The Combustion Chronicles

Finding Fresh Insights and Innovations in the Digital World (with Theo Edmonds)

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Innovation is at the forefront of our success. It affects every aspect of our lives be it health, agriculture, transportation, or technology. The human mind is curious by design and our desire to seek out better, more efficient solutions to our everyday problems is the reason we enjoy the lifestyle we live in today. 

However, new innovation also brings about new challenges which in turn demand more innovation in order to be successfully negotiated. There is an ever present need today for companies and organizations to be maverick-minded and human-obsessed in order to improve the Experience Ecosystem™.

In today’s episode, Shawn Nason sits down with Theo Edmonds to talk about transformational creativity, courageous imagination, and leadership. Theo is a skilled, energetic, Cultural Futurist™ and innovator with 25 years of senior level strategic national and international experience spanning the private, public, and non-profit sectors.


In This Episode:

  • (02:30) – How Theo’s background fuels his innovation insights.
  • (04:50) – Talking about organization end goals and creativity.
  • (11:09) – Defining what courageous imagination means.
  • (12:45) – Theo recalls a quote from George Sparks.
  • (25:23) – On leaders being maverick-minded and human-obsessed.
  • (26:19) – Theo talks about neuroscientist Vivian Ming.
  • (37:15) – The best advice Theo has received about leadership.
  • (38:05) – The Combustion Questions.


    • What We Learned from Theo Edmonds

    • Gen Z will make up 20% of the workforce by 2025.
    • Digital tools are the bread and butter of contemporary society.
    • Courage and imagination are measurable.
    • Transformational creativity is already happening all the time.


      • Notable Quotes

      [19:17] - “Courage and imagination are scientific concepts that come from across many disciplines, but there's also an art to both of those things.”

      [25:38] - “Being a maverick could produce divergent ideas, but there comes a point when you have to produce convergent goals.”

      [36:29] - “Human instincts are human instincts.”

      [37:18] - “Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.”


      Our Guest

      Theo Edmonds is the directing co-founder of CU Denver’s Imaginator Academy, a cultural analytics strategy and futurist innovation hub. Theo works with global networks of entrepreneurs, companies, scientists, artists, creative innovators and changemakers of all kinds to find hidden opportunities that others miss.


      Resources & Links

      Theo Edmunds

      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theoedmonds


      Shawn Nason

      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasonshawn/

      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manonfiresocial/

      Twitter: https://twitter.com/manonfiresocial

      Website: https://shawnnason.com/

      MOFI: https://www.mofi.co/


      The Combustion Chronicles Podcast

      Website: https://shawnnason.com/combustion-chronicles-episodes/

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      The Combustion ChroniclesBy Shawn Nason
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