative thinking, learning conversations, and collaboration. His work also provides strategies to mitigate the reality that humans can be reflexive, lazy thinkers who seek confirmation of what they believe to be true and affirmation of their self-image. Humility is the New Smart is his emotions book. Hyper-Learning is his behavioural and philosophy book. Learn or Die is his science book. It is always a pleasure to welcome a great friend of the Innovation show , Ed Hess. More about Ed: www.edhess.org

We have the real pleasure of exploring what it was like trying to innovate from within Kodak with none other than the Inventor of the Digital Camera - Steve Sasson. We discuss so many aspects of Innovation and the struggle to let go of a successful business model. In 1880, George Eastman invented and patented a dry-plate formula and a machine for preparing large numbers of plates. He also founded the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York. In 1884, he replaced glass photographic plates with a roll of film, believing in "the future of the film business." Like many startups, Kodak faced severe challenges but soon became a household name. When selling cameras, Kodak used a razor-blade strategy: selling the cameras for a low cost, fuelling growth and profits from the film. With success came blind spots and little by little Kodak leadership paid less and less attention to hardware. This was the case despite Eastman's original guiding principles: mass production at low-cost International distribution extensive advertising customer focus and growth through continuous research. Kodak did spend a lot on R&D but lacked an appetite to bring the findings of their R&D outputs to life and this would contribute to the downfall of an iconic brand. Don't forget Kodak had remarkable engineers, amazing innovators, and even invented the digital camera. It is hard to imagine it today, a world without the smartphone, Instagram, a world where only one company dominated an industry, a world where it was a chore to capture a moment. This was the world in 1975, when a young 24-year-old engineer invented digital photography and built the first digital camera.