There are no shortcuts to breakthrough outcomes. Even legends like Jerry Seinfeld — after long success — have to endure the pain that accompanies the early experiments on the way to the next innovation.

One of the greatest challenges on the journey to creative mastery is that the “rules” of productivity. Stories from Seinfeld and others encourage me to persist in the wrong direction.

Other minds represent one of the greatest sources of inspiration and leverage for problem solving endeavors. Ask these three questions to identify gaps in your portfolio of perspectives.

Very few teams see diversity as a lever they can pull to drive outcomes. “Team” is more of a fixed concept than a fluid one. The biggest opportunity is actually to deliberately dial up diversity on demand.

A message for young folks: amidst the frenzied pace of life, it’s tempting to veg out whenever you can. “Doomscrolling” is real! Instead of whittling away the hours, creative geniuses make good use of found time.

What if one reason we aren’t all a little more like Einstein is a simple cognitive bias? What if we could short circuit that bias with practice?

Good news: we can!

A critical priority in a productive, creative life is to make time to think, reflect, and synthesize. Here are a few examples of how spectacular innovators have carved out the necessary space.

The origin story of Netflix is a case study in innovation. Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings were uniquely positioned to take advantage of a market shift because they had a habit of exploring.

“Who in their right mind would work in such conditions???” I often think to myself… And then that very, messy environment delivers an unexpected connection, and I remember: Picasso, Angelou, and me.

We all like to deduce, to prove, to know for certain. But the most interesting opportunities for innovation are a function of wonder. Specifically, of a team willing to be humble and vulnerable enough to not know.

Thomas Edison said that cultivating the imagination was one of the essential qualities of the inventor. Sounds straightforward enough… But how does one do that?

Imagination is sparked by surprising information. Customer insights leader Kelly Garrett Zeigler tells a story that highlights the importance of welcoming an unexpected direction.

When all of our time is spoken for, we short-change the longer-duration gestation required to form insights and think creatively. Bezos’ trick? He schedules unscheduled time.

A simple ritual powers Jeff Bezos’ efficacy as a leader of innovation at Amazon. Every quarter, he conducts a simple audit — two simple tactics that every innovation-oriented-professional ought to leverage with regularity.

M&A isn’t exactly an arena most folks associate with creative thinking. And yet, Michael Dell describes the conditions that led to “The Idea” that enabled history’s largest deal.

Trying to figure out whether you have a good idea? Don’t ask people what they think! There’s a much better way to assess a new concept than asking for feedback.

I’ve helped nearly a million fledgling innovators come up with new ideas and assess which are worth pursuing. I have yet to see a student make this one mistake…

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!

It’s easy to dismiss tools like mood boards as “designer speak,” but the truth is, they’ve been indispensable to great thinkers seeking to capture inspiration throughout history.

Martin Luther King was singularly inventive in his oratory. This too-little-known story offers a remarkable behind-the-scenes view of one of the most famous public expressions in U.S. history.