ST. LOUIS TALK ON INNOVATION: CREATING A NEW REALITY

Tonight I was privileged to attend an inspiring opening keynote speech by David Gutelius, a Silicone Valley serial entrepreneur and company builder who used machine learning to help develop Siri (which eventually sold to Apple), TrapIt, Tempo AI and Desti.   The PAC talk, Creating a New Reality, was a great way to launch the Principia Public Affairs Conference on Innovation this year, and I thought you might get some inspiration from hearing what I heard. Here are some of the key takeaways that I had:

• Everyone is an innovator (or can be). Start thinking of yourself that way. (Amen to that!)
• Innovation is a disruption that necessarily requires some upheaval, some throwing away of the old way of doing things. I have always embraced change, and I’m somewhat of a rebel so I love the concept of innovation.
• Mark shared the first known reference to the word “innovate” in an English proclamation by King Edward VI in 1548 (A Proclamation against Those that Doeth Innovate) and talked about the negative connotation innovation carried with it for so long. We’ve all heard about the business proclamation, “innovate or die” but clearly in King Edward’s time, it would’ve been “innovate and die.”
• One of the other key messages that Mark shared (and I wholeheartedly believe in) is the relationship between innovation and execution, and the difference between creativity and innovation. He said that creativity is coming up with new ideas, and innovation is executing those ideas. This is CRITICAL. Innovation that just sits in your head is nothing.
• Failure is a part of innovation. “If you are not failing, you’re not pushing yourself enough.”
• He talked about the need to address the naysayers. Negativity can be deadly to innovation, so it’s important to believe that solutions can be reached. But notice that he didn’t say “ignore;” he said “address.” I take that to mean that we need to counter objections with logical solutions that address those concerns in order to successfully launch a product.
• The biggest naysayer is often your own negative voice, so it’s important to guard against listening to that voice too much (I feel there is a much bigger, longer, more in-depth blog post to be written about on this topic alone!).
• Empathy and passion are important aspects of the innovation process. You need to be able to feel what others feel so that you can understand the problems, and you need to help others see the benefits of your ideas in order to sell them in
• “You were made for greatness.” What will matter in the years to come will be: what difference did you make in the world? Your individual perspective and ideas are needed in the world.
• David told some stories about projects he has worked on, which were fascinating. He admonished everyone in the audience to be an innovator, ending with this: Innovation is not something you do; it’s who you are.

Prinicipia’sPublic Affairs Conference happens every year and is open to the public.  Also, you can find out more about The Data Guild (David’s incubator organization) and follow him on Twitterhere.