#20 Startups are really good at running with an idea – usually in any and all directions possible – in a way we’re all good at running with things, going with the flow – but taking a step back to slow down and thinking critically about your business can be the difference between a failed first time entrepreneur and a true innovator.
Critical thinking is the topic of this week’s podcast with Karl Thomas, a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin on creativity, innovation & entrepreneurship and founder of Creatovation, his innovation consultancy working with large corporates and smaller startups.
Fun fact Karl is actually my mentor & the first person to help me really start seeing my work with The Strong Startup, which was this podcast, a youtube channel & some social media content as an actual business. I’m still in the process of setting up that business but Karl helped shift my perspective significantly and really set my vision for creating my own profitable business.
I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Karl at several innovation workshops – the depth of his reading and knowledge in the areas of innovation, creativity and critical thinking is really remarkable & I always learn so much from talking with him which is why this podcast is almost 90 minutes long haha
Quick note that this was recorded almost exactly a year ago in august 2020 – it was that famous day when zoom completely crashed for everyone for a few hours – we switched to Google Hangouts & the audio recording got messed up & it took me forever to clean it up. Just FYI.
Anyway in this podcast with Karl we discuss critical thinking & first principles, feedback & ethics & how this all relates to startups.
Show notes:
- Marcus Aurelius – Meditations (book)
- What Being a Fighter Taught Me About Innovation by Karl Thomas (Blog)
- Thinking: The New SCience of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving and Prediction by John Brockman
- Thinking Skills for Professionals by B. Greetham
- 50 Business Classics: Your Shortcut to the most important ideas on innovation, management and strategy by Tom Butler-Bowdon
