Greg identifies as a creative person who manifests innovative solutions in his roles as a father, husband, educator, and student. He analyzes himself based on the 10 faces of innovation: anthropologist, experimenter, cross-pollinator, hurdler, collaborator, director, experience architect, set designer, caregiver, and storyteller. For each role, he describes how it relates to him, noting skills he excels at and areas he could improve, such as becoming better at listening, developing interactions, and telling stories. Overall, Greg sees potential to create new experiences and organizations that exceed expectations by embracing divergent thinking, experimenting with solutions, and pursuing innovative approaches.
4. The Anthropologist
Starts with the beginners mind.
• Don’t judge, just observe;
• Look for the real system;
• Discover barriers and challenges through
collecting observations;
• Use science as a guide, but draw from own
conclusions;
• See things as if they are seeing it for the
first time;
• Very curious.
How it relates to me…
• I seek first to understand.
• I observe the current
system prior to
implementing change.
• I trust gut feeling and use
science as a guide.
• I believe, if we learned
something, then it was
growth.
5. The Experimenter
The curious mind/Prototyper…
• Passion for hard work;
• Prototypes everything;
• Makes ideas tangible;
• Constantly tweaking ideas;
• Learns by failing;
• Obsessively works on prototypes;
• Very curious.
How it relates to me…
• I love to build proof of
concepts;
• Love tweaking process for
improvements;
• I am not obsessive with
projects;
• I lam not passionate for
hard work (not lazy);
• Don’t like to fail.
6. The Cross-Pollinator
Bringing ideas together…
• Find Clever Solutions;
• Avid learners who see how ideas can
translate across disciplines;
• They love new experiences so they can
apply to other areas;
• Love to read and apply to new contexts;
• Believe that you don’t have to re-invent to
innovate.
• Very curious.
How it relates to me…
• I am an avid reader of non-
fiction;
• Love to connect ideas from
area to area;
• Constantly learn from
others;
• Avid learner.
7. The Hurdler
Charged by the Challenge…
• Efficient;
• Love doing things that have never been
done before;
• Navigates Organizational Structure;
• Will win through persistence;
How it relates to me…
• I am great at circumventing
organizational structure.
• I love doing something that
has never been done
before.
• However, I will tire if the
road blocks are too
extreme.
8. The Collaborator
Bringing ideas and people together…
• Brings people and ideas together;
• Understands diversity of culture and ideas
breeds better outcomes;
• Teaches and learns constantly from others;
• Promotes meetings/gatherings;
• Values team over individual
• Connects people with like minded
interests/goals;
• Very curious.
How it relates to me…
• Communication is breath of
improvement;
• Connection and synergy
create better efficiency;
• Constantly learn/teach from
others;
• Very inquisitive of who
people are and what they
like.
9. The Director
Facilitating innovation…
• Put others in the spotlight;
• Love new projects;
• The coach;
• Build teams to accomplish tasks;
• Aim for the best;
• Possess various tools at their disposal;
• Brainstorming;
How it relates to me…
• I put others in the spotlight;
• I have a vast tool box to
accomplish tasks;
• However, I do not enjoy
brainstorming, nor do I over
emphasize the best.
• My philosophy is lets make
it better today than it was
yesterday. Better over best.
10. The Experience Architect
Creating the extraordinary environments…
• Look to build great experiences;
• Think of the user experience (Design
Thinking);
• Look for trigger points that create better
experiences;
• Understand the customers’ journey;
• Very creative.
How it relates to me…
• I think of our customer all
the time;
• Need to be more focused
on trigger points;
• Need to think of
environments (now in
charge of events).
11. The Set Designer
Arranging artifacts to build culture &
Innovation…
• Understand how people behave in spaces;
• Recognize the power of synergy with
environment;
• Understand the importance of creating the
feeling;
• Understand the importance of the details;
• Capture how space can communicate.
How it relates to me…
• I am a Org Culturist at
Heart;
• Very focused on the details
of the experience;
• Need to become more
aware of the details
(connecting spaces);
• Need to see how are spaces
dictate interactions.
12. The Caregiver
Understanding people and connecting
customer service with the human element…
• Product experts facilitating the right
product fit for the right customer;
• Exceeding expectations;
• Understands the need for interaction and
exchange;
• Builds loyalty to products and services.
How it relates to me…
• I understand expectations
and how to satisfy needs
that people don’t know
they have.
• Great at anticipating wants.
• Need to become better at
listening and developing
interactions.
13. The Storyteller
Communicating the values and mission
through tales…
• Understands the right story at the right
time can communicate powerful values;
• Instills the human element (heroes) into
organizational goals, and culture;
• Stories are transformational that include
vision, strife, connections;
• Connects people to pasts, futures, strife,
challenges, emotion, and more.
How it relates to me…
• I am wish I could tell a story;
• I understand it it the most
powerful form of
communicating;
• But it is not me, I get too
wrapped up in the data;
• Need to develop this skill.
14. Leading with Innovation
Customer Experience
Caregiver
Set Designer
Experience Architect
Employee Experience
Cross Pollinator
Anthropologist
Collaborator
Organizational Experience
Hurdler
Director
Story Teller
The Experimenter
15. Allow for divergent thinking
We can create new experiences and
organizations that far exceed anyone's
expectations.
We have to search for the why…. Experiment
with the how, and drive for the win!