'Innovation Happens at the Edges.' This is a quote that I often reference from today's guest, Jeff DeGraff. Jeff has spent his life exploring, teaching, and sparking creativity and innovation in the lives of those around him. As a teacher at Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan he has helped students understand the practical tools to that unlock that innovation and creativity in their careers. As the co-founder of Innovatriums he helps startups and leading global corporations apply those principles in their product and service development.
His new book 'The Creative Mindset: Mastering the Six Skills that Empower Innovation' is quickly becoming a practical handbook and guide to bring those principles from the Ross School of Business and Innovatriums to creators around the world. In the book, Jeff and his business partner / wife Staney take the reader through six skills to move them from the theory of innovation and creativity to the application of these skills in their own daily lives and businesses. This new creator class is redefining the future through positive deviant ideas. Throughtout the interview we learn about the 'CREATE' skills from the book: concentrate, replicate, elaborate, associate, translate, evaluate.
Beyond exploring the concepts from the book in today's conversation we also take a look at the differences between Innovation and Creativity, how to find 'Ideas that catch you', Why putting the 'New' into the 'Old' will always fail, finding your stream of consciousness..better known as flow, tools to game the system, and why we need to rethink what we are teaching the next generation of creators.
My favorite quote from the conversation: 'What if the key to creativity in your life isn't about starting something new? What if it's stopping something old?'
Helpful Links
Jeff's Website
The Book
Jeff on LinkedIn
Episode 12 of jumbleThink with Jeff
