In his 2020 account of his 15 years as CEO of the Disney empire, The Ride of a Lifetime, Roger Iger proclaimed the maxim, "Innovate or Die". It quickly became a mantra for business executives and would-be executives hoping to emulate Disney’s phenomenal success. Whether or not you share the same sense of passion and urgency for innovation as Iger does, the fact is that some degree of innovation is needed for any business to maintain competitiveness and move forward. Knowing how to apply innovation to your business can be a strategic advantage.

In this episode, Gail talks with consultant Jeff Standridge, based in Conway, Arkansas. Jeff also teaches in the College of Business at The University of Arkansas. He is the author of The Innovator's Field Guide: Accelerators for Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Change Agents and The Top Performers Field Guide: Catalysts for Leaders, Innovators and All Who Aspire to Be.

Innovation, as Jeff defines it, is “planned change directed at better ways than we are currently doing things today.” He identified three types of innovation that occur in businesses: incremental, breakthrough, and disruptive. Innovation, he said, is happening exponentially in today’s businesses. Much of it is driven by new technologies, such as the digital revolution and AI.

Gail asked Jeff how owners can apply innovation to their businesses. He said designers already have expertise in one of the main tools for innovation, design thinking. Beyond that, he said, first learn what innovation is and how it can impact a business, utilize an innovation process, conduct quantitative and qualitative research to determine what things in your business could be done better than how they’re being done today. Having identified those things and confirmed that they are things that are negatively impacting the business, develop solutions and implement them.

Gail also asked Jeff what key messages from his book he would like to share with listeners. He offered the following:

Sustained success comes from the ability to balance results and relationships.

Failure is only failure if you quit.

The only thing required for innovation to occur is a constraint.

To hear why Jeff believes innovation and leadership are inseparable and other insights, listen to the entire podcast.

If you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full shownotes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s11e9-shownotes

Mentioned in This Podcast

To learn more about Jeff and to contact him, go to the firm’s website at jeffstandridge.com.

You will also find information about his books and a page with a list of his podcasts and videos. You can also message Jeff through his page on LinkedIn.

Jeff recommended the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. Both Jeff and Gail recommended another book by the same author, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business. Both are available from online booksellers.

Gail mentioned the book The Obstacle Is the Way: the Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday.

In speaking about their use of AI, Gail and Jeff mentioned a couple of AI tools they are currently using. Gail mentioned one called Granola, a self-described AI notepad for meetings. Jeff recommended a site called Auxigen, a library of AI-driven tools that bills itself as the “the world's first Entrepreneurial Support Platform.”

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Episode Transcript

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Well, welcome to the Creative Genius podcast. this we have today, our guest, Jeff Standridge, and he is from Arkansas. And we were just sharing with each other before we started the recording today that I also lived in Arkansas for about 10 years of my life. So I'm glad to meet with another Arkansan. There you go. That's right. How are you doing,