How to Think Like an Innovator
Key Characteristics of Innovative Companies
FutureThink CEO Lisa Bodell outlines five essential characteristics of innovative companies—strategic imagination, smart risk-taking, resiliency, agility, and future focus—explaining how to identify and foster these traits in team building.
A Framework for Creating a Culture of Innovation
Lisa Bodell, Founder and CEO of FutureThink, outlines effective strategies for managers to embrace and implement change, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, identifying competitive weaknesses, and fostering a culture where change is collectively supported and simplified.
Evaluate Risk
FutureThink CEO Lisa Bodell emphasizes that evaluating risks and clearly communicating criteria for smart versus stupid risks empowers decision-making, urging organizations to define essential information needed to pursue opportunities while establishing clear boundaries for acceptable risk.
“Kill Your Company”
In this video, FutureThink's Lisa Bodell presents a team exercise that encourages companies to adopt their competitor's perspective, identify their weaknesses, and strategize on how to leverage those insights for innovation and change.
“Kill A Stupid Rule”
Lisa Bodell, Founder and CEO of FutureThink, discusses her "Kill a Simple Rule" exercise, which empowers teams to challenge existing rules and foster innovative cultures by allowing them to change two rules while identifying non-negotiable ones.
“Killer Queries”
Lisa Bodell, Founder and CEO of FutureThink, emphasizes that the key to innovation lies not in access to information but in improving our questioning skills, advocating for provocative thought experiments to elicit meaningful insights.
“Little Bigs”
Lisa Bodell, CEO of FutureThink, emphasizes overcoming inertia in change management through "Little Bigs"—small exercises that encourage innovative thinking and behavior shifts, such as brainstorming risky ideas, involving outsiders in problem-solving, and empowering team members to make independent decisions.
“From Impossible to Possible”
Lisa Bodell, Founder and CEO of FutureThink, shares an exercise to foster innovation by having teams identify obstacles to problem-solving, swap lists, and collaboratively turn challenges into achievable solutions.
“Wildcards”
Lisa Bodell, Founder and CEO of FutureThink, teaches how to lead teams through her "Wildcards" thought experiment, which encourages agile responses to change by having small groups tackle a problem and adapt to unexpected shifts in its definition.
FutureThink CEO Lisa Bodell says innovating is an imperative. To keep pace with the ever-evolving market, you must be willing to deconstruct outdated modes of thinking and develop new ideas to take their place.
Learning Objectives
- Determine your organization’s innovation profile.
- Become an agent of change.
- Determine whether a risky idea is worth taking.
- Ask provocative questions.
- Lead your team through exercises designed to identify your weaknesses, streamline your operations, overcome inertia, encourage collaborative problem-solving, and enhance your adaptability.