SBP 162: Fear Is Killing Your Innovation (And The Simple Tool That Fixes It). With Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist.

What if the biggest barrier to innovation in your organization isn't lack of ideas, budget, or talent—but fear?

Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, whose cartoons have appeared in more marketing decks than most actual strategies joins Marc and V to reveal why corporate fear is sabotaging innovation, and the surprisingly simple tool that breaks through it.

With his weekly cartoons reaching over 500,000 readers and experience at General Mills, Nestlé, Method Products, and HotelTonight, Tom has spent two decades documenting what actually stops good ideas from becoming reality.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. The "Scolded Syndrome": The DBS Bank story where fear of being "scolded" paralyzed an entire organization until one senior executive squatted in a corner holding his earlobes and changed everything
2. Why fear kills innovation faster than any competitor: How "I might get scolded" becomes the silent phrase that stops transformation
3. The simple tool hiding in plain sight: Why humour isn't just comic relief—it's Apple's "most powerful tool to drive fear out of the system"
4. From business school to half a million readers: The terrifying moment a Harvard professor threw Tom's first cartoon on an overhead projector, and how that panic became a calling
5. The pressure release valve every team needs: How humour defuses tension, unlocks honest conversations, and enables better decision-making
6. Why you're juggling unicycles on pogo sticks: The impossible "more with less" paradox and how to survive it without breaking

Tom reveals how he's used cartoons to navigate impossible client situations, transform hierarchical cultures at major banks, and help teams move from fear-based paralysis to innovation-driven action. This isn't about becoming funnier—it's about becoming braver.

The takeaway: Innovation doesn't die because we lack good ideas. It dies because we're too afraid to voice them, test them, or defend them. And the antidote isn't another framework or process it's giving people permission to be human.

If you've ever felt your team second-guessing every decision, if "we might get in trouble" stops more initiatives than budget constraints, or if innovation feels like performance theater rather than actual progress this episode offers a path forward.

Featured in this episode:

1. Tom Fishburne, The Marketoonist
2. Creator of 23 years of weekly marketing cartoons
3. Published author and contributor to NYT, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal
4. TED speaker on "The Power of Laughing at Ourselves at Work"

TIMESTAMPS/CHAPTERS

00:00 - 04:30 | The First Laugh That Changed Everything

Tom's origin story: the terrifying moment a Harvard Business School professor put his first cartoon on an overhead projector in front of 80 people and why that panic turned into a 23-year career

04:30 - 09:15 | From Stub Files to Systematic Creativity

How Tom developed his creative process when he quit his day job why waiting for inspiration doesn't work when innovation is your business

09:15 - 15:45 | Where Cartoons Go (And What They Reveal)

NSA presentations, corporate transformation projects, and why Tom's cartoons show up in more strategy decks than actual strategies what that says about our relationship with truth-telling

15:45 - 23:30 | The Unicycle-Pogo Stick Syndrome

Unpacking the central innovation paradox: being asked to do more with less while simultaneously riding unicycles and pogo sticks and why laughter is the only sane response

23:30 - 32:00 | Pain Points as the Foundation of Fellowship

Why Tom's cartoons resonate: they don't attack people, they reflect shared struggles and how recognizing we're all "going through it together" unlocks innovation

32:00 - 42:15 | The Scolded Syndrome: A Culture Transformation Story

Tom's most profound client experience at DBS Bank in Southeast Asia:

1. Why employees kept saying "I'm worried I might get scolded"
2. The moment a senior executive squatted in a corner holding his earlobes (the school punishment position)
3. How everyone's laughter broke years of hierarchical paralysis
4. Why innovation was dying not from lack of ideas but from fear of speaking up

42:15 - 48:00 | The Simple Tool: Why Humour Drives Fear Out

Apple's Hiroki Asai on why "fear kills creativity and humour is our most powerful tool to drive fear out of the system"—and how leaders set the tone by being willing to laugh at themselves first.

48:00 - 53:55 | Humour as Innovation Strategy, Not Entertainment

The difference between being funny and being human at work—why the bar for "humor" in business is surprisingly low, and how even moderate levity unlocks better decisions

53:55 - 59:47 | Using Humour to Navigate the Impossible

How Tom used cartoons throughout his career to defuse difficult situations:

1. Meeting with Target buyers during product delisting conversations
2. Breaking through hierarchical cultures at financial institutions
3. Setting the tone for transformation without threatening power structures
4. Why humour doesn't mean you need to be a comedian, it means being willing to be human

59:47 - End | Where to Find Tom & Putting This Into Practice

23 years of weekly cartoons, newsletter subscriptions, workshop approaches, and how to start using humour as an innovation tool in your own organization