We all want to steward organizational resources responsibly. But sometimes, the problems we face aren’t clear, and neither are the solutions. In such cases, good stewardship requires divergent thinking, which often feels irresponsible.

Innovation leader: next time an organizational obstacle rears its ugly head, as yourself, “What’s the real problem I need to address?”

Assumptions make us blind to many innovative possibilities, and yet the problem is, it’s almost impossible to identify our own blinders! I say “almost” because of this tool…

When we ask alumni about the most transformative tools they learned under our tutelage, they regularly mention this. Here’s a brief description of one of the most powerful tools we teach.

A product manager at Google told me about a bold move the organization made to create the space folks needed to learn. It inspired me to take a similar step in my own practice.

Innovators from Edison to Einstein to Frank Lloyd Wright to Salvador Dalí have historically leveraged a strategic tool I’ve been long reluctant to wield… until now!

Lorraine Sarayeldin, Founder and CEO of PomPom Paddock, shares three favorite tricks to accelerate her ideation process by seeking inspiration from the world outside of the office.

There’s a reason most brainstorms fail to deliver: it’s legitimately painful to admit we don’t know the answer. The good news is, there are simple ways to hack this deep-seated faulty psychological bias.

Want to know the single-greatest factor that determines the success of a professional learning experience? It has much less to do with the learner, or the curriculum, than it does the organization to which the learner returns.

Michelin’s innovation guru once told me, “Most of the time, the problem is the problem.” My own innovation practice has taught me that my biggest problem is, I’m not sure what my problem is. Here’s a fantastic trick to fuel ideation.

David Kelley advises his students to make a practice that’s been taught at Stanford for decades. It’s the same thing Seinfeld does, and it’s a simple technique anyone wanting to do some breakthrough thinking can employ.

There’s not nearly enough airspace afforded the opposition that innovation faces inside of established organizations. While folks generally acknowledge that “the organizational antibodies attack” when they try to do something new, yet few are prepared to face resistance to their new ideas.

Lin-Manuel Miranda shares a key insight from the process of writing Hamilton. His experience resonates with countless other innovators: make time to think.

One of the prime directives of an innovation leader is to make experiments cheaper to run. Sometimes this has to do with technology; but often, it has to do with the institutional norms driving would-be-innovators’ assumptions and expectations.

The counter-cultural practices of Google X, Amazon, and 3M demonstrate that public celebration reinforces organizational values, especially when those values run contrary to conventional business rules.

The single-most enjoyable hour of work each week is the hour I deliberately shed the “teacher’s” cap and put on the student’s. Instead of showing up to talk, I show up to listen. But boy does it take intention to protect that time.

Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs both illustrate that the sterile calculus of today’s valuation-obsessed start-up culture doesn’t put nearly enough premium on a particularly elusive ingredient: love.

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.”

It’s been over two since I last worked in regular physical proximity with folks beyond my immediate team at Stanford. Of all the things I miss the most, I must say that eavesdropping is near the top of the list.

The need to “think outside the box” is a common refrain.

But how does one do it?

It’s not nearly as complicated as you might think.