A Sherpa's Guide to Innovation

Ben & Jay talk with demographic futurist Bradley Schurman, founder & CEO of the research and advisory firm The Super Age and author of a fascinating book by that name.  Brad spent a significant portion of his career with AARP as a Senior Advisor and Global Director for Partnerships and Strategic Engagements.  He specializes in helping organizations understand the challenges and harness the opportunities of demographic change with a focus on population aging.  Adults have grown-up. Today, they represent the fastest growing group of workers and consumers in the world. They are superagers; a social and economic force unlike any other.  Bradley speaks regularly at thought leader forums around the world, and has advised national governments and major business on their longevity strategies.

The Super Age

Video: Nagoro, Japan - Valley of the Dolls

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Innovation Sherpas Ben and Jay interview Kip Lee, Vice President of Innovation & Product Strategy at University Hospitals, and a Managing Director of UH Ventures. He’s pursuing a Doctorate in Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and serves as an editor of the journal, Design Issues, published by MIT Press.

In this inspiring conversation, Kip shares a bit about his background--such as designing at Marriott International--and the lessons healthcare innovators can apply from the hospitality industry. He describes the origin story of the UH Ventures group and how they worked as nomads across the University Hospitals organization, developing empathy and conducting ethnographic research simultaneously. We are thrilled to have our listeners listen to and learn from this wise and kind innovation leader.

Kip's TEDxCLE talk: http://www.tedxcle.com/kipum-lee/
Check out Kip's blog: https://architekton.org/

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Ben & Jay find another opportunity to weave improv into your innovation expedition, joined by Mike Eppehimer, founder of ThreefoldYes.  Prior to starting ThreefoldYes, Mike was a seasoned senior healthcare executive who integrated his experience in the creative arts with improvement science.  Mike talks about his unique career arc and numerous practical insights on improvisational leadership that he shares in his recent TEDx talk "The Performance of a Lifetime".  Ben participates in a fun and useful exercise on shifting status.  And if you stick around past the exit music, Mike and Jay improvise at opera.

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In 2009, Professor Clayton Christensen published The Innovator's Prescription:  A Disruptive Solution for Health Care, with co-authors Dr. Jerome Grossman and Dr. Jason Hwang.  Well over a decade later, Ben & Jay revisit this robust and insightful body of work with Ann Christensen, President & CEO of the Clayton Christensen Institute and Ann Somers Hogg, Senior Research Fellow, Health Care at the Institute. 

Much has happened in health care since 2009.  But where are we in terms of disruptive solutions?  These four Sherpas dig in deep on the past, present and future, guided by great theories.

Please offer your thoughts to us on Twitter or LinkedIn!  This will not be our last dialogue...

Find Ann Somers' outstanding blog posts here and subscribe to their newsletter

This fine piece by Aaron Martin is an excellent accompaniment - and launching pad for further dialogue!

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Ben & Jay welcome in a new year with Nora Herting, CEO and co-founder of ImageThink, world's leading visual strategy firm.  Nora is author of "Draw Your Big Idea" and a frequent keynote speaker.  Hear Nora share her insights on:

• Founding a firm that uses the tools of graphic facilitation, visual theory and design thinking
• The neuroscience behind the effectiveness of visual techniques
• How organizations can solve problems and develop strategy using visual techniques
• How your team can bring visual techniques into your work today in simple ways

Nora's podcast Ask the Experts!
See Nora's photography here

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Ben & Jay reflect upon and celebrate 100 episodes of A Sherpa's Guide to Innovation.  We look back, look forward, and express our appreciation for our guests and listeners.  Ann Somers Hogg drops in to say hello and talk about her new role at the Clayton Christensen Institute. 

Read Ann Somers' latest blog post here: 

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Ben & Jay have a deep-dive on building corporate innovation from the ground up with Paul Puopolo, Executive Vice President of Innovation at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Following a career as a naval aviator, Paul built and led innovation teams at Humana, Highmark and MetLife.  Paul has outstanding insights on not only building an innovation function from scratch with a well-defined, discipline process, but also on fostering an innovation culture that reaches every employee at DFW.

View Paul's excellent February 2020 talk at Skookum (now Method) here

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Ben & Jay are joined by Dr. Bon Ku, Director of Jefferson Health Design Lab in Philadelphia.  Dr. Ku is well-known on a number of fronts - a practicing emergency medicine physician; a leader in teaching design to medical students and physicians; a co-author of Health Design Thinking; host of Design Lab podcast; and from his prominent role in TNT's Chasing the Cure.

Hear Bon talk about the amazing work he and his team do to help the most vulnerable communities in Philadelphia, how Design Lab is like a small restaurant, and his other creative projects.

See and hear more Bon Ku:
Dr. Ku at Mayo Transform 2017
Dr. Ku on Masters of Scale Rapid Response
Dr. Ku on Instagram

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Ben & Jay return from a short break to talk with a rising star - Abrea Armstrong, Senior Marketing & Communications Coordinator for the Innovation Quarter.  The iQ is an innovation district in downtown Winston-Salem, NC, bringing together forward-thinking companies in the areas of research, business and education in biomedical science, information technology, clinical services and advanced materials.  Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has led the development of the Innovation Quarter in partnership with city, county and state government, local businesses, developers and community members,

Hear Abrea talk about the origins of iQ, what brought her there, and how iQ has an impact on the community.  In addition, hear about her own business, 91-2-Infinity, which provides a full suite of marketing services and digital strategy from an inclusion-perspective.  A storyteller, a poet, an entrepreneur, a connector, a journalist - you will quickly appreciate Abrea's passion and creativity.

LinkedIn:
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Abrea on Instagram

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An episode 20 years in the making! For our 96th episode, Ben welcomes long-time friend Matthew Swift, co-founder and CEO of Concordia, to discuss how he innovates in the world of public affairs. 

Concordia is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to actively fostering, elevating, and sustaining cross-sector partnerships for social impact, including hosting the annual Concordia Summit. Matt described Concordia as "A forum discussing the world not as one person sees it but as a broader collective sees it, with no bias towards political party or political movement, and no bias for public sector or private sector."

Learn how the idea for Concordia started at a student auction at Georgetown University, and how the Concordia Annual Summit began as a small event with 100 people (mostly friends and family, Matt admits) to now hosting nearly 4000 attendees with  representatives from 90 countries and 17 sitting heads of state.

Additionally, Matt shares his insights on how to convene leaders to drive change, as well as:

• Counsel for healthcare innovators about how to approach public/private partnerships
• The experience design of a Concordia Summit event
• Why the response to Covid-19 is perhaps the greatest public/private partnership in history

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