"Innovation isn't a gift. It's a simple, repeatable five-step process that anyone, at any level, can learn — with nothing more than a stack of Post-it notes."

Carla Johnson, author of RE:Think Innovation, is on a mission to teach one million people to consistently come up with new, great and reliable ideas. In this anniversary-edition conversation, she takes Aidan McCullen through her updated Wheel of Innovation — observe, distill, relate, generate, pitch — and the cautionary tales that show why so many good ideas die in the boardroom.

In this conversation, Carla reveals:

Why a pet-flavoured water startup failed — and the warning signs it ignored
The "CF-uh-O" who killed a Disney-inspired pitch, and what it teaches about how ideas are packaged
What brand detachment disorder is — and why "that would never work here" is your most expensive excuse
How Big Ass Fans transplanted the customer experience of Zingerman's Deli into an industrial fan company
How the CDC's zombie apocalypse campaign got 60,000 hits in an hour and put Dr. Ali Khan on stage at Comic-Con
Why Great Ormond Street Hospital brought in Ferrari's Formula 1 pit crew to cut surgical handover errors
How Tim Washer turned the Cisco ASR 9000 router launch into a Valentine's Day love story
Why real creativity only starts after your first 200 ideas
The "how might we" language shift that stops your brain killing ideas before they're born
How to give feedback that builds perpetual innovators instead of silencing them

Chapters:

00:00 Innovation Is A Process

00:49 Why RE Think Matters

02:10 Thirsty Pet Cautionary Tale

05:01 Defining Innovation Clearly

07:29 New Great Reliable Ideas

09:54 Perpetual Innovators Explained

11:03 Mentorina Pitch Gone Wrong

15:10 Brand Detachment Disorder

18:29 Complexity Bias In Innovation

22:07 Brand Transplant Big Ass Fans

25:38 Constraints And If Onlys

28:23 CDC Zombie Preparedness Win

33:18 Wheel Of Innovation Update

33:53 Constraints Spark Creativity

34:27 Cisco Router Love Story

39:32 Observation Drives Innovation

45:01 Distill Dots Into Patterns

48:05 Relate Ideas To Brand

53:00 Generate 200 Ideas

55:50 Pitch The Idea Journey

59:32 Feedback That Builds

01:04:19 Where To Find Carla

Find Carla Johnson at https://carlajohnson.co — take the innovation archetype assessment and sign up for her fortnightly newsletter.

Subscribe to the Thursday Thought on Substack https://thethursdaythought.substack.com

About The Innovation Show: the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes. Hosted by Aidan McCullen, author of Undisruptable, it brings you conversations with world-class authors, scientists and practitioners on disruption, innovation, change, transformation and leadership.

Website: https://theinnovationshow.io

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-innovation-show/id1148455669

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/63nFKf4bsSWo3W72gWtOsK?si=b62d9614237c4450

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theinnovationshow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanmccullen

Carla Johnson — RE:Think Innovation and the Wheel of Innovation

The Innovation Show

Carla Johnson — RE:Think Innovation and the Wheel of Innovation