On managing innovation, embodied knowing, and martial arts

I've recently took a deep dive into corporate innovation, martial arts, and embodied knowing with Suzie Lewis of the Let's talk Transformation podcast. We discussed a number of topics:

• doing vs. managing innovation;
• uncertainty, ambiguity, and strategy;
• martial arts & generative conflict;
• the innovation equivalent of sparring;
• serious games for experiential learning;
• augmented strategy and AI’s role;
• emotional behavior & innovation failure;
• rethinking hackathons & customer focus;
• HR’s role & embodied experience; and
• key leadership behavior for innovation.

In the episode description Suzie lists eleven key insights I shared. Three episode insights I'd like to highlight are:

• The difference between ‘doing’ and ‘managing’ innovation is important: the former is about transforming ideas into money (in a corporate context); the latter is doing it at scale, i.e. concurrently developing hundreds of ideas.
• Creativity brings something to life and is an inherent part of human nature - innovation is very personal, from which we can harness failure and maximise learning to create something of value.
• Martial arts redirect fear and aggression rather than eliminate them, providing a good lesson for CEOs in how to engage in generative conflict, which is consensual, respectful, collaborative and vulnerable.

You can listen to the episode here or using the player below:

Alternatively you can also watch the episode here or using the player below: