“Fish don’t know they’re wet.” IDEO founder David Kelly says it’s critical to question the things we take for granted. Entrepreneur Gabriela Gonzalez Bux recounts a remarkable example in today’s guest post.

Jon Beekman, Founder and CEO of ManCrates, shares an enlightened tactic for helping innovators find breakthroughs they aren’t even looking for.

This guest post comes from Ozan Varol, one of my favorite rocket scientists. It’s excerpted from his new book, “Awaken Your Genius,” which is sure to be on my year-end best books list!

Some problems can be hard to see from different perspectives. William Hardaway, a design leader in higher education recommends taking a light-hearted approach to exposing unexplored angles.

In this guest post, Erica Brown, an industry insider, shares tips for women working in technology.

Innovation veteran Johannes Mutzke shares the best way to answer the perennial “build or buy” decision facing organizations seeking to enter new markets.

Philippe Barreaud, Head of Michelin’s Customer Labs, has a hard-won portfolio of insights from leading global innovation for 20+ years. Here, he revels in the paradoxes of prototyping as a toolkit.

Kim Scott writes, “Slogans like ‘Move Fast & Break Things” are rallying cries for accelerators. But there’s a lot of mythology here…. If you really want to do something new, figure out a way to decelerate.”

Jon Beekman, Founder and CEO of ManCrates, shares an enlightened tactic for helping innovators find the breakthroughs they aren’t even looking for.

Author, teacher, and artist Gary Zamchick writes, “In a time of rapid disruption, it’s more important than ever to live in the liquid space between building and dreaming — a place where conceptual, innovative, and transformational leaps drive innovation and change.”

Gavin Guidry, Creative Director at R/GA, says, “If my experience has taught me one thing, it’s this: to get the results clients are looking for, they need to forget about cultural relevance, and focus on community relevance.”

Some problems can be hard to see from different perspectives. William Hardaway, a design leader in higher education recommends taking a light-hearted approach to exposing unexplored angles.

Where does the authority to lead transformation comes from? Innovation leader and Stanford d.school coach Bill Pacheco shares insights from a recent engagement.

Due to tight delivery schedules, it might seem faster to skip deep customer research and just start building something. This is wrong. Empathy fuels both insights, and the stories that enlist enthusiastic collaboration.

Today’s post comes from Josh Ruff, consummate craftsman, coach, and innovation leader. Josh draws parallels between a creative team leveraging diverse perspectives, and a rowing team reaching the ever-elusive state of “swing.”

Bill Pacheco, gifted design thinking practitioner and instructor, sheds light on a critical element to building empathy: giving others the space to explore feelings they may not have explored before.

Innovation veteran Johannes Mutzke shares the best way to answer the perennial “build or buy” decision facing organizations seeking to enter new markets.

This post is from Peter Sims, co-founder of FUSE corps and GivingTuesday, and author of Little Bets. He’s observed leaders like Beth Comstock and Steve Jobs carefully curate their constellation of collaborators.

d.school Fellow Ise Lyfe says, “It doesn’t matter if you’re good enough. You most certainly aren’t, at any new task… the question is: are you great enough to rise to a new challenge?”

This guest post comes from Gavin Guidry, Creative Director at R/GA. Gavin writes, “Rather than viewing each brief as the impetus for creation, let’s look at the future that we want to see, and ask how our work can bring us closer.”