Innovation doesn't just happen. It's not like the cartoons - a lightbulb flashes on above someone's head and that's it. No - it's a journey and we need to understand how best to prepare for that journey, whatever kind of value we are trying to create. This podcast is about some useful lessons we might take on board to help develop our capabilities.For more, see my website:https://johnbessant.org
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How did we get from quiet acoustic strings in village squares to massive walls of Marshall stacks blasting at outdoor festivals? 🎸⚡In this episode, we explore the surprising, accidental, and brilliantly creative history behind guitar amplification. The journey to getting heard wasn't just about making bigger instruments; it required breakthroughs from completely unrelated industries—including…
How did an odd wooden "walking machine" from 1817 evolve into a global industry with over 2 billion bicycles today? In this episode, we dive deep into the fascinating history of the bicycle—from Baron von Drais’s pedal-less Laufmaschine (born out of a volcanic disaster!) to the High-Wheelers, the "penny-farthing," and John Kemp Starley's game-changing Safety Bicycle.More than just a story about…
The Real-Life "Valyrian Steel" That Built a Global EmpireBefore Silicon Valley, there was 16th-century Toledo, Spain. In this episode of Unlocking Innovation, we explore how an unlikely culture of co-existence allowed Christian, Muslim, and Jewish craftsmen to solve the ultimate blacksmith's dilemma and invent Toledo Steel.Think "open innovation" and "ecosystems" are modern tech buzzwords? Think…
The appliance sitting in your kitchen is the result of 150 years of obsession, failure, and brilliance. And most people have never heard the real story. It starts in 1850 with a leaky wooden contraption patented by Joel Houghton, winds through dozens of competing inventors, and arrives at one remarkable woman — Josephine Cochrane, a debt-ridden widow in Illinois who declared: "If nobody else…
You can find a transcript here Are you missing out on your organization’s greatest untapped resource? Many companies look outward for the next big idea, but the "smartest guys" might already be on your payroll. In this podcast, we dive deep into High Involvement Innovation (HII) —the strategy of engaging every single employee to drive continuous improvement. From Toyota’s 50 million suggestions to…
The Power of the "Innovation Mash-Up" Ever had a memory so vivid you’d swear it was true, only to find out you made it up? In this episode, we dive into the world of confabulation —the brain’s habit of "hallucinating" details to make sense of a complex world—and discover how this quirky human trait is actually a secret weapon for innovation. From the neon-soaked streets of Bangkok to the…
In a world that has moved beyond "VUCA" (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) to become BANI —Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, and Incomprehensible—the old ways of tackling global crises are broken. While world leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference to discuss traditional defence, a few blocks away, the World Food Programme (WFP) was hosting its annual Innovation Forum to tackle a…
Have you ever used a safety pin, a fountain pen, or a sewing machine? You might know the famous brands behind them, but you likely don’t know the man who actually invented them. Meet Walter Hunt, the "Yankee mechanical genius" who could solve almost any problem but struggled to profit from a single one. Perhaps the person who best deserves the title of 'the greatest inventor you've never heard of'…
A seasonal story to inspire some New year's innovation (re) thinking... On a cold Christmas Eve, Jimmy Weston sits in a crowded wine bar with a crushing email in his pocket: his family business’s biggest customer has just walked away. Facing the "rocks" of potential bankruptcy and the weight of three generations of legacy, Jimmy is visited by three "ghosts" who offer more than just nostalgia—they…
Why does innovation often feel like awkward "dad-dancing" at a party? Because repeating success requires more than just luck—it demands disciplined innovation routines . This podcast uses the metaphor of dance to explain how organizations create value from ideas through practiced, shared behavior patterns , from searching for opportunities to developing prototypes. But the "music"—the external…
