Innovation Insights
by Stephen Shapiro

It gets easy to fall into the trap of equating novelty with innovation. But they are not the same. Value and relevancy are what matter with innovation. In this episode, we explore how to make

In this episode, I share three useful tricks every innovator should steal from magicians. Then I share one of my favorite lenses – #24: VARIATIONS. The three tricks to steal are: Don’t trust the brain

When looking for solutions to your problems, it seems logical to turn to best practices for answers. But what if best practices are stupid? What if they are not the key to innovation or problem-solving

In today’s episode, we explore how concepts from linguistics can impact innovation. In particular, we dive into the distinction between surface structure and deep structure. Understanding these concepts will help you be better at strategic

In this episode, we first explore a myth of productivity. Although most organizations are busier than ever and they want to “do more with less,” this is often the opposite of what is effective. Instead

In today’s episode, we explore how changing just one word in a problem statement can unleash an entirely new range of possible solutions – including new business models. We explore 3 lenses in particular: #15:

Today’s episode is about a topic that is one of my favorites. During the pandemic, everyone keeps asking me, “How are you going to pivot your business?” My response is, “I’m not. I’m going to

Here is the rough transcription for Episode 14 of the Invisible Solutions podcast. It’s not perfect, but if you prefer reading vs listening, this is the way to go. Enjoy! *** Don’t Pivot; Divot! What

What if a great way to find better solutions is to look for terrible ideas? This is lens #20 from Invisible Solutions. In this episode, I share several examples of how seemingly bad ideas become

Everyone loves brainstorming. Right? Unfortunately, the way most teams run their sessions is ineffective and inefficient. But what if there is a better way? In todays’ episode, I explore the 5 problems associated with traditional

Here is the transcription for Episode 11 of the Invisible Solutions podcast. It’s not perfect, but if you prefer reading vs listening, this is the way to go. Enjoy! *** What if all problems are

In Episode 9, I briefly talked about differentiation and why it is an important part of innovation. In this episode we do an even deeper dive into the topic. And in particular I share my