Innovation Insights: Where Play Powers Breakthroughs

Click to watch (10:27) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   When I was a kid, much as I dreaded the end of summer freedom, I confess I loved the fresh start feeling of “back to school.” New binder, new backpack, new pencils and erasers.   With the unknown territory of a new teacher […]

Click to watch (14:44) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   This past week, I had the incredible opportunity to step inside what might be the most effective innovation lab I’ve ever witnessed.   No, I wasn’t at Google’s X Lab or Meta’s Reality Labs. I wasn’t surrounded by cutting-edge technology or million-dollar prototypes. […]

Click to watch (12:08) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Have you ever noticed how some of your best ideas come when you’re under pressure? Today I want to share a story that completely changed how I think about deadlines and creativity—and how you can harness the power of the pressure cooker to fuel […]

Click to watch (20:39) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   “I missed seeing more of you onstage today.”   Those words from my teammate hit harder than any bad review could have. We’d just finished our performance at the California Long-form Improv Festival in LA, and I knew exactly what she meant.   […]

Click to watch (18:41) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   Back when I was a professional artist, I used to meet once a month with a group of about a dozen fellow calligraphers. Some were professionals, like myself, others pursued calligraphy as an avocation.   Sara, the one who invited me to the […]

Click to watch (14:20) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   I’m about to tell you a story about a poster I created in April 2016, but here’s the thing — I almost didn’t share this story because I wanted it to fit perfectly with summer momentum. I kept thinking, “But it wasn’t summer! […]

Click to watch (13:31) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   Back when I was a professional artist, after years of making art for clients, I knew I needed to get back to making art just for the joy of it. And I knew the path to get there was play. But here’s the […]

Click to watch (11:32) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   It’s that time of year when the pace seems to slow down, teams are cycling through vacation schedules, and there’s this collective exhale that happens across the tech world. But here’s what I’ve learned: summer isn’t a season to coast—it’s actually the perfect […]

Click to watch (13:36) or scroll down to read more The Canvas That Changed Everything Hey there, innovation champions! Imagine this scene for a moment: I’m standing in my studio, holding a pristine canvas I’d owned for years. Still wrapped in plastic. Still untouched.   Why? Because every time I looked at it, my inner gremlin whispered, “Who […]

Click to watch (14:59) or scroll down to read more  Hey there, innovation champions!   Last week at a conference in DC, I heard a story that stopped me in my tracks. It was one of those moments that makes you realize how much you don’t know about the world around you.   A delegate from Yellowstone was […]

Click to watch (15:47) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Melissa Dinwiddie here.   When you were a kid, did you ever experience a blackout, or a hurricane, that disrupted normal life for a bit? Maybe you had to go without electricity or water for a day or two.   If it’s for a […]

Click to watch (15:01) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   My brother and sister-in-law just celebrated their anniversary. Not a “big” one, but as I called to wish them well and asked if they were celebrating, my brother said they were helping their teenage son with homework. So… that would be a no. […]

Click to watch (14:50) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   Picture this: You’re staring at a pile of half-finished projects, abandoned initiatives, and ideas that once seemed brilliant but now feel like reminders of failure.   Sound familiar?   Let me tell you about my own pile of “innovation debris” and the surprising […]

Click to watch (14:50) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions!   Have you ever solved a brilliant problem, only to watch your team struggle with the same challenge months later—as if the solution never existed?   This phenomenon—what I call “organizational amnesia”—isn’t just frustrating. It’s costing your company time, money, and breakthrough innovations.   […]