Hey there, innovation champions!
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When I tell tech executives I'm a former Juilliard-trained dancer turned innovation strategist, I can practically see the mental math happening.
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They're wondering: Does creativity have an ROI? Can someone from the arts really understand our technical constraints? Where are the case studies proving this works in our world?
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Here's what they're missing while they're calculating: The capabilities that unlock breakthrough innovation aren't technical—they're human. And arts training develops those capabilities better than any MBA program.
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Let me show you what I mean.
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The Real Innovation Bottleneck

Your tech teams aren't stuck because they lack technical skills. They're stuck because the human capabilities required for innovation—the ones that turn brilliant technical people into breakthrough innovators—have been systematically trained out of them.
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Consider what actually kills innovation in tech companies:

Teams miss critical market windows because perfectionism keeps them polishing presentations while competitors ship rough prototypes and learn faster.
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Millions get wasted on wrong solutions because people are afraid to voice concerns or challenge assumptions early, when course correction is still cheap.
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Top talent walks out because the culture punishes the kind of thinking that attracted them in the first place—the ability to experiment, to question, to create something genuinely new.
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Cross-functional teams bleed time because engineering, product, design, and data can't communicate effectively across their different languages and mental models.
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Brilliant ideas die in silence because no one feels safe sharing half-formed thoughts that might be wrong.
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These aren't technical problems. They're human problems wearing business clothes.
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And this is exactly where arts training becomes a strategic weapon.
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What Dance Taught Me About Innovation

Long before I worked with teams at Google, Meta, and Salesforce, I spent my teen years training as a dancer. Started at sixteen—late by Juilliard standards—but somehow made it in three years later.
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Here's what I learned on that studio floor that now drives breakthrough innovation in tech teams:

Collaboration under pressure. In dance, you're constantly adjusting to other bodies in real-time. Miss a cue, step on someone's foot, throw off the entire formation—you learn fast that your success depends on reading signals, responding instantly, and trusting your ensemble. Sound familiar? That's exactly what cross-functional tech teams need when they're trying to ship under deadline.
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Comfort with productive failure. Every choreographer knows: you need the crap to get to the good stuff. You try variations, most don't work, you learn, you iterate. Arts training hardwires a mindset that failure is data, not shame. This is the "Make Crap" principle from my Create the Impossible™ framework—and it's the exact antidote to the perfectionism that's slowing your teams down.
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Listening beyond words. In improv (which I also studied, and still perform with a local group), the cardinal rule is "Yes, and..."—accept what your partner offers, then build on it. Not "Yes, but..." which is just rejection wearing a politeness costume. This creates psychological safety, the number one predictor of team innovation according to Google's Project Aristotle research.
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Thinking on your feet. Stage performance has no undo button. You make choices in real-time with incomplete information, just like innovation requires. Arts training develops what tech leaders desperately need: the ability to act decisively in uncertainty.
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Visual communication. As a professional artist for fifteen years, I learned to communicate complex ideas through images, not just words. In cross-functional teams where engineers and designers think in completely different languages, this becomes a superpower.
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The LinkedIn Proof

I don't have to convince you arts training works—the evidence is sitting in my LinkedIn recommendations from your peers.
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Chris Petapermal, Senior Project Manager, after my PMI San Francisco Bay Area session: "She reminded us that creativity is not fluff but a true leadership capability."
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Kayla Svinicki from NHRMA in Alaska: "Her closing keynote on unleashing innovation through play, imperfection, and rapid learning was one of the most engaging sessions I've attended."
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Jamie Jurgaitis after my AMA New Jersey Communicating for Influence session: "She connected instantly with the audience, made complex ideas practical, and turned quick breakout rooms into moments of genuine insight."
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Notice what they're describing: connection, engagement, making ideas practical, rapid learning, psychological safety.
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These are the human capabilities that enable technical brilliance to become business innovation.
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From Communication to Innovation

Here's what consistently happens when I work with technical teams: They develop the exact capabilities that research shows drive innovation—psychological safety, rapid iteration comfort, cross-functional communication, learning velocity.
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From my Communicating for Influence programs, participants learned to:

• Stop burying the lede and start with what matters most
• Translate technical jargon into language stakeholders actually understand
• Build on other people's ideas instead of reflexively defending their own
• Listen to understand, not just to respond
• Find common ground with audiences who think completely differently
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From my Improv Leadership Training, teams developed:

• Comfort thinking on their feet without perfect information
• Willingness to "make crap" publicly and learn from it
• Reflexive "yes, and..." acceptance that builds psychological safety
• Ability to validate ideas before judging them
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These capabilities show up in every LinkedIn recommendation. They're the foundation that makes the Create the Impossible™ framework work.
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Because here's what I've learned: innovation capability isn't one skill. It's a system of human capabilities working together—communication, collaboration, psychological safety, rapid learning, comfort with uncertainty.
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Arts training develops all of them simultaneously.
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Why This Matters Now

We're in an AI-dominated world where machines can generate code, analyze data, and optimize processes better than humans ever will.
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The capabilities that will differentiate your teams aren't technical anymore—they're human.
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Can your engineers and product managers communicate across their different mental models fast enough to not bleed cycles to miscommunication?
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Can your teams create the psychological safety where someone will say "I think we're solving the wrong problem" before you waste nine months building it?
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Can your best people learn fast enough to stay ahead of AI acceleration?
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These are the capabilities that separate teams who innovate from teams who talk about innovation.
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And these are exactly the capabilities arts training develops—not as a nice-to-have cultural add-on, but as strategic business advantage.
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The Bottom Line

When executives see "Juilliard-trained dancer" on my bio, they're doing the wrong calculation.
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They should be asking: Can this person develop the human capabilities our technical teams need to turn their brilliance into breakthrough innovation?
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The answer, based on what project managers, HR leaders, and team members consistently report, is yes.
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Not because arts training makes people "more creative" in some vague, fluffy way.
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But because it systematically develops the specific human capabilities—collaboration under pressure, comfort with productive failure, psychological safety creation, rapid learning, cross-functional communication—that unlock innovation in technical environments.
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Your technical teams are already brilliant.
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What they need is someone who can help them access the human capabilities that turn technical brilliance into business breakthroughs.
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That's what my arts background actually prepares me to do.
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Ready to unlock your team's innovation capability? Download a free preview of Innovation at Work: 52 Micro-Experiments for Brave Leaders and discover the systematic practice that turns any training into lasting capability.
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Next week: "The Hidden Cost of Innovation Theater (And How to Spot It)" — If your team is busy with innovation activities but not seeing breakthrough results, you might be paying millions for theater instead of transformation. I'll show you the diagnostic framework that reveals the difference.

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📘 Want early access to my new book?

If you’d like to help bring Innovation at Work into the world, I’m gathering a small launch team.
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You’ll get the full ARC in early January, exclusive bonus materials, and a first look at all 52 micro-experiments. Your only job is to read (or skim!) and post an honest Amazon review when the Kindle version goes live.
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Tentative timeline:

• Jan 5–6: ARC delivery
• Jan 16: Kindle soft launch (+ review window)
• Early Feb: Paperback release + virtual launch celebration
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If you want in, you can join here​

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Creatively yours,
Melissa

​P.S. When you’re ready to build a culture of thriving innovation, so your team can Create the Impossible™, here are three ways I can help:

1) Download my FREE Innovation Culture Assessment to evaluate where your team stands

2) Download the first 50 pages of my book, The Creative Sandbox Way™, to reconnect with your creativity

3) Click here to schedule a complimentary Innovation Strategy Session

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