Mar 2, 2023
Tamara’s Everyday Innovator style is Risk Taker Experiential. What’s yours?
Sticky Inspiration: Your roadmap to being an Everyday Innovator includes 5 stages
Lesson & Action: To progress forward you must remember these three key insights: don't compare yourself to others, each stage is not created equally, and the end is never the end.
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Raw Podcast Transcript:
Hey everybody, Tamara here, your host, creator of the Innovation Quotient Edge Assessment Guide at the Everyday Innovators Online Toolbox, and according to my kids average cook. All right, today I wanna talk about your roadmap to innovation and influence. I've worked with tens of thousands of everyday innovators.
They're in our global community through the clients that we've reached, and one of the things that I've discovered is that there are five stages to your roadmap, to innovation and influence, and. Three insights that help people move forward. And I wanna share the five stages and those three insights with you today.
Cuz I think whether you're starting the journey in the middle of it towards the higher levels of it, it's gonna apply to your work and to your life no matter where you are. So let me back up for a second and just talk a little bit about what I even mean by the road to innovation and influence to me.
This is really all about getting to that place where you live your life, make your decisions, guide your behavior, your mindset through the lens of being an everyday innovator. That's someone who sees opportunities. CR, a strong creative problem solver, strategic thinker, great at making decisions when they need to be made.
An innovator is the one that leads in uncertain and challenging times. and influence is all about influencing others, making an impact that ripple effect out, not just getting buy-in for your ideas, but also that's very important of course, but also being that rising tide that lifts all boats. So innovation is about you being that everyday innovator, unlocking that incredible talent you have inside of you.
And influence is about amplifying your voice and your. . And what we want in these five stages is to go through the journey that makes that innovation and that influence being an everyday innovator, something that happens naturally. You know, oftentimes people will say to me things like, oh, Tamara, um, I'm not the innovative one.
It's um, Xander down the hall with his cool glasses and his purple hair. Like he's the innovative one, not. What I know what they're really saying is, and they may not realize it is, I've not. Engage that skill that I have inside of me. And so it's hard and it's dormant and it feels exhausting and it feels not for me.
And I think unfortunately, we've developed this narrative in the world that says that being an innovators for the select few, you know, these elite geniuses with their, you know, people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk and JK Rawling, and they're all, don't get me wrong, they're all incredible. I. , but they're also geniuses.
And as someone said to me once, it was actually a neuroscientist I spoke to, he said, here's the thing, Tamara. He said, genius is rare, but creativity is common. And I love that because what our research and our work has discovered is that everybody ha is an everyday innovator. But as you know, how we do it is unique to each of us.
And what our research uncovered is that there's nine triggers or styles, ways that we as humans innovate and what we all. Is the combination of two power triggers our wellspring of innovation and a dormant trigger, and that's our least powerful play. That's our unique everyday innovator style. And when we leverage that, we get on the road to innovation and influence.
So no longer do we say that's Xander down the hall. We say, yep, that's me. I'm an everyday innovator. I solve problems. I move further faster. I think sideways. I seize opportunities. Change and uncertainty are. Fuel for the recipes that I build. All right, let's dig into what those five stages to innovation and influence look like.
Um, and I recently posted about this actually yesterday as I'm recording this, and it got so much conversation. That's why I'm talking about this on the podcast today. And I think understanding the five phases really helps people move through them and then the insights will help you. , I think help you go further faster as well.
All right, so let's talk about 'em. So the first phase is discover. Discover is all about reframing your mindset and discovering this powerful new innovation framework that serves you and that's your unique everyday innovator style and the method that goes along with it. Here's what happens in this phase, this is where we recognize that business as usual, no longer works for.
So we're finally saying, you know what? How I'm doing things isn't working. The approach that I'm using, what got me to here is not gonna get me to there. I need to make a change. That in itself can be very hard for people, don't you think? So at this point, we go, okay, what I'm doing isn't working, and I know that innovation could be my greatest advantage.
I know that innovators are the ones that lead during change and uncertainty. , but I don't necessarily have the right framework to make it happen, or Right. I would've done it already. So now we're gonna reframe the mindset around what it means to be an everyday innovator and accelerate that success. So discover is all about uncovering the habits, the routines of behaviors, the mindsets that aren't serving you, and starting to really shed those.
Think about for a moment what it would be. , if you shed that mindset, that belief, and the actions and behaviors that are keeping you stuck, what would it be like to shed those? I think it would feel pretty great, and what I've dis what I've found in this discover phase is that reframe. Allows you to see the world through a different lens.
So once we get through discover, and we're reaming those mindsets and we're discovering that powerful new innovation framework, what we have inside of us, we go to unlock. And that's where we start to actually shed old habits that keep us stuck. And add innovator habits that propel you forward. Think of it like this.
If you've got a B, um, let's say you've got a bunch of bricks inside of you and these are holding you up. These are like your bone. and you wanna remove the bricks that aren't serving you. But you can't just leave blank space, you crumble. And in fact, when there's a void, oftentimes the old habits, the negativity, the things that aren't serving us are what try to sh rush back in.
So in this case, right, we're going to take new bricks that serve us, those innovator bricks, and we're gonna put those in. So here you're ready to unlock your hidden or dormant innovation skills. By unlocking your unique everyday innovator style, you know, in this phase, and unlock number two, that diving deep into your natural innovation talent is the key to solving your sticky challenges, unearthing new opportunities, and feeling more joy and satisfaction.
So in unlock, We're shedding the things that don't work for us, and we're starting to really explore and delve into those incredible natural talents and strengths that we have inside of us, particularly about being an innovator that do serve us. So we've gone through discover where we're reframing.
We've gone through unlock, where we're shedding and adding new ones, new habits. Now we move into activate. Activate is where we start to experiment, actually put into motion. Your powerful innovator talents, sharpening and strengthening your skills daily. Here's the thing, your brain, while not technically a muscle in this way, acts like one.
So the more we sharpen it, the more we strengthen it, the more fuel we give it, the stronger it gets. So here as we experiment and build and test and grow, we are actively strengthening our innovator muscles. We've gotta do it consistently and with, in. So here you start to get excited to put who you are at your best.
That's what an everyday innovator is. It's you at your best into action daily, and you begin to explore and experiment with your newfound innovation skills. It'll start to feel like things are getting easier as you sharpen your natural innovation talents. So no longer does being an innovator feel exhausting, hard for someone else, frustrating.
It starts to get a little easier and a little easier as you sharp. These natural talents inside of you. So the activate stage is all about practicing and bringing your style of innovation to life daily. It's very, that's why it's called active. It's very in motion. We are starting to take these things that we now understand about ourselves and put 'em into practice daily.
Like I said, it's like going to the gym of Innovation every single day. And when we do that, you can't. , but get to the next phase. Number four, which is command. Command is where you achieve new levels of innovation mastery as you heighten your abilities and the success you're getting from it. Think of it like this.
It's kind of like being a black belt in martial arts. So you now have this new level of mastery, and it shows other people can see it in you. You innovate daily with intention, applying your skills to your challenges and opportunities, big and small, and you continue to invest in yourself because you recognize that in order to maintain mastery, you must continue to learn and grow.
In this phase command, I mentioned being like a black belt in martial arts. Well, if you've ever done martial arts or know anything about martial arts and you know that when you hit black belt, you don't stop. It's not game over. You haven't learned everything there is to know. What happens at the black belt level is you continue to train.
You just do it differently, right? You have to maintain your level in your skill, just like any other skill in life. And we, we've done that and we are masters of being everyday innovators and we're continuing to grow and. We move up to the final stage, which is influence, and this is where you elevate your game as you become an innovation influencer, amplifying your voice and value.
So in this phase, now that you own like truly own, from the inside out, from mindset to action, to environment, to all. Your everyday innovator style, you can focus on how to amplify your VO voice and value. Here you are moving from not just being a rockstar, everyday innovator, but also in learning the skills to lead and influence others.
You elevate your game by igniting innovation, influencing others, and making a massive impact influence. This stage is about the ripple effect out that you can create. Remember I was saying about an everyday innovator that not just you get buy-in for your ideas? Yes, that's part of influence stage. Also, you become that rising tide that lifts all boats so that people around you are impacted in a positive way by you and they become stronger innovator.
Because of you, your value is recognized. You have a strong voice in your work, in your community, wherever it is. So lemme go back real quick and just highlight these. For you, and I want you to be thinking about where you are in the phase. And then I wanna get to the three insights because I think this is a part that's really important to remember as you start to really map out your journey.
So one is discover. So this is where you reframe your mindset and discover a powerful new innovation framework that serves you. Two is unlock, this is where we actively shed those old habits that keep you stuck and add in innovator habits to propel you. , then we move up to activate. This is where we start to experiment.
Start to intentionally go to that gym of innovation and use your powerful innovator talents, sharpening and strengthening your skills daily. That moves you up to command, which is where you achieve whole new levels of innovation. Masteries, you heighten your abilities and success. This is that black belt of martial arts.
Then up to the top is influence where you elevate your game as you become an innovation influencer. amplifying your voice and your value. So think about where you are on this. Now, I've interacted with tens of thousands of everyday innovators across the globe, and I've learned some really important and very interesting things about being on this journey.
And I wanna share three really important insights that have come out of this that I. Can also help you move yourself forward. So let me share with you what they are and then I'll dig into each. Number one is you can't compare yourself to others. Number two is each phase is not created equally. And number three is the end is not the end.
So number one, you can't compare yourself to others. You might be in the unlocked phase while someone you admire is in the command phase. It's not better. It's just at a different phase of the journey you'll get there and in the way that works for you, and they got there in a way that works for them. I know in our social media, instant gratification, let's all put our best self online world that we live in.
It's comparison is very easy and it's very hard not to do. But I really, I've learned that people who don't compare and just do their. are the ones that win. You know, I'll tell you on a side note, I was swimming today. Um, My partner and I were, we were swimming, we were training for an Ironman, and so we're in the pool.
We're doing the same program, so we're, we're doing the exact same swimming, right, the same speed, same distances, all that. And he is faster than me. And I started getting really frustrated because I couldn't catch up to him, and I kept trying. I don't think he even knew I was competing by the way he was doing his thing.
And at one point about halfway through the training, I had to realize, okay, ta. You're not even competing against him in the race. You're doing this race for yourself. Why are you competing against him in the pool? Why are you comparing yourself to him? Now, I'm all about friendly competition, but I was comparing like, why is he faster than me?
Well, also, he's been doing this for five or six more years of me. I didn't even have my first swim lesson until I was 49 years old. That's right, you heard it, right? 49. So why am I comparing myself to someone who's been doing iron? For, I don't know, is it 10 years now? I'm not even sure. And has done, oh my gosh, almost 12 of 'em, and he's amazing.
But why am I comparing myself? It's not worth it. Don't do it. We all go through the journey at different phases, different paces. We experience different success. We hit different roadblocks. What bonds us all together in this case, and the innovation influence journey, and what matters. is that we're all working towards unleashing 1 million everyday innovators across the globe so that we can innovate, influence, and make an impact on the personal, local, and global scale, meaning the things that we wanna do.
So it's great to have that bond. It's great that he and I are training together towards this event that we're both doing, but comparison is the enemy and your journey is your journey. Okay? The second insight is each phase is not created equally. We often need more time to shed old beliefs and eliminate the behaviors and patterns that don't serve us before we can begin to build new mindsets and habits that transform us into everyday innovators.
So sometimes that initial discovery phase or even the phase right after that, the unlocked phase, sometimes people need a little extra time and attention. . And when we do that, the other phases go faster. But you know, from being on other journeys in life progress and the speed of progress changes as you move through your journey.
So don't get frustrated when one phase seems to be taking a long time and maybe the one before move quickly, but now this one you're struggling. That's how it works. Progress and speed of progress changes. So each phase is not created equal. and it's def definitely different for each person. All right.
Third, insight is the end is not the end. So like I said, just like playing a, being a black belt in any martial arts, you don't stop training. When you hit that elite level, you just start training differently. So, in fact, not many people know this, but I have a black belt in TaeKwonDo, and I'll never forget my sensei coming to me when I got my black belt and after the ceremony, and he said, you know that this now.
That you are gonna work harder and have more responsibility for others in this community. I took that very seriously. He's absolutely right. I needed to continue to train. I needed to continue to perfect my skills or create pro. I don't know that perfection ever happens that maybe as progressed my skills, but I heard his point, right?
We just start training differently. Being an innovator becomes. , but we have to continue to train so that we don't lose it and that so that we get stronger as the masters that we are. So the end is not the end. And you know, I'm so proud of the thousands of everyday innovators in our community that have reached command and influence phases.
But you know what? I'm even prouder of the fact that they continue to grow and evolve. They continue to put in the work to be everyday innovators because they know the benefit of it. They know how valuable it is. In their own lives when they do that. So don't compare yourself to others. Each phase is not created equally, and the end is definitely not the end.
I hope. After listening to this podcast, you'll do two things. One is if you don't know your everyday innovator style already, take a second and go find out. I think you'll find it really worth your while. It is. At your best, how you perform at your peak, how you add value, all of it. And then I want you to go onto any of my social media accounts.
The links are on the website page, and if you type in original tomorrow or Launch Street, you'll find us. And I want you to look at the infographic I put up with this journey, and I want you to think about where you are and what you need to. I bet you have the answer. And sometimes I think that internal voice is there and it's calling to us and it has the answers, but we never just sit down and give it a chance to speak.
We never just think about it. So discover your everyday innovator style and then think about where you are in the journey and how to map it out for success.
Tamara out.