The first question an innovator must answer is not “can I make it?” but rather, “should I?” This has become something of a mantra among CEOs I work with, as a needful protection against the gravitational pull of the organizational bureaucracy.

Most organizations’ first question of a new idea is its technical specifications: can we even build it? The most important question is not technical, but human. A better question is, “Should we build it?…”

Senior leaders unwittingly jeopardize their organizations by insulating themselves from the pain their users experience. By removing insulation, orgs can feel the pain they should be solving!

The origin story of Taco Bell’s acclaimed Doritos Loco Taco illuminates one simple principle: most folks’ job is to find flaws in new ideas! Sometimes the best way through is around…

Almost every attempt to introduce innovation is met with resistance. By examining the surprising sources of resistance, we can learn how to frame innovation in a way that wins minds.

We can inadvertently insulate ourselves from the very things that bother our customers. When we immerse ourselves in our own products and processes, we viscerally experience what needs to be reinvented.