Melissa Dinwiddie

Click to watch (11:42) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! What Four Strings Taught Me About Permission Last week I was at music camp, standing behind my upright bass, absolutely certain I was about to embarrass myself. I was there to take a Walking Bass class — the thing jazz bassists do that always looked like pure magic to me. I've been improvising as a singer for years, but without perfect pitch, I never really knew why what I was singing worked. I just sang what...

Click to watch (09:39) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Last Saturday, my improv team took the stage for the seventh time in twelve weeks. Same ritual every time: we walk out with nothing. No script. No idea what the story is, who we're playing, or what song we're about to make up on the spot. I should hate this. I'm not a natural improviser. I'm a planner. I like scripts, and contingency plans for the scripts. If you've ever sat across from me in a strategy...

Click to watch (10:19) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! In a few weeks, I'm heading to Austin for the National Speakers Association annual conference. As a member, I have access to recordings of every session. I could watch them from my couch in Mountain View, not disrupt my life, and save a few thousand dollars. I'm going anyway. Because the most valuable thing that happens at that conference won't be captured in any recording. It happens in the hallways. The...

Click to watch (10:24) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! Open a dictionary to the word "perfectionist," and you'd have found a picture of 11-year-old me. My motto in 6th grade: "Life is serious business." I was that kid. At every dress-up party — Halloween, birthday parties, school plays — while other kids gleefully chose the goofy, the silly, the delightfully ridiculous, I always chose the elegant. The impeccable. The flawless. A fairy. A princess. A very regal...

Click to watch (09:55) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Compliment I Almost Just Took Sunday morning, I led songs at a Flag Day event. Afterward, a woman who sings in my father's choir came up to me. "You have such a strong voice," she said. "You're a wonderful song leader." I said thank you — I've trained myself to actually receive a compliment instead of deflecting it. But then, because she's a singer too, I told her something most people don't want to hear....

Click to watch (18:08) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Story Your Engineers Tell Themselves (And How to Change It) I was first-chair viola in my high school chamber orchestra. The two violinists practiced constantly — before school, after school, weekends. I put in the bare minimum. Classical music wasn't my passion, and my effort reflected that. Not surprisingly, they were significantly more skilled than I was. Here's the part I got completely wrong. I didn't...

Click to watch (12:58) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Room That Changed Me It was around 2012. World Domination Summit, Portland. A few thousand people packed into a theater. Brené Brown walked onstage and, within the first few minutes, had us doing something deeply uncool. First, she had us strike a "cool" pose — arms crossed, chin up, maximum detachment. Easy enough. Then she had us dance. Still manageable. Then she had us sing Journey's "Don't Stop...

Click to watch (06:46) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Call That Changes Everything You know the moment. A leader above you — maybe the CEO, maybe the board — decides it's time. "We need to be more innovative. We need a culture where people take risks, generate ideas, move faster." And somehow, you're the person who gets the mandate. Maybe it comes with a budget. Maybe it comes with a timeline. Maybe it comes with exactly zero additional support, a team...

Click to watch (13:17) or scroll down to read more Hey there, innovation champions! The Buzzer Goes Off I’m going to take you back to 2014 or so. I'm standing in a line at my first improv performance class, waiting for my turn, watching everyone ahead of me step up to do a scene with a partner. Simple enough — except for one rule: you cannot use the letter S. What?! As I got closer to the front, my heart rate climbed. My mouth went dry. I rehearsed every possible sentence opener in my head,...