What is Innovation?

Purandar Das, a two-time CTO and the current CEO of a leading data protection company, shares his insights on redefining innovation in the tech world:

"Innovation is creating a new process, a new product, or a new approach to doing something better—solving a problem that's not been solved before." - Purandar Das

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:56 - What is Innovation?

2:30- The Role of Mobile Technology in Innovation  

3:19- From Physical Media to Streaming: A Case Study  

9:53 -  What Isn't innovation?

11:25 - Innovation, Optimization and AI

13:57- Innovation in Cybersecurity

14:31 - Data security innovation and ransomware protection

20:03 - Evolution of data protection and data governance

23:45 - Advice for future innovators
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Purandar has been a 2x CTO of 2 of the largest marketing services companies & is now the CEO of one of the leading data protection companies; Sotero. Purandar went from Collecting & monetizing personal data to protecting personal data. He made the transition because he was very concerned about the security products on the market & decided they needed a new approach.

More about our guest:

• Purandar Das
• Company: Sotero

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

In a world where the term 'innovation' risks becoming a buzzword, understanding its true essence is crucial. Joia Spooner-Fleming, a seasoned innovation executive with a decades-long track record of developing people and products at Procter & Gamble, joins the show to discuss what innovation looks like in practice.

Throughout the process of transforming ideas into value, it's critical to distinguish invention from innovation. Joia emphasizes that true innovation requires a solution that is not only novel but also significantly improves upon existing alternatives.

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:57 - What is Innovation?

2:48 - Market's Feedback Loop

4:53 - Decision Making Process

6:18 - What isn't innovation?

8:11 - Human Curiosity and Solution

9:41 - Organizational Innovation

10:32 - Holistic Innovation Strategy

14:43 - Sustainability Innovation

17:31 - Innovation in Life

25:00 - Advice to Innovators
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Joia Spooner-Fleming is an innovation executive and independent consultant, after a 22 year successful career with P&G.  Most recently she was R&D VP for Gillette.  Joia has a proven track record of transformational innovation leadership and results.  She is adept at partnering with leaders across the business to build unified strategies that capitalize on emerging trends and grow brands. Joia excels at building innovation organizations. She holds a chemical engineering degree from MIT.  Outside her professional life, Joia is a voracious reader, devoted mother of two children, and loves walking with her dog.

More about our guest:

• Joia Spooner-Fleming

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

Join us this week for a conversation with Shanil Ebrahim, Partner and National Life Sciences & Healthcare Consulting Leader at Deloitte Canada! We challenge the common misconception that innovation requires constant efficiency. Shanil shares why some "wasted work" is inevitable, and even essential, for groundbreaking ideas.

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:42 - What is Innovation?

2:20 - Technology in Innovation

3:55 - Innovation: Solving Problems

4:51 - Not (inherently) efficient

7:12 - Innovation, Efficiency, and Problem-Solving

10:40 - Internal usage of innovation processes

13:47 - What isn't Innovation?

17:09 - Dangers of Gen AI

20:26 - New Technology, New Hype, Wrong Implementation

22:38 - Advice to Innovators
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Shanil Ebrahim is a Partner and the National Life Sciences and Healthcare Consulting Leader at Deloitte Canada. He is a senior advisor for clients in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and retail and special pharmacy sectors, and has supported a diverse set of public and private stakeholders in innovation-based business transformations and technology implementations. Shanil held roles as a Clinical Epidemiologist, Faculty Member and Researcher, and also serves as a Board Director in multiple non-profit organizations focused on vulnerable patient populations.

More about our guest:

• Shanil Ebrahim
• Company: Deloitte Canada

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

This conversation with Collin Graves, CEO of North Labs, revolves around simplifying complex processes, removing technical debt, and streamlining workflows to increase efficiency and productivity. Jared and Collin also discuss the challenges of managing technical debt in complex systems and the importance of a slow and steady approach to AI adoption.

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:43 - What is Innovation?

2:28 - Impact of Simplification in Tech

5:23 - Consequences of Adding Complexity

9:47 - What is Technical Debt?

11:12 - Technical Debt, Healthcare, and AI

12:20 - North Labs Technical Debt and Innovation

15:54 - Downstream and Future Potential Implications

18:13 - Simplification, ROI, and Innovation

23:19 - Generative AI adoption and data quality

26:18 - AI nuances and ethics in business

30:27 - Gen AI is not intelligence

34:18 - Advice to Innovators
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Collin Graves is the visionary leader and CEO of North Labs, a leading fractional cloud data analytics firm empowering growing companies with data-driven strategies. Under his leadership, Collin has propelled over 1,000 organizations towards transformative success. Before founding North Labs, he served with distinction in NATO Special Operations during his tenure with the US Air Force.

More about our guest:

• Collin Graves
• Company: North Labs

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

Host Jared Simmons talks with Tatsuya Nakagawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Castagra Products. Tatsuya offers a unique take: "For me, innovation is value creation towards some sort of goal or aim." This reflection springs from the story of his junior high school decision about whether to alter his name to overcome social barriers, highlighting how innovation is woven into the human experience.

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Tatsuya Nakagawa is the Co-Founder and CEO of Castagra Products, a sustainable roof coating manufacturing company. Castagra's Ecodur Roof Coating was voted top "Greenvention" by the reality show Dragons’ Den. Over the past 20 years, Tats has launched hundreds of products and services, co-authored the book Overcoming Inventoritis: The Silent Killer of Innovation (forward by Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple), and spoken to a variety of industry groups including: Chartered Accounts of Canada, Canadian Bar Association, The American Chamber of Commerce, and The International Internet Marketing Association. He’s also written articles for Fast Company, Construction Today, and Industry Week, and has been quoted on CBS News, Global TV, CBC, The Globe and Mail, and BC Business. Tats is the host of the popular C-Suite Network podcast, Specified Growth Podcast. The podcast features interviews with leaders who have overcome adversity, built massive organizations, and made a positive change in the building materials and coatings industry. He also hosts a LinkedIn Live series, Roofer Reflections, where he interviews roofing professionals about their experiences in the industry.

More about our guest:

• Tatsuya Nakagawa
• Company: Castagra Products
• Book Co-authored:  Overcoming Inventoritis: The Silent Killer of Innovation
• Tat's Podcast: Specified Growth Podcast

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:42 - What is Innovation?

3:14 - Role of Identity in Innovation

6:28 - Reducing Friction on Identity

11:39 - Importance of Curiosity and Experimentation

13:04 - Finding Mentors

15:47 - Sports Analogies and Innovation

21:37 - Music, Sports, Business, and Performance

28:20 - Overcoming Challenges and Learning from Failures

33:42 - Reflections on Career and Adaptation
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OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

Join us on "What is Innovation?" where Jared Simmons discusses what it takes to generate game-changing ideas with Dr. Craig Detweiler, President of Wedgwood Circle and Dean of the College of Arts and Media at Grand Canyon University. Dr. Detweiler shares his insights on innovation: "Innovation is all about changing the game. It shifts the paradigm in ideas, culture, and products, introducing something we haven't seen before."

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Dr Craig Detweiler is the president and CEO of Wedgwood Circle, a philanthropic investment collective funding creative projects of meaning. He is also dean of the College of Arts and Media at Grand Canyon University. In recent years, Dr. Detweiler has worked in various roles within academia, including professor of communications at Pepperdine University, associate professor and chair of the mass communication department at Biola University, and director of the Reel Spiritual Institute at Fuller Seminary. His cultural commentary has appeared on Nightline, CNN, NPR, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. His award-winning documentaries include Remand (narrated by Angela Bassett), Purple State of Mind, and unCommon Sounds. In 2016, he was named Variety’s Mentor of the Year, and for years he has blogged at Patheos as “Doc Hollywood.”

More about our guest:

• Craig Detweiler
• Book: Honest Creativity: The Foundations of Boundless, Good, and Inspired Innovation
• Company: Wedgwood Circle

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:49 - What is Innovation?

1:22 - Shifting the paradigm

5:09 - Book: Honest Creativity

10:37 - Creativity, empathy, and entrepreneurship

12:10 - Perceiving and Receiving

16:45 - Entrepreneurship, purpose, and innovation

21:46 - Purpose: what it entails  

23:27 - Innovation, purpose, and creativity with an entrepreneur

27:21 - Advice to Innovators
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OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

In this episode, Jared chats with Louis Gump, author of "The Inside Innovator: A Practical Guide to Intrapreneurship." In addition to intrapreneurship, they discuss the evolution of innovation, emphasizing the importance of recognizing past achievements and learning from them to inform modern technologies like AI, LLM, and GPTs.

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:50 - What is Innovation?

2:46 - The past, future, and innovation

5:18 - Cycles and positive results between innovations

7:36 - Intrapreneurship vs Entrepreneurship

10:28 - Intrapreneurship and company education

15:16 - Responsibilities in Intrapreneurship

17:21 - Intrapreneurship and innovation in various industries

21:29 - Intrapreneurship and innovation in business

23:17 - Creating: The Inside Innovator: A Practical Guide to Intrapreneurship

25:10 - Intrapreneurship, self-knowledge, and recognizing opportunities in organizations

31:32 - Innovation, optimism, and teamwork

33:41 - Advice to Innovators

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Louis K. Gump is a business builder, transformational leader, and pragmatic optimist. He has worked with some of the most recognized companies in the world, developing talented teams and achieving remarkable success for growth businesses. He has done this from multiple perspectives: as an intrapreneur within large corporations, as CEO and entrepreneur within smaller companies, and in strategic industry leadership roles. Gump is president of Cambian Solutions, which focuses on excellence in innovation, business growth, and team performance. Earlier in his career, he presided over award-winning mobile businesses at The Weather Channel and CNN. More recently, he has served as CEO of two digital media firms and led Cox Media, the advertising division of Cox Communications, the third largest cable provider in the US. Gump has also held leadership roles in a wide range of industry and community organizations, including ten years on the board of the Mobile Marketing Association, where he served as global chairman. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a BA from Duke University. He is the author of the forthcoming business book, The Inside Innovator: A Practical Guide to Intrapreneurship (Fast Company Press; March 12, 2024), which will help readers achieve more, build stronger relationships, and increase personal fulfillment through intrapreneurship. While many books have been written for entrepreneurs and C-suite executives, there have been few books focused on the intrapreneurs inside larger organizations, and Gump’s guidebook brilliantly fills that gap. 

More about our guest:

• Louis Gump
• Book: The Inside Innovator: A Practical Guide to Intrapreneurship

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

Nick Jain, CEO of IdeaScale, joins Jared this week to discuss innovation as a process, including how to cultivate a dynamic culture that fosters continuous improvement and the development of new methodologies.

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:46 - What is Innovation?

1:34 - Generative AI and Large Language Models

3:55 - Breaking down 'Organic Process'

6:00 - Innovation of GPS

7:55 - Innovation, Risk Management and Incentives, and the Importance of Failure

9:27 - Framing Perspectives on Success

11:33 - Time horizons and processes

15:48 - IdeaScale

18:30 - What isn't Innovation?

23:16 - Luck vs Skill

25:15 - Advice for Innovators
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Nick Jain is the CEO of IdeaScale, the definitive innovation software company. IdeaScale helps major organizations such as Comcast & state/federal governments innovate faster and better. As a repeat CEO with a proven track record, Nick has also previously led companies in the trucking and men’s shoe spaces. Nick graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Business School and holds a theoretical mathematics and physics degree from Dartmouth. He grew up in a mix of Canada and India and currently lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two cats, Daisy and Dahlia. Nick enjoys running, rowing, and playing poker in his spare time.

More about our guest:

• Nick Jain
• Company: IdeaScale

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

Innovations that deliver true value to customers are novel and sustainable. This week, Jared is joined by Hunter Hastings, a thought leader blending economics, marketing, and innovation. Hunter defines innovation as "the creation of new economic value for an end user with a viable business proposition." They discuss the subjective nature of value, emphasizing the emotional and intangible aspects that resonate with customers. 

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:59 - What is Innovation?

2:53 - New and Sustainable vs Unsustainable newness

5:55 - Silicon Valley Innovation in 1990s - 2000s

10:30 - Invention of Corporations and Managements

13:27 - Partnerships and Aberrant Capitalism

15:37 - Problem Management: Explore and Exploit

17:23 - Digital Enablement and Human Energy

20:40 - Innovation in Business Education

23:35 - Talent Management and Team Science

28:15 - System Theory: Emergence

29:37 - Advice for Innovators
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Hunter Hastings is an economist who took up a career in corporate marketing and occupied the posts of Chief Marketing Officer in a global consumer products business, Chief Executive Officer in a Silicon Valley start-up enterprise, and Senior Partner in a global consulting company. He’s been an advisor to several Fortune 500 clients in the area of customer motivation and service strategy. Hastings has been an adjunct professor at Hult International Business School, the largest global graduate business school, and is the author / co-author of seven books spanning business and economics, and several peer-reviewed economics papers. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge University in the UK.

More about our guest:

• Hunter Hastings
• Book: Aberrant Capitalism: The Decay and Revival of Customer Capitalism (Elements in Reinventing Capitalism)

OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management

See whatisinnovationpodcast.com/episodes/ for more episodes on innovation

🎙️ Join "What is Innovation?" this week with Anton Skornyakov, a Certified Scrum Trainer and Managing Director of Agile.Coach. Explore how innovation can serve as a systemic solution to complex problems across industries. Anton delves into the layers of innovation, problem-solving, and how 'Agile' methodologies can transform government and business challenges. Discover the impact of storytelling and the perfect solution-situation fit, along with insights from Dave Snowden's Cynefin framework. How can 'Agile' drive revolutionary problem-solving?

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Anton is a Certified Scrum Trainer with Scrum Alliance and the managing director of Agile.Coach based in Berlin, Germany. Anton's particular interest lies in advancing agile practices outside of product development environments, for example, in non-profit or public organizations or projects related to process improvement. Anton's book "The Art of Slicing Work" is a real-world, low-jargon guide that will teach you the main skill of a successful manager in the 21st century – the ability to master unpredictability.

More about our guest:

• Anton Skornyakov
• Company: Agile.Coach
• Book: The Art of Slicing Work

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Episode Guide:

0:00 - Intro

0:48 - What is Innovation?

1:49 - Defining "new" in innovation

3:11 - Layers to Innovation

5:24 - Innovation, problem-solving, and innovation in various industries

7:46 - Problem-focus vs Solution-focus

10:56 - Story-telling in solutions

12:44 - Importance of solution-situation fit

14:36 - Innovation hurdles in governments

15:38 - Foundation of innovation

17:43 - 'Agile' in governments

19:56 - Dave Snowden's Cynefin framework

23:55 - Advice to Innovators
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OUTLAST Consulting offers professional development and strategic advisory services in the areas of innovation and diversity management