The dangerous myth blocking your next breakthrough innovation

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Click to watch (15:09) or scroll down to read on…

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Hey there, innovation champions!
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The Solo Genius Myth

The year I turned 31, I had an adult bat mitzvah ceremony.
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Ever the over-achiever, I not only chanted all seven lines of Torah in Hebrew (most bar/bat mitzvah kids — or adults — chant one line), I also chanted the entire Haftarah, gave the drash (sort of like a mini-sermon), and led the entire service!
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Looking back, I was steeped in the notion of "cowboy individualism" that permeates American culture. I believed I had to do it all myself to prove my worth.
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This mindset pervaded my artistic life as well. I bought into the story of the artist as "solo genius," alone in their garret studio, creating masterpieces through sheer individual brilliance.
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And then I berated myself when I felt stymied by blocks... 🙄
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The Collaborative Awakening

Only later, when I started singing jazz — with a band, of course — and then performing improv in teams, and after that when I began working in corporate settings, did I realize I'd fallen for a lie.
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This notion of the "solo genius"? It's complete bunk.
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The greatest creative moments, the most brilliant breakthroughs I've ever been part of have always resulted from cross-functional collaboration:

• Improv shows with players from diverse backgrounds, all listening and "yes, and-ing" each other
• Jazz improvisations with various musicians, each contributing to the whole
• Team members representing a variety of viewpoints, all building on each other's ideas
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The Innovation Intersection

This principle extends far beyond my personal experience. The most innovative solutions rarely come from isolated experts working alone; they emerge at the intersection of different disciplines, perspectives, and skill sets.
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Think about some of the most groundbreaking innovations of our time:
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The iPhone wasn't just the product of brilliant engineering – it combined expertise in design, user experience, materials science, and software development. Steve Jobs understood this when he famously said Apple lives "at the intersection of technology and liberal arts."
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The COVID mRNA vaccines weren't developed by lone scientists, but by collaborative teams that included immunologists, geneticists, computer scientists, and logistics experts working across organizational boundaries.
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In both cases, the magic happened at the intersections – where different domains, perspectives, and expertise collided and created something new.
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Breaking Down Silos with Create the Impossible™

So how do we harness this cross-functional power in our organizations? Let me show you through my Create the Impossible™ framework:
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1. Play Hard Across Boundaries

The first element of my framework is "Play Hard" – creating space for playful exploration and experimentation.
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In cross-functional settings, this means deliberately bringing together people who wouldn't normally interact and giving them permission to play with ideas together.
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This could look like inviting engineers to marketing brainstorms, or having customer service representatives join product development sessions. The goal is to create unexpected collisions of perspectives.
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By establishing a playful environment where different viewpoints can interact without immediate judgment, you create the conditions for breakthrough thinking.
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This is exactly what happens in improv. Players from different backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the stage, and the magic emerges when they build on each other's offers without blocking or judging.
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2. Make Crap Collectively

The second element is "Make Crap" – giving ourselves permission to create imperfect first attempts.
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Cross-functional collaboration magnifies this principle because it removes the individual ego from the equation. When diverse teams work together on rough prototypes, no single person's reputation is on the line.
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This principle is actually built into many modern innovation practices. The concept of a minimum viable product (MVP) is essentially institutionalized permission to "make crap" – to create something incomplete but functional enough to test and learn from.
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When teams from different functions collaborate on these early prototypes, they bring diverse quality standards and success metrics, which helps prevent premature perfectionism from any single perspective.
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3. Learn Fast Together

The third element is "Learn Fast" – extracting insights from each experience and iteration.
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When teams from different functions learn together, they create a multiplier effect. An insight that might seem minor to one department could be revolutionary to another.
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Consider how different departments might interpret the same user feedback:

• Engineering might focus on technical functionality
• Design might see implications for user experience
• Marketing might discover new messaging opportunities
• Customer support might identify training needs

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When these perspectives come together to review the same information, connections emerge that would be invisible within siloed learning processes.
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Breaking Silos in Practice

The question now becomes: How do you actually implement cross-functional creativity in real-world organizations?
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Here are three strategies I've found effective in my work with organizations:
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1. Create Collision Spaces

Innovation happens when different worlds collide. Create physical or virtual spaces where people from diverse functions can interact regularly without a specific agenda.
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These could be:

• Virtual coffee chats that randomly pair people from different departments
• Cross-functional "learning lunches" where teams share their current projects
• Shared workspaces intentionally designed to mix departments
• Digital forums where questions can be posed to the broader organization

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These informal collision spaces often spark connections that formal meetings never could.
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2. Rotate Perspectives

Another effective approach is to temporarily immerse team members in different functions.
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This could be as simple as having team members attend each other's meetings, or as involved as formal rotation programs where people spend time embedded in different departments.
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The goal isn't necessarily to build deep expertise in other areas, but rather to develop empathy and understanding across functional boundaries. This creates a foundation for more effective collaboration when cross-functional teams come together.
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3. Celebrate Cross-Functional Wins

Organizations get what they celebrate. If you want more cross-functional collaboration, make it visible and valued.
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This means:

• Explicitly recognizing innovations that emerge from cross-functional work
• Sharing stories about how diverse perspectives led to breakthrough solutions
• Including cross-functional collaboration in performance reviews and recognition programs

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This signals to everyone that crossing silos isn't just permitted – it's encouraged and rewarded.
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The Path Forward

As leaders navigating our complex world, it's time to let go of the myth of the solo genius and embrace the power of cross-functional creativity.
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Innovation doesn't happen in silos. It happens in the spaces between – where diverse perspectives, skills, and knowledge domains collide and create something new.
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So let me ask you: What's one small step you could take this week to break down silos in your organization and foster cross-functional creativity?
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Perhaps it's inviting someone from a different department to your next brainstorming session, or spending an hour shadowing a colleague whose work seems completely unrelated to yours.
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Whatever you choose, remember: The next breakthrough innovation in your organization is likely waiting at the intersection – where different worlds collide and create something neither could have imagined alone.
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Stay curious, stay playful, and keep creating the impossible – together!

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​I'd love to hear from you. Have you experienced the power of cross-functional collaboration in your own work? What strategies have you found effective for breaking down silos? Hit reply and share your experiences!

Senior Leaders: Ready to harness the power of cross-functional creativity and break down organizational silos? Book a complimentary Innovation Strategy Session and let's explore how the Create the Impossible™ framework can transform your team's collaborative approach and unlock unprecedented innovation at the intersections of diverse perspectives.
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The Power of Reverse Thinking: Start with the Opposite
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One of the challenges I deliberately set for myself—whether in doodling, music, or creative problem-solving—is to begin with the opposite of my natural instinct.
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In this doodle, I started by creating a containing shape around the edge of the paper—completely contrary to my usual approach. Then I asked myself: “What next?”
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The answer came from improv’s golden rule: “Yes, and...”
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When creating spontaneous, improvisational abstract art (yes, even simple doodles count!), my only job is to accept and build upon whatever “offers” I’ve already made. Each line becomes an invitation for the next.
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What fascinates me about starting with the opposite of my usual pattern is how consistently it leads to delightful surprises. The unfamiliar beginning forces new neural pathways and unexpected results.
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For doodles, the success metrics are refreshingly simple: Does it delight me? Is it surprising?
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But this reverse thinking technique extends far beyond art. In business and innovation, our habitual approaches often blind us to breakthrough possibilities. Starting with the opposite assumption can reveal untapped opportunities and fresh solutions to persistent challenges.

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Where in your work could you benefit from flipping your typical starting point? What “opposite approach” might unlock a solution you’ve been missing?
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Ready to discover how reverse thinking could transform your business challenges?

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👉 Book an Innovation Strategy Session with me this month and let’s explore your unique opportunities together.
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That's it for this week!
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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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