The Innovation Engine Podcast

For a special holiday episode of the podcast, we go back into the vault of 2015 episodes to find some never-before-aired innovation advice. Tune in to hear fresh takes from David J. Bland of Neo Innovate, author David Burkus of Oral Roberts University, Scott Anthony of Insight, and Mitch Ditkoff of Idea Champions.David J. Bland, a pioneer in the Lean Startup movement, shares advice on what to do when testing results come back mixed or inconclusive. David Burkus, author of The Myths of Creativity, talks about why we're hard-wired to understand life through the power of story and why that can be a problem in the business world. Scott Anthony shares an anecdote about the Manila Water partnership and how it's an example of an organization using a Minimum Viable Innovation System to great effect. Mitch Ditkoff tells a story meant to illustrate the importance of taking the road less traveled.We'll also share just a few examples of things that can go wrong during the course of recording an episode, with hiccups on recordings with Nir Eyal, Greg Bandeau, and Mitch Ditkoff. Last but not least, we put a bow on the episode with a reading of the email from November 2013 that launched The Innovation Engine podcast.

On this week's episode of the podcast, we talk about growth through innovation with Mark Schaefer. Among the topics we cover are the concepts of the Alpha audience - or apostle audience - and why they're important concepts to understand, essential marketing strategies that are vital for any company looking to grow exponentially, and why Mark believes that there truly is a Tao of Twitter.Mark Schaefer joins us on this week's episode to discuss those topics and more. Mark is the founder and Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, a marketing company that helps businesses grow through social media, content, and strategic marketing. His portfolio includes seven patents, two graduate degrees, a mentorship with Peter Drucker, and five best-selling marketing books, including The Content Code, The Tao of Twitter, and Return on Influence. Mark is a regular blogger at {grow}, one of the top marketing blogs in the world, and he teaches graduate marketing classes at Rutgers University. He has been a keynote speaker at a number of well-known events worldwide, including SXSW, Marketing Summit Tokyo, and the Institute for International and European Affairs. He’s also the co-host of The Marketing Companion, one of the top 10 marketing podcasts on iTunes.Show Notes Follow Mark Schaefer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/markwschaeferVisit Schaefer Marketing Solutions' website: www.businessesgrow.comBrowse Mark's books on Amazon

Mitch Ditkoff joins us on this episode of the podcast to talk about storytelling at work. Among the topics we discuss are why creating a culture of storytelling is important for any company, which functions of a company it’s most imperative to have master story-tellers in, and how to go about facilitating a story-telling circle at work.Mitch Ditkoff is the co-founder and President of Idea Champions and the author of the just released Storytelling at Work: How Moments of Truth on the Job Reveal the Real Business of Life. Among the companies with which Mitch has worked over the course of his career to improve their innovation capacity are GE, Merck, AT&T, NBC Universal, and Coca-Cola. He blogs frequently at the Heart of Innovation blog on the Idea Champions website, as well as for outlets like the Huffington Post. Show Notes: Visit The Idea Champions Website: http://www.ideachampions.com/Read Mitch Ditkoff's articles on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitch-ditkoff/Follow Mitch Ditkoff on Twitter: @MitchDitkoff

Monica Phillips joins us this week to talk about the art of the launch and how to launch the right mix of products to stay competitive. Among the topics we discuss are the importance of getting ideas off the page and into the real world, why the elevator pitch is not one size fits all, and how putting an emphasis on launching new products or services can help you and others break habits that may be keeping you locked into the same old way of doing things.Monica Phillips is a motivational speaker, leadership coach, and the President of Spark Plug Labs, a consulting organization that provides coaching and training to leaders at startups and companies across a wide range of industries. She's an active member of the startup community in Silicon Valley, where she works closely with The Coaching Fellowship, a community of advisors that help female entrepreneurs bring their visions to life. Monica is also the host of Powerful Conversations, a podcast and radio show on the Voice America Network that features talks with thought leaders across industries and locations on a variety of business-oriented leadership and entrepreneurial topics.

Brant Cooper joins us this week to talk about the concept of "lean entrepreneurship" and why he believes visionaries are made, not born. Among the topics we discuss are why you should never, ever tell anyone to follow their passion, why having a vision doesn't always mean you'll be successful, and the logic behind McKinsey's "three horizons of growth" theory. Brant is the co-author of The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets. He is a Lean Startup thought leader who travels the world speaking to entrepreneurs at conferences, hackathons, and workshops. Among the companies he has spoken to or consulted for are Qualcomm, Intuit, Capital One, and Hewlett-Packard. Brant's startup career includes stints at Tumbleweed, Timestamp, WildPackets, inCode, and many others. He has over 20 years of experience in IT and bringing technology products to market. He is also the author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development, which has over 50,000 copies in circulation.Show NotesThe Lean Entrepreneur website: http://leanentrepreneur.coBrant Cooper's website: http://market-by-numbers.com/Brant Cooper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brantcooper 

For a very special episode of the podcast, we talk with some of the team behind the forthcoming iOS app for The Innovation Engine podcast. We talk about where the idea and inspiration for the app came from in the first place, what the process of developing the app has been like, and when you can expect to see it in the App Store.Guests on this week's episode include 3Pillar’s Kevin Boyle, Matt Sich, Paul Axente, Chris Graham, and David DeWolf. Kevin Boyle talks about the origins of the app and the void he and colleagues experienced that it could help fill. Matt Sich, a “unicorn” designer/developer, talks about trial and error during the development process and why iterative design is additive rather than subtractive. Paul Axente is a UX Engineer who took Matt's first concepts and built upon them. Paul talks about 3D Touch interactions in iOS 9, how he envisions future versions of the app employing 3D Touch, and the inspiration for the visual treatment he gave the app. Chris Graham, of episode 78 fame, helped shape the vision for the project. He narrates a walk-through of a demo version of the app once it’s nearly ready to submit to Apple for approval. 3Pillar CEO David DeWolf, who has appeared in numerous previous episodes, closes out the episode. David talks about why he green lit the app’s development in the first place and the benefits of getting outside your comfort zone to do something different.

On this week’s episode of the podcast, we look at productivity in the workplace and beyond — how changing your personal rhetoric can help you refocus your efforts, how much more leisure time you have than you think you have, and why having partners in crime can make any hill “look less steep.”Laura Vanderkam joins us on this week’s episode to discuss those topics and more. Laura is the author of, most recently, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. She’s also the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and the What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast series of ebooks. Laura is a frequent contributor to Fast Company.com and is a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors. Her work has appeared in publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fortune, and she has appeared on the Today Show, Fox & Friends, and on numerous other TV outlets to discuss her ideas on time management, productivity, and more.

On this week's episode of the podcast, we take a look at how to build high-performing teams and cultures through the science of "total motivation." Among the topics we discuss include how to spot the worst motivation for getting your job done, why culture might not want to eat strategy for breakfast anymore, and how to help employees long for the sea in their own ways.Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor join us on this episode of the podcast to discuss all that and more. Neel and Lindsay are co-founders of Vega Factor, a company focused on unlocking human potential to build the most adaptive organizations. Prior to founding Vega, Neel was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, as well as CTO and a founding member of Genesant Technologies. Lindsay is a former consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she led strategic and operational projects for Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, media, nonprofit, and education sectors. Show NotesVisit the Primed to Perform website to take a ToMo survey to see how your company faresFollow Neel Doshi on TwitterFollow Lindsay McGregor on TwitterFollow the official Vega Factor on Twitter

On this week’s episode of the podcast, we look at how to use the tenets of disruptive innovation to chart one's own optimal career path and improve performance in the workplace. We talk about how listeners can use the S-curve to understand their own career trajectory, why you should allow your brain to create obstacles for you rather than decrying the fact that it does, and the importance of learning to plan not to plan.Whitney Johnson joins us on this episode of the podcast to discuss those topics and more. Whitney's latest book, Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work, will be published on October 6th. Whitney is a Founder and Managing Director of The Springboard Fund, a for-profit investment firm that invests in selected women-led, high growth businesses. She is also the co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, where she and co-founder Clayton Christensen led the seed round for Korea’s Coupang, currently valued at $2.2 billion.In addition to her books, Whitney is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and is quoted frequently in publications like Fast Company. Whitney has received widespread recognition for her work and ideas, including being named one of Fortune’s 55 Most Influential Women on Twitter in 2014. This is Whitney's second appearance on the podcast, having joined us for the 23rd episode of The Innovation Engine last year to talk about driving disruptive innovation and her first book, Dare, Dream, Do.Show NotesVisit Whitney Johnson's websiteFollow Whitney Johnson on Twitter: @JohnsonWhitneyShare the "Thunderclap" for Disrupt Yourself to spread the word about the book 

On this week's episode of the podcast we'll be looking at disruptive innovation in the media and entertainment space. We'll talk about why the definition of what it means to be a media company is rapidly changing, how media companies are dealing with the advent of live streaming and incorporating it into traditional broadcasts, and the future of advertising in a world of Everything-on-Demand. Chris Graham joins us on this week's episode to talk about those topics and more. Chris is the Client Executive in the Media & Entertainment vertical here at 3Pillar Global. Chris works with clients across the Media and Entertainment space, including Broadcast Media, Online Media, Publications and Newspapers, Gaming, Music, and Sports. You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisGraham for his takes on all things Media & Entertainment-related.