Getting Smart Podcast How Can Anyone Become an Innovator in a Rapidly Changing World? | Tessa Forshaw & Rich Braden
Nov 7, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden, authors of Innovation-ish, share their insights on making innovation accessible to everyone. Tessa, a cognitive scientist, emphasizes innovation mindsets and the importance of metacognition. Rich, a creativity educator with a background in improv, highlights practical innovation moves that adapt to context. They explore AI as a co-intelligence tool and explain how diverse teams can creatively problem-solve, making innovation not just for the elite, but attainable for all.
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Reframe Innovation To Make It Accessible
- Innovation differs from improvement by aiming to do things differently for breakthrough performance.
- Tessa and Rich reframed 'innovation' as 'innovation-ish' to make it approachable and less mythological.
Improv Shaped A Design Mindset
- Rich describes his background in improv as foundational to collaborative creativity and empathy-based creation.
- He credits discovering design thinking at Stanford's d.school as transformative for his teaching and practice.
AI As Co-Intelligence, Not Replacement
- Widespread access to AI and connected expertise marks an inflection point for collective innovation.
- Tessa emphasizes using AI as co-intelligence while staying grounded in human cognitive strengths.
