The Innovation Engine Podcast

Elliot Susel of AOL joins us to talk about agile, the Lean Startup movement, and the evolution of software development on this week’s episode of “The Innovation Engine” podcast. Among the topics we discuss this week are the "Three Ring Theory" of modern-day product development, the concept of validated learning and why it's so important to startups and, increasingly, large organizations, and why information radiators can be a powerful way to get a team to coalesce around shared goals. Elliot Susel is the Head of Product for Paid Services at AOL. In this role, he leads a team that performs Lean Startup-style concept validation and delivers products using agile methodologies. He previously spent 2-plus years at Curb, formerly known as Taxi Magic, where he was a Senior Project Manager and VP of Technology. 

On this week's episode of the podcast, we look at keys to leading innovative companies. Among the topics we cover are why innovation leaders should be ringleaders and referees more than visionaries; the importance of creative abrasion, creative agility, and creative resolution to the innovation process; and why it's imperative to establish a company culture with a sense of community and psychological safety to foster innovation. Greg Brandeau is the co-author of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, which was named one of "The 20 Best Business Books to Read This Summer" in 2014 by Business Insider. He is the former COO & President of Maker Media and former CTO of the Walt Disney Studios. He also spent the better part of a decade as an executive at Pixar before the company was acquired by Disney, and he started his career at NeXT, where he worked with the late great Steve Jobs. 

eTrans Systems CEO John Estrada joins us to talk about the coming revolution in the transportation space that will be brought about by connected cars. We discuss what barriers need to be overcome before driverless cars will be available to the general public en masse, when we can expect to start seeing connected cars hitting the highways, and how driverless transportation will impact our everyday lives in terms of safety, mobility, and the environment. 

Author and innovation guru Mitch Ditkoff joins us to talk about the power of storytelling and the parallels between being able to tell a story successfully and being able to innovate successfully. Among the topics we tackle on this week's episode are why it's important in the corporate world for you to be able to tell a compelling story, why humor is an effective tool for connecting with audiences of all shapes and sizes, and how to get started crafting your own personal narrative.Mitch Ditkoff is the co-founder and president of Idea Champions. For the last 2 years, he has been named one of the top 5 speakers on innovation by one of the leading speaker’s bureaus in the US. In 2010 and 2011, he was voted the #1 innovation blogger in the world. He has worked with companies including GE, Merck, AT&T, NBC Universal, Coca Cola, and many more to improve their innovation capacity. Mitch blogs frequently at the Heart of Innovation blog as well as for outlets like the Huffington Post. He has been an adjunct faculty member at leadership development programs at schools like Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, GE’s Crotonville Management Center, and the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management.

Innovation and business transformation is the topic of discussion on this episode of the podcast. We talk with Dr. Sunil Mithas of the University of Maryland about what companies can learn from the Tata Group's ascension to becoming one of the world's most well-known - and profitable - businesses in the world. Dr. Mithas has studied the Tata Group's success in-depth for his just published book, Dancing Elephants and Leaping Jaguars: How to Excel, Innovate, and Transform Your Organization the Tata Way. On this episode we discuss the Malcolm Baldridge framework for measuring innovation, why it's important to have a long-term vision for innovation, and a number of different innovation competitions that Tata has set up to encourage innovation within its companies.

Modev founder Pete Erickson joins us for the 42nd episode of the podcast to discuss Modev's recent Wearables + Things conference, their upcoming ModevCon event, and the evolution of the DC tech scene since Pete started Modev in 2008. We discuss some of the hacks that came out of the Wearables + Things Hackathon, Pete's own experience with wearable devices like the Pebble Watch, and the different tracks available at ModevCon, which will take place on December 11th and 12th. See the following links for more information on Pete Erickson and Modev: Modev website: http://gomodev.comPete Erickson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/peteericksonModev on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gomodevModevCon website: http://modevcon.com

We look at innovation and breakthrough thinking on this week's episode of the podcast. We'll talk four great ways to make breakthroughs when you find yourself stuck in neutral, why "expertise is the enemy of innovation," and what we can all learn from the thought process of magicians when it comes to innovation. Stephen Shapiro joins us to discuss those topics and more. Stephen is a best-selling author and keynote speaker who has worked with companies like 3M, Procter & Gamble, Marriott, Nike, and Microsoft to improve their innovation practices. His fifth and most recent book is titled Best Practices are Stupid, which was named the best innovation and creativity book of 2011 and is an international #1 business best-seller. Stephen is also the author of Personality Poker, The Little Book of Big Innovation Ideas, Goal-Free Living, and 24/7 Innovation. Among the networks and publications Stephen has appeared on or in are CNBC, CBS, ABC, USA Today, Fortune, and Wall Street Journal. During his 15-year career at Accenture, he led a 20,000-person innovation practice. You can find out more about him on his website at www.stephenshapiro.com and you can follow him on Twitter at @stephenshapiro.  

The Future of Payments is the topic of discussion on the 40th episode of “The Innovation Engine” podcast. Kenal Shah and Brian Oh join me to discuss how the payments ecosystem will change over the short and long term and how technology will fuel consumer adoption of new payment platforms. We talk about the hot and heavy battle currently taking place between Apple Pay and the Merchant Customer Exchange, how we’ll all be parting with our hard-earned money 5 years from now, the Poynt point-of-sale system, and whether there’s actually pent-up demand from consumers for new ways to pay. 

Gill Haus, CTO of Paid Services at AOL, joins us to talk about the commonalities he has seen on high-performing teams. We talk about the concept of the pivot and how to manage it appropriately, the next steps in the evolution of agile, and the Jeff Foxworthy approach to determining if the team you're working on or with is truly innovative. In addition to AOL, Gill has held leadership positions at companies that include BillMeLater, PayPal, and Taxi Magic. At PayPal, he served as Director of Development Engineering and Senior Director of Product Development, roles in which he oversaw large development and architecture teams working on one of the most well-known electronic payment platforms in the world. At Taxi Magic, Gill was SVP of Technology and was responsible for all aspects of technology, including Product Development, Technology Strategy, Software Architecture, and more. In his role at AOL, Gill is responsible for Paid Services development and engineering. You can follow him on Twitter at @OronHaus.

On this episode of the podcast we look at innovation lessons that companies of all shapes and sizes can take from the groundbreaking animation studio Pixar. We talk about why the black sheep in your company may just be the keys to unlocking innovation success, the importance of lifelong learning in creating a culture that thrives on innovation, and the 4 common proficiencies to making art - and innovation - a team sport. Bill Capodagli, author of Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World's Most Creative Corporate Playground, joins us to discuss these topics and more.