'Adult Innovation'

Many individuals and organizations wrestle with the question of how they can become more innovative, ... and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg has the answers!

Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg is the author of What’s Your Problem? (Harvard Business Press, 2020), a book on how to solve the right problems. He is also the co-author (with Paddy Miller) of Innovation as Usual, a Harvard Business Review Press book on the art of driving innovation in regular organizations.

In the 34th episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I interviewed Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg about innovation, both at an individual, as well as on an organizational level.

During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:

  1. Reframing Problems
  2. Weaponizing Frames
  3. Never fall in love with your obstacles
  4. The importance of Bright Spots
  5. The Acid Test for Potential Solutions
  6. The Value of Different Perspectives
  7. Most Ideas are Bad Ideas & Do Not Celebrate Failures
  8. "Focus" versus "Throw Against the Wall and See What Sticks"
  9. How to Ensure Adoption in Corporate Environments (‘Stealthstorming’)
  10. The Past as the Best Predictor of the Future

► About Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg

Thomas has worked with managers in nearly all parts of the globe, including China, India, Russia, Singapore, Britain, France and his native country, Denmark. His research has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, BBC Radio, Bloomberg Businessweek and the Financial Times. His work on innovation led HR Magazine to recognize him as a “Top 20 International Thinker”.

As an executive advisor and keynote speaker, Thomas has addressed organizations such as Cisco, Microsoft, Citigroup, Time Warner, AbbVie, Caterpillar, Amgen, Prudential, Union Pacific, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, the Wall Street Journal, and the United Nations.

Thomas holds an MA in Media Science from the University of Copenhagen and an MBA from IESE Business School. Prior to his business career, Thomas served for four years as an officer with the Danish Royal Guards.

► Five nested strategies to reframe your thinking of a problem to make sure you're solving for the right things:

  1. Look outside the frame. What are we missing?
  2. Rethink the goal. Is there a better objective to pursue?
  3. Examine bright spots. Where is the problem not?
  4. Look in the mirror. What is my/our role in creating this problem?
  5. Take their perspective. What is their problem?

► Key actions leaders who want others to act as innovation architects should take

  1. Focus: Direct people to look only for ideas that matter to the business. (Focus beats freedom)
  2. Connect: Urge people to connect to new worlds (customers, colleagues, external experts). (Insight comes from the outside)
  3. Tweak: Challenge people to test, challenge, and reframe their initial ideas repeatedly. (First ideas are flawed)
  4. Select: Guide people to filter and select the best ideas and discard the rest. (Most ideas are bad ideas)
  5. Stealthstorm: Help people navigate the internal organizational politics of innovation. (Stealthstorming rules)
  6. Persist: Motivate everyone to continue pursuing the other five keystone behaviors. (Creativity is a choice)

► Books

► Website

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See All 54 Episodes of "Leadership 2.0"