How to Think Like an Innovator: Fall in Love With the Problem, Not the Solution | Adhisha Gammanpila of Feynman

How to think like an innovator starts with one shift most people never make: stop building the solution you love and start falling in love with the problem in front of you. This episode is a masterclass in exactly that — from a quantum computing founder who has been doing it since he was 14 years old.Adhisha Gammanpila is the founder of Feynman, a quantum computing AI platform making advanced science accessible to researchers worldwide. He is one of Sri Lanka's earliest published quantum computing researchers, a former assistant lecturer at Jadavpur University's Computer Science department, and a serial entrepreneur whose platforms have served over one million users and processed 700 million rupees in revenue. He built his first app at 14 — a mobile encryption tool called TED (Text Encrypt and Decrypt) — to hide messages from his parents after getting caught with a crush. It spread to 50,000 downloads across Sri Lanka and India and won second place at Oracle Silicon Valley. He has a self-reported success rate of 1.1% — one success out of roughly two hundred attempts. He is still building.This conversation is not about quantum computing. It is about what happens when a deeply creative person decides to treat every problem they encounter as an invitation — and never stops asking: can we do it in this way?In this episode, Sheran and Adhisha go deep on:▸ How to think like an innovator — the mindset shift from solution-builder to problem-lover that separates people who build something real from people who keep building the wrong thing beautifully▸ Creative problem solving as a daily practice — how divergence thinking, solitude, and long garden walks generate better ideas than any brainstorm session▸ How to deal with rejection as an entrepreneur — the exact mental reframe that turns a professor saying "I have no value in this" into a product pivot and a new market▸ Inner child and creativity in adults — why keeping your inner child alive is not soft, it is a competitive advantage, and why the most creative leaders Adhisha has met are the ones who never stopped playing▸ Using AI for self-awareness — the 16Personalities method and personal app Adhisha built to predict his own future mistakes before they happen▸ Ego, Carl Jung, and the Sinhalese rice stalk — a proverb from a former CXO of Hemas that reframes humility as the mark of real value, not weakness▸ Where real confidence comes from — and why it is not confidence at all but trust in the inner voice, built by looking back at what actually worked▸ The teacher who said "you somehow made it" — and why that one line still plays in Adhisha's mind every time he hits a wallThis episode is for the creative person who keeps building what they want to build instead of what the problem actually needs. If you have felt the gap between your vision and what the world is telling you — and you are not sure whether to push through or pivot — Adhisha's framework will change how you read that signal. You do not need to know anything about quantum computing to get everything out of this conversation.🎙️ Host: Sheran Ranasinghe🎨 Guest: Adhisha Gammanpila — Founder, Feynman | Quantum Computing Researcher📍 Recorded at: Future Ink Graphics, Cleveland, Ohio📩 Contact: [email protected]📸 Instagram: @thecreativeodysseypodcast | @sheranstoriesProduced by Odyssey House MediaKeywords: Adhisha Gammanpila, Feynman quantum computing, The Creative Odyssey Podcast, Sheran Ranasinghe, Odyssey House Media, how to think like an innovator, creative problem solving, divergence thinking, inner child creativity adults, how to deal with rejection as an entrepreneur, fall in love with the problem not the solution, entrepreneur mindset, imposter syndrome, self-awareness, quantum computing Sri Lanka, personal development podcast, Sri Lankan entrepreneur, creativity and innovationSend Us A Message! We'd love to hear your thoughts!Support the show