Make Things, Better

This episode explores the invention of Slack. Whether you use it every day or not at all, its impact and influence on how we communicate and share information within project teams has been massive. I mean can you imagine going back to a world where everything relied solely on email? And this game changing and now ubiquitous platform was born not from a grand vision of enterprise software… but from the ashes of a failed video game. This is a tale of resilience, discovery, and the power of learning from your mistakes, so you can make something even better. It’s a story that was made for this podcast….

This episode will share the story of Michelin. It’s a story of two seemingly unconnected halves. One that designs and manufactures tyres and another that reviews and rates restaurants. How could they be connected? And how does one benefit the other? The answer has progressive creative thinking - and the ability to think differently, laterally - at its heart.

This episode will take you on a creative joy ride in the Porsche 911. It’s a trip that spans 60-plus years and saw Porsche grow from a small German sports car company to a highly profitable global automotive business. That success has, in part, been fuelled by the creative skills of critical analysis and iteration that enable a never-ending drive for evolution and marginal gains.

In this episode we’re going to look at the creation of the Nintendo Switch and how it turned the fortunes of this famous games company from a flop to a runaway success. And I’ll show you how that success was powered by creative thinking. This time, the ability to reframe your challenges and find innovative ways to solve problems… and ultimately… win.

This episode dives into the work of James Dyson. And it is the quintessential story of creative skills and mindset at work in business. At every step of his journey…. You'll hear how critical analysis, observation, experimentation and iteration, positivity, focus, patience and perseverance all played a part in building one of the most innovative and successful businesses ever.

A taster of what we've got to look forward to in series 1: five incredible stories that demonstrate the huge impact of creative thinking on some of the world’s most successful businesses. You’ll be left in no doubt about the power of creative thinking.