April 19th, we were very lucky to be joined by Chris Copeland of Up & To The Right and Dan Reus, Openly Disruptive. Chris is a tech and marketing entrepreneur and leader in the biddable media space. Dan is a futurist that has helped his clients mine the present for trends that they can use to position themselves well while building a culture of innovation.
Chris and Dan talked us through what innovation is and how to build a culture of innovation before we got into a lively round of Q&A with attendees.
What is innovation to you and your organization?
Innovation is …
Strength
Precision
Committed to the process
Detail-oriented
A team sport
Disruption
Change
Up to you
When writing a press release, we answer “What” / “Why” / “Who” and provide data validation to create credibility.
Write the “release of innovation” for your organization today as a roadmap for tomorrow.
Time
You don’t become innovative overnight. Fail fast. Repetitions of failure allow us to gain insights
Books Recs
“Disrupt It Yourself” — Simone Bhan Ahuja
Characteristics of Intrapreneur
Action Obsessed
Progress Focused
Problem Oriented
Natural Hackers
Talent Attractors
Married to Mission
Frugal by Nature
“Six Thinking Hats” — Dr. Edward de Bono
Personality types need to fit together
Build an innovation team based on what people are good at
Ask yourself: Do I have enough of the right people?
Get Comfortable Hacking Systems
Sometimes change is beyond our control. Real innovation comes when we intentionally push for and drive change. Push boundaries
Motivation Matters
Never compromise your “why.” As individuals, consumers, and humans, time and cost will always be drivers of the decisions we make.
There are a million things we could do, choose the ONE that drives you.
Organizations tend to be risk-averse, “People become conservative, the moment they have something they want to conserve.” He then spoke to the role of a CFO and their tendency to preserve and conserve.
Years ago, Chris presented at a digital conference about abandoning Google Ads. People buy ads to reach audiences and amplify their search visibility. They buy the ads because they work — BUT does the risk profile align with what you do?
Cultivating the Bravery to Change
“You cannot innovate from a passive place.”
Challenge the Challenge
Face it head on and work hard at solving the problem your innovation will address.
Consumer Insights
Learn from your audience.
Expand Aperture
Broaden your perspective.
“I know what I know, you know what you know. How can we learn together?”
Rapid Prototyping
Fail fast. Iterate quickly and move from Point A to Point B. Risk-averse people will give you enough rope to hang yourself, but to truly innovate you need to push for more.
Unleash the Power Within
Be audacious. Get the right people together.
“If you aren’t the distrusted or the intrapreneur, be one of the other hats.”
How do you go about being an innovator?
Dan Reus, Openly Disruptive
Your idea is just a first bet: Disrupt without Distress.
What innovation scares you?!
Dan opened the floor asking everyone to introduce themselves and express an innovation that scares them.
Things we heard:
FinTech
Customer relationship management systems and data clean up
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Hesitancy to adapt
Future of truth
The shift to online work / loss of culture
Transforming an experience
“Change is happening, innovation is what you do with it.”
Disruptive innovation is innovation that creates a new market … and eventually displaces established market-leading firms, products, and alliances.
The first is happening. How do we influence and align with it?
It’s inevitable yet unpredictable
If the world isn’t ready for it, it doesn’t matter how good of an idea it is.
ChatGPT - a chatbot trained on a lot of data. This is something happening in our world that we don’t have any influence over. Some of the technologies that are emerging will completely change our world.
How we interact …
Autonomy of the technology we use …
2050 …
Some of us may be living on another planet.
Think about what will happen when we start investing resources and building infrastructure on another planet? Tax implications, legal, governance, and more. It won’t just affect the people living there or people in aerospace. It will affect everyone.
How do we keep up?
No one gets left behind
Iterate
Practice disrupting without distress
No one gets left behind
Everybody MUST get over the wall. We must give everyone a path forward. Lack of engagement and resistance to change are two challenges that we can and should do without.
Iterate
Model T example by Henry Ford. It took from Model A to Model T of the automobile before they created a prototype that would last.
Practice disrupting without distress
Understand what you are trying to do, what you can control and how to mitigate risk.
Pause
Perish
Persevere
Take on an empathetic frame of mind.
Q&A
How do you “fail fast?”
Dan: Focus on servant leadership and practicing humility. Rather than forcing things, work to understand the reasoning behind your decisions and the path forward.
How do we push for innovation with the implications and cost that come with failure?
Chris: Conduct a focus group to ideate and prioritize. Prioritize ideas and ensure that you are all aligned on how you will move forward. Creating a cohesive culture is a large part of welcoming failure and driving innovation.
Dan: It is convenient for protectors (“black hats”) to resist change. Ensure you are
Social Media example for innovation?
Chris: Unilever beauty example — their company “North Star” resonated better than they ever expected which made it a lot easier to innovate and stand on their position. They created a clear tie from their innovation to the content they share.
Dan: Purina - are they a food company that sells to pets or a pet company that leads with food? I helped run a program where they made decisions to partner with startups. We used social media to elevate and recognize these startups and the work they are doing. This helped identify categories that no one had invested in previously.
How do we combat lack of budget and resources?
Chris: Ask “How can I do more with less?” What is the best way to prototype in a way that will bring your innovation to life without a lot of waste? Use the prototype to demonstrate long-term cost savings and the change it will bring for your organization.
Dan: Organizations are shifting internally rather than leveraging third parties. Innovation is a hedge against change to recognize what is and could happen (that resonates with the C-Suite). Rather than millions, ask for thousands to test an idea. From a culture perspective, everyone in the organization must understand what innovation looks like and how your company is implementing and executing change.
If I am going back to the office today, is there something I can do to take action for innovation?
Chris: Think about one thing you control and how you can make it better. Decide what change you decide to make and continue to make it bigger overtime. If you can prove that you are ready to commit to that one thing, then you know you are ready to innovate further. Focus on betterment one day at a time.
Dan: Find a way to build alliances (focus on the six hats). Find a common ground. Having conversations with others to ensure clear understanding and provide reason to innovate is a great first step.
Thank you for joining us!
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