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THE INNOVATION ENGINE PODCAST: BREAKTHROUGH INSIGHTS FROM ROWAN GIBSON – FINAL PART

THE INNOVATION ENGINE PODCAST: BREAKTHROUGH INSIGHTS FROM ROWAN GIBSON – FINAL PART

Will Sherlin, featuring an interview with Rowan Gibson, author of “The Four Lenses of Innovation.” 

“Welcome to the final part 2 of the Innovation Engine podcast with Rowan Gibson, the internationally bestselling author of “The Four Lenses of Innovation” and co-founder of Innovation Excellence.com, the most popular innovation website in the world. I’m Will Sherwin. Welcome back, Rowan.” Thanks, Will. 

Previously we discussed what customers want and addressing their needs. In this part, we'll discuss the buildings of new patterns and its relation to four lenses.

An idea is a new collection of thoughts. It’s a new pattern in the mind, to come back to our discussion earlier. So at its very essence, creative thinking is about making these new combinations and connections between previously existing thoughts, ideas, and domains. It’s about building these new patterns.

The most profound conclusion for me is that a big idea is always preceded by a new insight – a new understanding that shifts our perspective in some way. And that brings us back to the lenses. Because the Four Lenses give us a tool for developing these new perspectives and discovering these insights which then go on to become the stepping stones to big ideas. I actually think the last part of the book, which deals with this whole issue of insights and their role in the creative thinking process, is the most profound for me.

Because instead of running off trying to come up with ideas, what we actually should be doing is looking first for new insights – the raw material out of which those big ideas will be built. And the great news is that we can now do that systematically. That’s what the Four Lenses of Innovation allow us to do, either as individuals, or as teams, or as organizations. That’s this “Power tool for Creative Thinking.”

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