Innovation Isn't a Talent. It's an Operating System.

We’ve been sold a lie about innovation: that it belongs to a special few. The tech geniuses. The famous founders. The people who are, conveniently, never us.

I don’t buy it — and neither does the data.

Because innovation isn’t a lightning strike. It’s a skill.

Take the invention of rolling luggage. Wheels are ancient. Suitcases are old. Yet nobody bolted the two together and sold it until the 1970s — after we’d already put a man on the moon. That wasn’t a technology problem. It was a noticing problem.

You do this already. Perhaps it’s a workaround you rigged at your desk or at home. Or it’s a broken process you quietly fixed. That’s “little i” innovation and you’re better at it than you think.

What most people are missing isn’t talent. It’s the system — a way to do innovate intentionally instead of by accident. I call it, The Innovator’s OS, and it runs on three layers:

• Heart — believing you can.

• Mind — thinking differently.

• Hands — doing the work.

I’ve spent years teaching this — in my LinkedIn Learning courses, in keynotes, in workshops, at conferences with people and teams trying to build something new. I even brought pieces of it to the SXSW stage in 2024 and 2025.

There’s one thing I’ve never done with it though, write the book.

Here’s how you can support me in about 30 seconds:

→ Vote here: https://bit.ly/sxsw2027 (heads up — SXSW makes you create a free account first)
→ If you’ve got a few more seconds, please leave a comment on the proposal. It counts too!

I’ve brought pieces of this to Austin twice. In 2027 I want to bring the whole thing — as a book, with you having had a hand in getting me there.

Leo