Innovation Storytellers Susan Lindner

We've just hit the first anniversary of this global podcast called Innovation Storytellers. The show enables chief innovation officers, product managers, top consultants, and even product marketing and user experience leaders to share stories of how they got their innovation over the finish line. In just one year, we've learned so much about what it's like to take great ideas and move them forward through the obstacles and internal politics to get ideas out the door and into the market.
Over the past five years, I have also been helping big businesses navigate through uncharted digital waters on a journey of innovation and change. I've been running workshops, hosting keynotes, performing one-on-one coaching, and consulting with executives at some of the biggest companies in the world. In addition, I have worked with startups that are growing rapidly and need to get a handle on how to talk about their breakthrough ideas and disruptive opportunities in ways they haven't before.
These are just a few reasons I'm so excited today to announce the launch of Innovation Storytellers. My communications consultancy is dedicated to helping leaders learn, formulate and share stories around their breakthrough ideas through workshops, keynotes, team consulting, personal coaching, and even drafting the innovation narratives around new products, services, or business lines.
Essentially, I'm helping innovators tell the million-dollar stories that get the resources, runway, and recognition they deserve internally and in the outside world. I'd love to hear your stories, and I can't wait to see what innovation storytelling you'll be doing next.

New Orleans is famous for its distinctive music, Creole cuisine, and annual celebrations and festivals, such as Mardi Gras. But it's not a city that many would associate with innovation. However, the melting pot of cultures has helped create a mindset in which innovation thrives. For example, the combination of African music and the blues combined with other American influences gave rise to the only indigenous art music to form out of the US.
In this week's episode of Innovation Storytellers, Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc discusses how cultural clashes create environments in which innovation thrives. We also explore how bringing a financial and a moral perspective together are critical components in driving innovation forward. Michael also shares with me how post-hurricane Katrina, New Orleans needed to rebuild entrepreneurship and focus on technology.

Implementing any new technology or innovation will often require culture change. Steve Rubinow, the award-winning CIO, strategist, transformation expert, and professional lecturer at DePaul University, shares his experiences with helping people through the journey of change. He also shares his goal of three zeros which are zero costs, latency, and downtime.  Steve discusses how every enterprise has to be as fast and reliable as possible simultaneously. Customers demand proper functionality and security at the same time too. But if you don't do anything about it, someone else will, and your customers will go there in a hurry. He also advises leaders to listen to the suggestions for improvement from their customers because the best answers can come from the most unlikely places. 

Edison Innovations has built a reputation for using crowdsourcing and virtual research technologies combined with strategic marketing and business planning to offer a new dimension in developing new products and services. I invited its founder and CEO, Larry MacDonald on the podcast to learn more about the story behind the company and how it got its name.
Steve Jobs once said, "Some say, give the customers what they want. But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Larry shares his take on this quote and discusses how his design-thinking approach to innovation was inspired by playing with Lego bricks.
We talk about how technology can monitor what students have learned so they can relearn the foundational material they have missed school due to sickness. He also shares many stories of other innovations that he has worked with and his lessons learned along the way.

Anthony Mills currently serves as Executive Director of Global Innovation Institute (GInI), CEO of Legacy Innovation Group, and adviser to numerous advisory boards. So I asked him to join me on this week's episode of the Innovation Storytellers podcast to talk about innovation and design thinking.  Anthony shares with me why great innovators are incredibly resourceful and use diplomacy to tell their stories in a way that gets stakeholders on board. We also discuss the importance of identifying the negative consequences your innovations could have on stakeholders and addressing those concerns from the outset.
Finally, we talk about how cognitive biases can wreak havoc with our ability to think about the future because of all the filters and biases we bring to the table. We explore why innovators must recognize them when they occur. Anthony advises how every innovator is challenged by looking through the biases to see objectively the future they can create.

Outcome is an innovation consultancy that works with senior teams worldwide on the strategy, leadership, and culture required for innovation to solve today's innovation-led growth challenges while building the capabilities for shaping the future. Cris Beswick, the co-founder of Outcome, joins me on this week's episode of the Innovation Storytellers podcast to share his story.
We discuss how innovators in the workplace know there are better ways of doing things, but organizations are often resistant to embracing change. But even when they do, they chase after growth and shiny new technologies. However, this usually results in low-value ideas that aren't aligned with the organization's strategy.
Cris explains the importance of strategy, governance, structure, and why the five core components of their innovation system ensure that initiatives avoid descending into chaos. This is a must-listen episode if you are looking for a practical framework on how to build a culture of innovation in your organization.