15. How to Become an Everyday Innovator with Josh Linkner

Did You F*ck Up This Week? Why That’s Actually Good News

Billion-dollar ideas aren’t the only ones delivering big results when it comes to innovation.

Micro-innovations are less risky, accessible to everyday people, encourage creativity, and build critical skills. And high velocities of little breakthroughs can result in substantial, meaningful outcomes.

Take the story of a guy in Central London who was tired of seeing cigarette butts in the streets. He had a simple, innovative, low-tech, low-cost idea – “Ballot Bins” that collected butts and posed intriguing polling questions. They reduced litter by 80% and the concept spread to 27 countries.

Tune in as Josh Linkner, tech entrepreneur, hyper-growth CEO, venture capitalist, and podcast host, shares stories from his bestselling book Big Little Breakthroughs. Josh explains how the habits, tactics, mindsets, and hard-wired human creativity of everyday people can lead to extraordinary things.

Takeaways:

• Implement “F*ck-up Fridays” where people share setbacks. Mistakes don’t equal failure, they lead to growth.

• Everyone is an artist with room for creativity.

• Give yourself an “untouchable” day once a week to be creative.

• Start before you’re ready. Don’t wait for permission or the perfect sign to act on an idea.

• Consider a 2-minute creativity ritual every morning for ‘guzzle inputs’ and ‘unrelated problems’:

    •    Minute 1 – Soak up creativity from others (watch music videos, admire art, read a poem).

    •    Minute 2 – Identify any problem in the world right now. How many teeny ideas can you generate that could help solve it?