#107—Sheena Iyengar: Demystifying the Relationship Between Creativity and Innovation

Outthinkers

Sheena Iyengar is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, where she has taught since 1998. A graduate of both Wharton and Stanford, she is one of the world's experts on choice and innovation. Famously known for her “Jam Study,” which transformed the way we think about products offered in the marketplace and how we curate them for customers, you may recognize her from one of her Ted Talks, which have collectively been viewed nearly seven million times.

Sheena is a masterful speaker and thinker on innovation. She opens our conversation with a fascinating take on how the Statue of Liberty was created to illustrate how though seemingly a quality of “geniuses” actually creativity and innovation are attainable by everyone.

Sheena has published two books, The Art of Choosing, and her recent 2023, Think Bigger: How to Innovate, which has been hailed by The New York Times and The Financial Times, among others, as a must read for business leaders.

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In this episode, she shares:

• The relationship between creativity and innovation, and how one is the output of the other
• The six steps to “think bigger,” and unlock innovation, which are—while incredibly powerful—also surprisingly practical and attainable.
• A few fascinating exercises you can employ with individuals to master the final sixth step “the third eye,” in which you make sure that your idea translates to others
• How AI will enhance our innovation capabilities as humans—not compete with them

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Episode Timeline:

00:00—Highlight from today's episode

1:25—Introducing Sheena + The topic of today’s episode

3:32—If you really know me, you know that...

4:59—What is your definition of strategy?

5:20—Could you tell us about the design of the Statue of Liberty, and what it teaches us?

9:13—How do you define innovation vs. creativity?

9:47—Could you walk us through the steps in the "Think Bigger" process?

17:33—Tell us about the last step (step 6) and this concept of the "third eye"

19:15—Could you share your exercise for "developing" this third eye?

23:42—How do you see AI interacting with human creativity?

26:52—How can people follow you and connect with you to continue learning from you?

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Additional Resources:

Website: https://sheenaiyengar.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheena-iyengar-1592b310/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sheena_Iyengar

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.
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