Take 🖤 Innovators. This Message is for You.

Has your company culture shifted away from innovation? Perhaps the talk is there, but not the walk.

Many companies, big and small, are prioritizing business over new ideas. Short-term value over long-term.

Design and innovation teams mere skeleton crews due to recent cuts.

Are you one of the few innovators still left on the island? 

Your role is to envision the future, yet you feel stripped of the resources and culture to support your mission. 

This is frustrating and alienating. 

If this resonates, then this message is for you.

I learned to be an innovator at Nike. At its heart Nike was innovation.

The purpose was clear: to serve the customer — the athlete — without hesitation. And the business followed.

Nike was in the ‘idea business.’ Ideas that moved people, physically and emotionally.

We were hungry, driven, and focused. We thrived in the fog of ambiguity. Better show up fully, or get out of the way.

This was my experience. And many former colleagues describe the same when Nike was at its zenith.

Yet, somewhere along the road to $51 billion, ‘innovation’ was hollowed out to hit business goals—stripping away resources and talent.

Another valuable resource was also lost — a mindset of innovation.

Because innovation is often misunderstood.

It is NOT a role, a department, or an initiative. 

It’s not a pipeline that you fill.

Rather, innovation is a mindset borne of purpose, emotion, and empathy.

It is essential to being human.

Why? Look around you.

The world is not what we hope it to be. We too feel incomplete.

We long for better. A better future. To BE better.

An innovator is clear-eyed and recognizes things are amiss,  BUT sees a hopeful outlook for the future and themselves.

Much is beyond our control. Yet, the future can be nudged, influenced, and even shaped. ‘Better’ is our belief.

We innovate to this end. We aim at becoming, rather than grasping at external factors or material growth.

This involves cultivating a mindset of optimism, openness, curiosity, experimentation, and empathy.

I’ll explore these more deeply in a future newsletter.

Until then, your future isn’t about guessing what’s next. It’s about building the mindset to handle and shape it. 

How are you nurturing your growth mindset?

What strategies or practices do you employ to ensure continuous improvement and resilience?

Innovator, know this, I am rooting for you. 

Don’t lose heart. Or your sense of urgency and purpose.

One thing is certain — change. The current complacency and arrogance won’t last. 

Cultivate your hopeful mindset to lead the next generation. Anticipate the shift.

Ready, mindset, go!