Think to Thrive: From Inspiration to Innovation Event Recap

A morning of story-telling, tears, passion and purpose… and a new business crush.

With some caffeine to get me going, I was out the door early on Thursday.  Along with many other marketing professionals from around Chicago, I headed downtown to the Gene Siskel Film Center for the AMA Chicago Chapter “Think to Thrive: From Inspiration to Innovation” event.  Sitting amongst the audience prior to the event starting, Andy Stefanovich casually chatted it up with the woman sitting next to him.  He asked her what she did and she asked him in return.  “Oh, I’m just hear to talk to you all today”.  Well, talk he did – a lot… and quite fast at that!  But it was much more than words that came from Andy.  With every story he tells, you can sense the passion in his delivery, hear the authentic emotion in his voice and see the real tears produced by talking about the things that mean the world to him (his wife, his children, his dad, his dear friends, kids books, inspiration… and his passion, which is passion!).  Inspirational might be an understatement.  

Andy Stefanovich is the Chief Curator and Provocateur at Prophet Consulting and the Author of “Look at More: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth and Change.”  Andy has earned a reputation as one of the most disruptive and effective advisors in business.  This engagement proved that reputation holds.  Andy, the featured speaker at this event, came without a powerpoint.  His script, thoughts and ideas scribbled onto small square “THINK” notes guided him when necessary.  But he didn’t really need them.  His mind seems to work even faster than his talking pace. 

The discussion was filled with exhilarating stories and sidebars – some business related, some personal… but all underlined with his authentic passion. Andy packed so many inspirational words of advice into the nearly 2 hours we spent with him that by the end my head was spinning and I was ready to go out and “create the great.”  I will try to recap the highlights of some of Andy’s thoughts below:

3 ways to tap into the power of people for inspiration:

Personal Board of Directors.  Everyone should have a personal board of 3 individuals!  A set of trusted, vocal and inspirational people in your life that you can turn to for advice – that will challenge you to do more – and make you exceed your potential.

Human Library – Everybody has a story.  We can all learn from one another.  Surround yourself with a human library – for information, reference, ideas, leads, entertainment – whatever you need.

Jeffersonian Dinner – It’s the Me-to-You-to-Us concept at a dinner table.  It’s not about just talking to who is sitting next to you all night, with multiple conversations happening around the table.  It’s about making transformative connections.  In the Jeffersonian concept, everyone is engaged on the same topic.  Each individual (Me) shares their thoughts and opinions and the discussion moves to how this makes each participant feel (You) and concludes with what everyone can do to take action on it (Us).

Andy’s guiding principles to move from inspiration to creativity to innovation: 

1.  Purposeful Disruption.  Change things up and do something different (and employ the help of those in your personal Board of Directors to encourage and support you).  Change the narrative to make what you do more real and authentic.  Give yourself the inspiration to “create the great.”

Sidebar:  Andy uses the 5 M’s of Innovation: Mood, Mindset, Mechanisms, Measurement, and Momentum – Check out this podcast to learn more.

2.  Creating Space.  Don’t create stuff that isn’t magical and important.  Don’t waste your time on things that aren’t going to change the world.  Give yourself space to be creative.  Make the most of moments in your life – it is these “things” and moments that unleash you – so give yourself permission to be you!  The best thing an employer can do is trust in someone to do their work – saying “I believe in you… get to work!”  Unleash people and let them do their thing.  Follow the EUK model (Experience, Understanding and Knowledge), but give people room to breathe.  Create space to make things great.

Sidebar:  Passion is Andy’s Passion… because Passion Persuades!   

3.  Create New Frames of Reference.  The best business books out there can be found in Children’s books.  Not the typical “Oh the Place You’ll Go” type of graduation gifts though.  Think more along the lines of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  Frames of reference can give you serendipity.  Andy shared a story about a partner, who worked at Google and was getting burned out, but then changed his way of thinking by changing his frame of reference… he got “Googly.”  The elements are simple, yet powerful:

1. • Believe in something!

   • Identify the 2-3 things in that belief system that are levers you need to pull to make that belief come true.

   • Marshall all of your resources (friends, family, technology, celebrities, whatever you can access, etc.) into those 2-3 things to make them go.

   • Invite the world to participate in your idea!  It’s not a closed system… think more along the lines of “Code of America.”

Sidebar:  Andy doesn’t have an office and isn’t tied to a computer.  The world is his office and his big journal is his creative outlet.  He writes his thoughts, ideas, inspirations, to-do’s, and whatever is running through his mind at the moment in his journal… forever captured as a resource in his “Physical Library.”  

4.  Create Some Seemingly Senseless Things.  The keyword here is “Seemingly” – because when you create something that is creative and purposeful – you create “Elegant Solutions” that have multiple effects as opposed to just one result.

Sidebar:  Dan Pink talks about the Surprising Science of Motivation and it’s impact on creativity.

5.  Create Inspiration.  Raw, unadulterated inspiration.  Put it into the process and the outcome will be different.  That is what gets you to true innovation.  Inspiration is innovation.  Inspiration is the input to make the output different.  Create your cool and be ahead of the game (don’t wait for something to happen… make it happen).  “Perfect” is so overrated.  Dare to be different.  Grasp those “moments” in your life that inspire you and let them happen… see them… and see them through to make the world a better place.  Trust intuition over intelligence.  Choose ritual over ceremony.  Don’t over design.  Don’t have presentations… have conversations.

Sidebar:  Check out Stu Friedman and his Total Leadership Model.  It’s not about the work-life balance… it is about integrating all the domains in your life so that you have work-life integration.  

SUMMARY
Through his stories, Andy energized the room.  He owned it.  And he provided us with some inspiration to go out and do things differently to create our own great.  For certain I have a new “Business Crush” and will take these wisdoms to heart in my own journey to embrace purposeful disruptions, make my own space, have new frames of reference, absolutely create some seemingly senseless stuff, to thrive on inspiration and to spark innovation. Find out more about Andy Stefanovich Check out the Chicago AMA for information and events.