Coffee with Tamara
424 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 21 ratingsConversations with Everyday Innovators that reject the status quo, think differently, and make a positive difference in their world. No blah blah “experts” hawking their hypothetical BS here. These are real people, real experiences, and real results. Tamara and her guests bring a fresh approach to innovation, making it accessible to everyone, at any time. This podcast is for people that know that life is too crowded, cluttered, and competitive to be mediocre, and are ready to ignite innovation, influence others, and make a massive impact by tapping the power of their innovative minds.
Tamara Ghandour is the pioneer in human-centered innovation, the creator of the proprietary, research-based Innovation Quotient Edge assessment (the only tool that helps people discover their Everyday Innovator style), curator of Everyday Innovators Digital Magazine (innovation tools at your fingertips), sought after keynote speaker, author, and mom of two teenage boys and one oversized dog that loves to spoon. Her big goal is to unleash one million Everyday Innovators into the world.
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Episodes
1777: Making Innovation Tangible And Results Driven With Anthony Lambatos
July 03, 2018 09:00 - 36 minutes - 37.6 MBPart one of my conversation with Anthony Lambatos, President of Footers and IQE Partner. We do things a little differently for this episode. Anthony and I go deep into how to make innovation tangible. He shares how the rewards programs, voluntary committees, and the IQE assessment help him make innovation something that happens every day. We also talk about how setting expectations around the J-curve of innovation helps ensure the naysayers don't win and recognizing the power in the 80% rule...
1776: How To Launch An Innovative Product In A Traditional Industry With Jonah Lupton
June 26, 2018 09:00 - 40 minutes - 41.3 MBThere are many factors that make or break the success of a new idea, especially an innovative one that bumps up against a traditional industry. There are two big factors I wanted to address with our guest today, Johan Lupton, creator of SoundGuard, soundproof paint. First, how to solve a big enough problem that you create a massive market for your product, and second how to actually leverage instead of fighting the traditional players in the industry. We dig into Jonah’s mistakes, successes,...
1775: Using Structure To Foster Innovation, Not Hinder Innovation with Michael Arena
June 19, 2018 09:00 - 42 minutes - 43.3 MBStructure and innovation — can they work hand in hand? Can a big company teach us more entrepreneurial spirits about innovation? Michael Arena, Chief Talent Officer at General Motors talks about just that. He shared how he thinks differently about his work and what GM does to stay innovative, as well as his mantra "positively disrupt or be disrupted." We also talk about the importance of scaling and why that matters no matter your size. Whether you feel like you are a cog in a big wheel or t...
1774: How To Be a Power Player In The New Economy with Magdalena Yesil
June 12, 2018 09:00 - 36 minutes - 37.9 MBYesterday someone asked me, “Tamara what are the rules of the new economy?” I get that question a lot. How do you get ahead? How do you become seen as a power player in your work? With that question in mind, I had Magdalena Yeşil on Inside LaunchStreet. She is a seasoned Silicon Valley Investor (one of the first in SalesForce), founder of several organizations and the author of Power Up! How Smart Women Win in the New Economy. We chat about everything from taking criticism and using it to ge...
1773: How To Build A Culture Of Experimentation
June 05, 2018 09:00 - 23 minutes - 25.9 MBDo feel like you spend all your time preparing presentations? And even with all that time spent, it feels like none of the ideas you spent all that time of move forward? You aren’t alone. It’s the presentation loop and it's got to stop. Tatiana from KFC asked me how she could get out of the presentation loop and into what I call the “culture of experimentation.” This is where ideas get to breathe life, where you test out the real viability of your thinking. It’s where you stop presenting and...
1772: Strong Leadership Speaks To The Heart, Not The Head With Art Coombs
May 29, 2018 09:00 - 39 minutes - 40.1 MBHave you ever wondered why some people are strong managers but some are strong leaders? What’s the difference? And why does having strong leaders foster a culture of innovation and having a strong manager leads to a culture of micro-managers? Fortunately for us, Art Coombs, CEO of KomBea Corporation, speaker and author of Human Connection: How the “L” do we do that? has some great experience and insights for us around this. He stopped by Inside LaunchStreet to talk about the importance of th...
1771: How Authenticity Drives Work Engagement with Cathy Brown
May 22, 2018 09:00 - 37 minutes - 89.4 MBDo you know what’s funny? We talk about employee engagement yet no one ever says, “I feel so engaged today!” That disconnect between what we focus on and how we talk about work got me wondering how do you really engage your team? With that question in mind, I asked Cathy Brown, director of Engage For Success, to join me to talk about her perspective that engagement is a social movement, not a definition and why fitting in is killing your leadership and innovation efforts and why bringing you...
1770: Unlock The SuperPowers That Are Already Inside Of You With Mark Henson From SparkSpace
May 15, 2018 09:00 - 44 minutes - 45.3 MBDo you ever think to yourself, “I wish I had a super cool super talent” like an athlete or a celebrity? I know I've thought that too. Envy sets in and I start to feel inadequate. And that’s why I had Mark Henson, author of Ordinary Superpowers, lifelong entrepreneur and the founder of Sparkspace — a unique and exceptional business retreat center in Columbus, Ohio — onto Inside LaunchStreet. He broke down the “only special people” have superpowers myth. In fact, he’ll help you understand how ...
1769: Top 4 Innovation Myths That Are Sabotaging Your Efforts
May 08, 2018 09:00 - 43 minutes - 103 MBWhen trying to be innovative, do you ever feel like you are just running in place, expending all this energy and not getting anywhere? It could be because you have bought into some of the prevailing innovation myths that are actually sabotaging your efforts. In today’s Q&A session on Inside LaunchStreet, we delve into the top four myths and how to avoid them. Listen in and I bet you'll find that you are probably engaging in one or several of them. No worries, after this podcast you'll get ou...
1768: How To Thrive In The New Economy With Billee Howard
May 01, 2018 09:00 - 38 minutes - 39.7 MBI was sitting in the common area of the WeWork, where we office, and I overheard the most fascinating conversation. They were talking about how they were struggling because it felt like nothing was behind the curtain in business anymore, that the customer wanted to know everything about you — not just if you had a good product or service, but everything — the good, the bad, and definitely the ugly. And you know what, they are right. Transparency is a must if a business wants to thrive. So, t...
1767: A Change Model That Will Help You Innovate And Gain The Edge With Jurgen Appelo
April 24, 2018 09:00 - 40 minutes - 41.8 MBThe other day, I watched the Defiant Ones on HBO and it got me thinking. Why do some people seem to always be ahead of change while the rest of us are struggling to keep up? What thought process or system do they use that would help the rest of us? And with that thought in mind, I had Jurgen Appelo, author of How To Change The World and president of Agile Scales to talk about his Super Model of Change. We chat about how doing what we've always done, faster, isn't the answer. It's actually ab...
1766: How Innovative People Go Further, Faster With Less With Matt Tumbleson
April 17, 2018 09:00 - 49 minutes - 50.1 MBWhen do you think about marking off all the things on your to-do list? Things like making a doctor’s appointment, asking an online store where your order is, making reservations? If you are like me, it's at odd hours of the day when I then can't do anything about it. I hate it! Well so did Matt Tumbleson, founder of Teckst, a revolutionary technology in the customer service space. He stopped by Inside LaunchStreet to talk to me about taking risks and what it takes to be a successful disrupto...
1765: How Collaborative Leadership Brings The Right Ideas To Life
April 10, 2018 09:00 - 32 minutes - 34 MBI bet you know that there’s a big difference between collaboration and consensus — where even the best ideas get watered down into the worst. And that there’s a difference in when to gather input and when to take action. My co-pilot, Connie Warden, and I dig into all of that and more in this Q&A episode of Inside LaunchStreet. I also share the time I was in advertising when Steve, our creative genius, didn't show up and the rest of us lowly everyday people had to be the ones with the brillia...
1764: How to Minimize Uncertainty and Optimize Change Management With Jason Little
April 03, 2018 09:00 - 35 minutes - 36.6 MBDoes it ever feel like the marketplace is moving quickly outside your windows? Yet, the process you’re using inside those windows is moving slower than a turtle on a hot day. I know, I’ve been there — I totally get it. A lot of long-shooters feel this way. Sometimes, I feel like there’s this major disconnect between the change that we have to manage and how we manage it. It’s hard to truly innovate with a disconnect like that. So, Jason Little — author of Lean Change Management and the video...
1763: How Spending Time With People You Disagree With Gets You More Innovative Ideas With Jennifer Riel
March 27, 2018 09:00 - 39 minutes - 40.7 MBDid you know that you need to spend time with people you don’t agree with? It’s not always easy, but it will help you be more innovative and make better decisions. Jennifer Riel, author of Creating Great Choices, and an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, specializing in creative problem solving, stopped by Inside LaunchStreet to talk about all this. We dig into how to challenge our own thinking with the opposite views of others and why people with di...
1762: Starting A Successful Business By Not Taking Everyone's Advice With Mark Aramli
March 20, 2018 09:00 - 38 minutes - 40 MBLet's get real for a moment. Have you ever had an idea that you thought was brilliant? Maybe it would make a massive impact on your bottom line. Or maybe it would solve your company's biggest challenges? So many of us have had those ideas. So what did you do with it? Did you shove it deep down into the recesses of your mind because you didn't have the time or energy to pursue it? Did you rush to present it to those key stakeholders and they shot it down before it could even breath life? So m...
1761: Creative Exercises That Spark New Thinking With Tina Seelig
March 13, 2018 09:00 - 44 minutes - 45.1 MBYesterday someone told me the saddest thing. They said that their boss told them, and I quote, “You need to be more creative. I’m not sure what that means but I know you need more of it.” Ummm, hello — how are you supposed to improve something when you don‘t even know what it means. How will you know if you are successful? No clue. And that’s why I invited Tina Seeling, a Professor of the Practice in Stanford University and author of the book Creativity Rules, to have a convo on Inside Launc...
1760: Change Leadership Isn’t About Best Practices with Andy Sheppard
March 06, 2018 10:00 - 39 minutes - 40.2 MBDo you ever think to yourself, “Wait, that worked for so and so that had the same challenge, why didn't it work for me?” I just had that experience yesterday with something I was working on. WTF right? And I think this is especially true when we are dealing with big challenges. I think part of that is the difference between being having change happen to you, and actually being a change leader. And that’s why I had Andy Sheppard, author of The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd, and a ...
1759: Finding Disruptive Innovation Examples Inside A Microbrewery With Henry Schwartz
February 27, 2018 10:00 - 35 minutes - 36.9 MBIn my travels, I meet a lot of entrepreneurs that claim to have an idea that is going to totally disrupt their category. Sadly, it's rarely the case — sorry, but it's true. But then I met Henry Schwartz, one of the Founders of MobCraft Beer. Their entire business model is disruptive. He popped by Inside LaunchStreet to talk about how putting the customer in the driver seat has been the secret sauce to their success and how to transform experimentation from something you fear to a part of you...
1758: How To Get People To Overcome Their Fear Of Change
February 20, 2018 10:00 - 30 minutes - 46.3 MBHow do you get those that want to stay in the status quo see the light of innovation? Why do some people seem like they fear change? That’s the question, submitted by LaunchStreeter Kelly Foster, that we answer today. My co-pilot, Connie Warden and I dig into how to “validate and connect,” the difference between mindful and mindless and how to think differently about driving change. We also discover that Connie once banked a plane and Tamara thinks you are the reason innovation doesn’t gain ...
1757: Find Out What It Takes To Be A Successful Entrepreneur With Joni Fedders
February 13, 2018 10:00 - 37 minutes - 52.1 MBAre you tired of people telling you to be more entrepreneurial or wondering what it takes to adapt in today’s changing marketplace? Me, too! That’s why I had Joni Fedders, the president of Aileron, a national nonprofit committed to helping individuals and small businesses succeed, stop by Inside LaunchStreet. We talk about the power of adding value to the world, the anabolic and catabolic energy it takes to be an entrepreneur and how leaping into the unknown has helped her succeed. Key...
1756: Leading A Change Management Process That Works With Paul Gibbons
February 06, 2018 10:00 - 51 minutes - 70.5 MBAre you as fed up as I am with all the lip service to change management? We keep talking about it yet most change management efforts fail. That's why I hunted down a few leaders, like Paul Gibbons, author of The Science Of Successful Organizational Change, to help us better understand why they fail and how to do it right. Paul came by Inside LaunchStreet to talk about why most efforts fail, how availability bias is our biggest sabotager, the power of questioning literally everything, and wha...
1755: Organizational Success Starts With Humans With Zach First
January 30, 2018 10:00 - 50 minutes - 69.7 MBIt’s as if information overload has taken over and I can’t figure out the difference between the noise and the junk. Know what I mean? And then I wonder, how am I supposed to innovate when I have no time or clarity? Our guest, Zach First, the Executive Director of the Drucker Institute (yes, founded by the management guru, Peter Drucker) talks to us on Inside LaunchStreet about the negative impact of “information obesity” and how having one part of your team or organization working and being...
1754: Thinking Like A True Innovator From Serial Entrepreneur Michael Wolfe
January 23, 2018 10:00 - 41 minutes - 56.7 MBSometimes being an entrepreneur or innovator feels like signing up for a grueling event, day after day. So why do it? And how do you do it in a way that feels rewarding and like you are making an impact? That’s exactly what I asked seasoned serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Gladly, Michael Wolfe, when he came by Inside LaunchStreet. I think you’ll find his comments about why he keeps coming back for more and how he takes “breaks” between fascinating. Also, listen for how he talks about t...