The summer I accidentally discovered the innovation secret most teams miss


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Hey there, innovation champions!

It's that time of year when the pace seems to slow down, teams are cycling through vacation schedules, and there's this collective exhale that happens across the tech world. But here's what I've learned: summer isn't a season to coast—it's actually the perfect season to create.

Let me tell you a story about the summer after my first wedding, when I accidentally discovered one of the most important principles of innovation. I thought I was going to be a writer. What that mostly meant was reading about writing, thinking about writing, with intermittent fifteen-minute stretches of staring at my keyboard, feeling terrible about myself because brilliant prose wasn't flowing effortlessly from my fingertips.

As a result, naturally, I started to procrastinate. A lot.

I bought some pretty papers at the local art store (feeling like a fraud, because, after all, I wasn't an artist, so I didn't belong in there!) with the idea of gluing the paper around leftover glass votives from the wedding favors to give as holiday gifts.

Then it occurred to me that if I cut shapes in the paper, it would make miniature luminaria!

But, ever the perfectionist, I didn't want to "ruin" the fancy papers I'd purchased, so I started with the kraft paper that the fancy papers had been rolled up in. Not having an X-acto blade, I used a paring knife (which really hurt my fingers!) and quickly discovered that I wanted more of this!

Back to the art store I went, for X-acto knife, extra blades, and soon I was spending hours making paper cuts. I followed my curiosity, and natural fascination for the art form, and just kept going.

I couldn't get enough that summer!

The Hidden Innovation Lab

What I didn't realize at the time was that my procrastination had led me straight into a masterclass in what I now call the Create the Impossible™ framework. That summer of paper cutting became my accidental innovation lab.

Here's what was happening: I was Playing Hard with materials and possibilities. I was Making Crap on kraft paper instead of waiting for the perfect conditions. And I was Learning Fast through immediate, tactile feedback.

Sound familiar? It should, because this is exactly what the most innovative tech teams do—except they often don't realize they're doing it.

Play Hard: The Summer Permission Slip

Summer gives us natural permission to play. The energy is different. People are more relaxed. Deadlines feel less crushing. This isn't a coincidence—it's an opportunity.

Your team's next breakthrough might not come from another marathon planning session. It might come from spending fifteen minutes with actual craft supplies, building something ridiculous with pipe cleaners, or asking "What if we approached this like we were making paper luminaria?"

When was the last time your team had permission to be genuinely curious about something completely unrelated to your product roadmap? That's where innovations hide.

Make Crap: The Kraft Paper Principle

I call it the Kraft Paper Principle: start with the throwaway material. Don't wait for the fancy paper.

In my paper cutting story, I was afraid of "ruining" the expensive materials. So I grabbed the kraft paper that was literally going to be discarded. Best decision ever. It removed all the pressure and let me experiment freely.

How many of your team's potentially game-changing ideas never see daylight because they're not "ready for the fancy paper" yet?

Summer is kraft paper season. Use it.

Learn Fast: The Art Store Feedback Loop

The most telling part of my story? I was back at the art store the next day, buying better tools. Why? Because the work itself taught me what I needed.

Not a planning session. Not a requirements gathering meeting. The actual doing showed me the next step.

This is how innovation actually works. We don't think our way to breakthroughs—we make our way to them.

Creating in Season

Here's what summer teaches us about innovation: timing matters, but not in the way we think.

Summer isn't about slowing down innovation—it's about changing our relationship to it. It's about working WITH the natural rhythms instead of against them.

When teams are rotating through vacations, when the pressure is a bit less intense, when there's space for the unexpected—that's not a bug in your innovation process. That's a feature.

Your Summer Innovation Challenge

This week, I challenge you to embrace what I call "seasonal innovation." Here are three ways to start:

1. Schedule Play Breaks: Block 15 minutes this week for your team to play with something completely unrelated to work. Origami, LEGO, pipe cleaners—anything that gets your hands moving and your brain out of analytical mode.

2. Create a Kraft Paper Culture: Identify one area where your team has been waiting for "perfect conditions" to start. What's your kraft paper version? Start there.

3. Build Fast Feedback Loops: Like my quick trip back to the art store, what can you prototype this week that will teach you what tools you actually need?

Remember, innovation doesn't happen because conditions are perfect. It happens because we create the conditions for curiosity, experimentation, and rapid learning.

That summer of paper cutting didn't just give me a new hobby (which would ultimately lead to a 15-year business as a professional artist and calligrapher!)—it gave me a new way of understanding how breakthroughs actually work. Not through perfect planning, but through playful exploration. Not by avoiding mistakes, but by making them quickly and learning from them.

Your team's next impossible solution might be hiding in this summer's slowdown. But only if you're willing to play, make some crap, and learn fast.

Stay curious, stay playful, and keep creating the impossible!

I'd love to hear from you: What's one way your team could embrace "seasonal innovation" this summer? Hit reply to share your thoughts—I read every response!

Senior Leaders: Ready to turn your team's summer slowdown into innovation acceleration? Book a complimentary Innovation Strategy Session and let's explore how the Create the Impossible™ framework can transform your approach to seasonal innovation.


⏳ A Heads-Up on The Creative Sandbox Way™

I first published The Creative Sandbox Way™ to help individuals reconnect with their creative voice and overcome the blocks that keep us stuck.

Back then, I wasn’t working with organizations or speaking to business audiences—but now I see how the same principles apply. Leaders and teams struggle with perfectionism too. They need space to experiment. They need creative momentum.

So I’m finally updating the book’s price to reflect the value it offers in that world too.

If you’ve been meaning to grab a copy (or gift one), now’s the time—before the new price goes into effect next week.

👉Click Here to Buy Now


🎧 Melissa Gets Geeky!

What do graphic recording, innovation, and Play Hard / Make Crap / Learn Fast have in common?

They all showed up in my conversation with John Rouda on his podcast A Geek Leader—and we had a blast unpacking them.

We dove into:

  • What it really means to “Create the Impossible™”

  • How creativity is like a muscle (not magic!)

  • And why I think visual note-taking is a game-changer for tech leaders


🎧 Tune in here


I’ve been making knot doodles for long enough now that I recognize my own style in my work.


My patterns, my quirks, my “go-to’s” are all part of my style.


When I first started making art, I found everything there was to not like about my work. How it didn’t compare with other people’s work that I admired. How it didn’t live up to the platonic ideal in my head.


I call that “looking through gremlin glasses.”


It took me a while to see my work through other people’s eyes—to see it for what it IS, rather than what it ISN’T.


Not everyone is going to like it, or understand it. That’s fine. They’re not the right audience.


But some people will resonate. And those people? They’re the ones who can see it better than I can, when I’m wearing my gremlin glasses!


Learning to take those gremlin glasses off, and look through neutral glasses has been a huge gift.



This shift from gremlin glasses to neutral glasses isn’t just about art. It’s about how we see ourselves, our ideas, and our innovations in business too.


When we’re stuck in comparison mode, focusing on what we’re NOT, we miss the unique value we bring. We dim our own light before anyone else even gets a chance to see it shine.


Your ideas don’t need to be just like everyone else’s to be valuable. They need to be authentically YOURS.


The same pattern, quirks, and “go-to’s” that make your art recognizable? Those exist in your thinking, your approach to problems, your leadership style too.


Stop looking through gremlin glasses at your next big idea. Put on those neutral glasses and see what’s actually there—not what’s missing.


What’s one unique strength you bring to your work that you’ve been overlooking?


Ready to discover how your unique perspective can drive breakthrough innovation?


👉Book your complimentary Innovation Strategy Session to explore how to Create the Impossible™ with your authentic leadership style


That's it for this week!

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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