Last week, I shared an article in our news roundup from Sifted, the cool innovation site of the Financial Times, about what corporate innovators should keep in mind about the human side of innovation…

Emma Allen, Managing Director of ?What If! Innovation Europe, and the Lead of UKI Innovation & Design at Accenture wrote:


“The best innovators are really sensational storytellers instead of strategy storytellers. They are people who can tell stories with light and dark and shade and emotions.”

She went on to write about how storytelling has to be an INTEGRAL part of innovation because “how else are you going to get the blessing of upper management?”

Stories need to be as much about our hearts as they are about our heads.

In a world of work that’s full of uncertainty, stories help us make sense of what’s happening now and give us hope for the future.

On that note, we’re celebrating one year of the podcast by re-airing the four most popular episodes.

As you think about what you’ll do to unlock new sources of growth in tough times, take a page out of Marty Curran and Anis Fadul’s playbooks. They’ve been inventing and reinventing innovation at Corning for 30 years!

In fact, a motto hangs in their Innovation Center that says, “Not In Our House.” In other words, they refuse to be disrupted by anyone other than their own innovation team.

How is your organization working to be its own biggest competitor?

If you want to bend my ear on this topic, it’s all yours. Schedule a call with me today to talk about how storytelling can inspire innovation, idea adoption, and new growth in even the most unlikeliest of times.


– Susan.


This Week’s Best Articles on Innovation

3 Ways to Innovate in a Downturn – Harvard Business Review


5 Steps to Successfully Manage a Business During a Downturn and Emerge Even Stronger – Learn Hub

Companies Must Remember The Human Aspect of Innovation. Here are 3 Ways to Put Employees First – INSIDER


Something’s Coming: How US Companies Can Build Resilience, Survive a Downturn, and Thrive in the Next Cycle – McKinsey

The Space Industry’s Bubble is at Risk of Bursting – Axios