💡 Big Idea This Week: I’m Writing a Book! (And You Can Help Name It)

Yep, it’s happening—book #2 is in the works.

​
This one’s for team leaders who want to spark bold ideas without waiting for a reorg or a miracle.
​

It’s a playful, low-stakes collection of micro-experiments—one for each week of the year—to help teams get unstuck, collaborate better, and actually enjoy the creative process.
​

And I need your help.
​

I’m testing a few possible titles and running a poll on LinkedIn. Will you help me pick the winner?
​

​🎠 ​Click here to vote (or throw in your own title idea!)
​​

Bonus points if your suggestion makes me laugh and still works in a boardroom. 😉
​

👇 Scroll down for this week’s article + video, where I share more about why I’m writing this now—and how tiny experiments can change everything.

​

​

​

Click to watch (20:39) or scroll down to read on…

Hey there, innovation champions!
​

"I missed seeing more of you onstage today."
​

Those words from my teammate hit harder than any bad review could have. We'd just finished our performance at the California Long-form Improv Festival in LA, and I knew exactly what she meant.
​

All weekend, I'd been diving in headfirst during workshops — volunteering immediately when teachers asked for participants, taking risks, playing big. But when it came time for our actual show on Saturday night, something shifted. Instead of taking center stage like I usually do — singing songs, embodying memorable characters, driving the narrative — I found myself shrinking to the sidelines, appearing only in tiny bit parts while my own gremlins took the wheel and drove the bus straight into the land of playing small.
​

What happened?
​

The guest players from a revered LA group had triggered my comparison trap. My "you're not good enough" gremlins started their familiar chatter: "You can't compete with them. Stay in the background. They're so much better than you."
​

But here's what struck me most about this experience: it wasn't just my internal struggle that derailed the performance. The cultural dynamics of our team that night failed us all.
​

This is why culture eats strategy for breakfast every single time — and why understanding the six cultural drivers of innovation isn't just nice-to-have knowledge. It's mission-critical for any leader who wants their team to consistently create breakthroughs instead of playing small when it matters most.
​

The IMPACT Framework: Six Cultural Drivers of Innovation

After working with teams at companies like Google, Meta, and Salesforce, I've identified six cultural elements that determine whether your team creates magic or lets their collective gremlins drive the bus. I call it the IMPACT Framework:

I: Imperfection Welcomed
M: Momentum > Meetings
P: Play Beats Pressure
A: All Voices Heard
C: Curiosity Over Certainty
T: Try, Learn, Repeat
​​
Let me break down what happened that night through this lens — and more importantly, how you can prevent similar innovation breakdowns in your own organization.
​

I: Imperfection Welcomed — When Perfectionism Becomes the Enemy

That Saturday night, my perfectionist gremlins convinced me that anything less than flawless performance would be embarrassing in front of these seasoned LA performers. Sound familiar?
​

In high-performing teams, perfectionism masquerades as high standards, but it's actually innovation kryptonite. When team members believe they need to have all the answers before speaking up, when they're afraid to suggest "rough draft" ideas, when they wait until they're 100% certain before taking action — innovation dies on the vine.
​

The most innovative cultures I've seen actively welcome messy beginnings. Leaders share their own "crappy first drafts." Feedback gets framed as learning opportunities, not judgment sessions. Teams optimize for progress over polish.
​

Think about it: every breakthrough innovation in history started imperfectly. The first iPhone didn't have copy-and-paste. Google's original algorithm was built in a Stanford dorm room. These weren't perfect solutions — they were perfect starting points.
​

M: Momentum > Meetings — The Energy Killer

Here's a truth that might sting: your innovation process might be the thing killing innovation. When every new idea requires four meetings and three approvals, when teams spend more time discussing ideas than testing them, momentum dies.
​

I think about that moment on stage when I hesitated instead of jumping into a scene. In improv, hesitation kills momentum. The same is true for innovation. The magic happens in the flow state, not in the follow-up meeting.
​

That night, we had barely ten minutes to connect as a team — a vocal warmup, one round of "Three Things," and then showtime. No time to build the trust and understanding that creates seamless collaboration. In organizations, I see this same pattern: teams get thrown together on projects without the relationship-building time that enables breakthrough thinking.
​

High-impact cultures prioritize action over endless analysis. They create rapid feedback loops. They give teams permission to experiment with small tests before convening committees. But they also understand that momentum requires foundation — you can't skip the trust-building that enables teams to move fast together.
​

P: Play Beats Pressure — The Innovation Sweet Spot

Here's the paradox: the more we wanted to create magic that night, the more pressure we felt. And pressure is creativity's kryptonite.
​

Play isn't frivolous — it's how humans learn best and innovate fastest. When teams feel safe to explore without judgment, ideas flourish. Pressure shuts that down. Play opens it up.
​

Those guest players, with decades of experience performing together, were playing. They had the comfort of deep partnership. Meanwhile, I was performing under pressure — trying to prove myself worthy of sharing the stage with these LA legends.
​

In organizations, I see this constantly. Teams approach innovation like a high-stakes performance review instead of an experiment worth exploring. They optimize for looking smart instead of learning fast.
​

The most innovative cultures I work with treat ideation like play — curious, experimental, judgment-free. They understand that breakthrough thinking happens in the space between ideas, not in the pressure to have the perfect solution immediately.
​

A: All Voices Heard — The Guest Player Problem

My teammate was right about something else that night. Those guest players, despite their talent, had inadvertently created a dynamic where certain voices — including mine — got drowned out. In improv, the best teams actively "make each other look good" — they scan the stage to ensure everyone gets to shine.
​

But here's the thing: it wasn't entirely their fault. These players had performed together for decades. They had developed an unconscious rhythm, a shorthand, a way of playing that worked beautifully for them but inadvertently excluded newcomers.
​

This is psychological safety in action, and it's the foundation of innovation culture. Research from Google's Project Aristotle found that psychological safety was the number one predictor of team performance. But here's what most leaders miss: psychological safety isn't just about people feeling comfortable to speak up. It's about creating systems that actively ensure all voices are heard and valued.
​

In my workshops with tech teams, I see this play out constantly. The loudest voices — often senior developers or domain experts — unconsciously dominate discussions. Long-term team members develop their own communication patterns. Meanwhile, the junior designer with a fresh perspective or the new hire who sees patterns others miss never gets the chance to contribute their breakthrough insight.
​

Innovation is a team sport, but only if everyone gets to play.
​

C: Curiosity Over Certainty — The Expert's Paradox

Here's where things got really interesting that night. The guest players knew their craft inside and out. They had certainty about what worked. And that certainty, while creating polished performance, also limited exploration.
​

Meanwhile, our out-of-town team was operating from curiosity — what would happen if we tried this? How might this scene evolve? We didn't have the confidence of decades of partnership, but we had the openness of not knowing.
​

In innovation, expertise can become a double-edged sword. The more we know what works, the less likely we are to question assumptions or explore alternatives. Fixed mindsets kill innovation. Curious mindsets fuel it.
​

The most innovative cultures I work with maintain what Zen Buddhists call "beginner's mind" — approaching challenges with fresh eyes, even when you're the expert. They ask "what if?" instead of "that won't work." They question assumptions, especially the ones that have always been true.
​

T: Try, Learn, Repeat — The Missing Loop

Finally, that night revealed the power of trying, learning, and repeating — and what happens when that loop gets broken.
​

Our team had performed together many times before. We'd developed trust through repeated experiments — some successful, some spectacular failures, all valuable learning experiences. We had a rhythm of trying something new, discovering what worked, and building on those discoveries.
​

But with new people in the mix, without time to establish trust and communication patterns, that "try, learn, repeat" loop broke down. Instead of experimenting together, we fell back on individual performance modes.
​

This is the engine of innovation — not just trying things once, but building learning loops. Great teams don't just experiment; they reflect, adapt, and improve constantly. They treat every project as data for the next iteration.
​

This connects directly to my Create the Impossible™ framework's "Learn Fast" principle — but with a cultural twist. It's not enough for individuals to learn fast. Your entire culture needs to be designed for rapid collective learning, shared experimentation, and building on each other's discoveries.
​

The Cultural Transformation Challenge

Here's what I want you to understand: my performance that night wasn't just about my individual mindset. It was about cultural dynamics that either amplify or diminish our collective potential.
​

The same is true in your organization. You might have brilliant individuals on your team, but if your culture doesn't actively support the six drivers of innovation, you're leaving breakthrough ideas on the table.
​

Your Cultural Innovation Audit

So here's your challenge for this week: Take an honest look at your team's cultural drivers. Ask yourself:

• When someone shares an imperfect idea, what's the typical response? Judgment or curiosity?
• How long does it take to go from idea to first experiment? Days or months?
• In your last brainstorming session, who spoke most? Who spoke least? Why?
• Do people feel safe being wrong in front of each other?
• Are you optimizing for certainty or discovery?
• When was the last time your team celebrated a fascinating failure?

​
These aren't just feel-good questions. They're diagnostic tools for your innovation engine.
​

Because here's the bottom line: in today's AI-accelerated world, your ability to innovate consistently isn't just about having smart people. It's about creating cultural conditions where smart people can do their best thinking together.
​

That night in LA, our team had all the talent we needed. But the cultural dynamics — the lack of psychological safety, the pressure instead of play, the individual focus instead of collective support — turned potential magic into a missed opportunity.
​

Don't let that happen to your next breakthrough idea.
​

Ready to transform your innovation culture? Let's start with one simple shift that can create ripple effects across your entire organization.
​

Pick one element from the IMPACT framework that resonates most with your current challenges. Maybe it's creating more space for imperfection, or ensuring quieter voices get heard, or prioritizing momentum over meetings.
​

Try it with your team this week. Notice what shifts. And remember — the goal isn't perfection. It's progress toward a culture where innovation happens naturally, not accidentally.
​

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

I'd love to hear from you: Which element of the IMPACT Framework hit closest to home for your team? Is it the perfectionism trap, the momentum killers, or maybe the challenge of ensuring all voices are truly heard? Hit reply to share your thoughts—I read every response!
​

Senior Leaders: Ready to diagnose and transform your innovation culture using the IMPACT Framework? Book a complimentary Innovation Strategy Session and let's explore how to turn your talented individuals into an unstoppable innovation powerhouse.

​

When I first started making art, I desperately wanted to "find my voice." Same thing when I was trying to be a writer years ago.
​

Here's what I learned: when you do the same thing enough times, your style naturally emerges through repetition and practice.
​

My doodles often explore the same elements – knots, repeating patterns, flowing lines. But the magic happens in discovering how I can take these same "ingredients" and endlessly vary them. Each doodle becomes like a jazz improvisation, where familiar motifs transform into fresh expressions.
​

This mirrors how breakthrough innovation happens in business too. The most powerful solutions often come from taking proven elements and recombining them in unexpected ways.
​

Your authentic voice — whether in art, leadership, or innovation — isn't something you find overnight. It's something that emerges through consistent practice and playful experimentation.
​

👉 Ready to discover your team's unique innovation voice? Book your complimentary Innovation Strategy Session and let's explore how consistent creative practice can unlock breakthrough thinking in your organization.

​

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

Did someone forward this email to you? If you'd like more articles like this right in your own inbox, click here to subscribe!​​