Podcast appearances and mentions of John Bielenberg

In this episode of Creative Leaders Unplugged, we engage with John Bielenberg, delving into his journey as a creative leader and designer. We explore his unique approach to decision-making, emphasizing authenticity and resisting societal pressures. From defying conventional design norms in college to championing sustainability, John's experiences highlight the importance of following personal values over expectations. Raised in a creative environment, his early exposure to unconventional design shaped his evolving perspective on creativity. 

Brought to you by Mixpanel—Event analytics that everyone can trust, use, and afford | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Round—The private network built by tech leaders for tech leaders—Christopher Lochhead is a 14-time #1 bestselling author, top podcaster, and former 3x public tech company CMO and has been an advisor to over 50 VC-backed tech startups. He is best known as a “godfather” of category design, and Adobe named his book Play Bigger one of “the five greatest marketing books of all time.” In this episode, we discuss:• What exactly category design is• The “Frame It, Name It, Claim It” framework• How to go about designing your category• Why “languaging” is so powerful• Rating yourself on the category design scorecard• Why Chris considers “product-market fit” a dangerous concept• Chris's spicy take on positioning• The “better trap” and why it's crucial to avoid it• The magic triangle of product, company, and category• How to embrace negative feedback• Why the greatest time in the history of innovation is now—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today's transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Christopher Lochhead:• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lochhead• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochhead/• Website: https://www.categorypirates.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Chris's background(05:08) Why Chris shares his negative criticism on his website(11:58) A simple explanation of category design(18:00) How Purell mastered category design(23:07) What Gong got right (and wrong)(29:01) The “better trap” and why it's crucial to avoid it(38:51) Reflective thinking vs. reflexive thinking(44:45) How Lomi created a revolutionary solution for food waste (48:50) The “Frame It, Name It, Claim It” framework (49:08) The concept of “languaging” (54:00) Examples of languaging (59:19) Spend more time on the problem than the solution(1:01:37) The power of “backcasting”(1:07:33) The truth behind building legendary brands(1:10:39) The problem with product-market fit(1:16:11) Chris's spicy take on positioning(1:19:20) “Damming the demand”(1:24:49) Laws from Chris's book The 22 Laws of Category Design(1:29:46) Word of mouth: the most powerful form of marketing(1:34:05) Chris's closing message to listeners(1:39:01) Lightning round—Referenced:• Rick Rubin Says Trust Your Gut, Not Your Audience: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rick-rubin-says-trust-your-gut-not-your-audience/id1570872415?i=1000606447333• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer• Grant Cardone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantCardone• Tai Lopez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tailopez• The Difference Between a First Mover and a Category Creator: https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-difference-between-a-first-mover-and-a-category-creator• Gojo Industries: https://www.gojo.com/• Gartner reports: https://www.gartner.com/• Forrester reports: https://www.forrester.com/bold• Gong: https://www.gong.io/• Clari: https://www.clari.com/• Threads, Instagram's “Twitter Killer,” Has Arrived: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/technology/threads-app-meta-twitter-killer.html• Kevin Maney: https://kevinmaney.com/• Red Bull cola: https://www.redbull.com/int-en/theorganics/organics-simply-cola• Microsoft Copied Apple's Successful Retail Plan. Now It's Shutting the Whole Thing Down: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/microsoft-copied-apples-successful-retail-plan-now-its-shutting-whole-thing-down.html• A New Way to Think, with World's #1 Management Thinker Roger Martin: https://lochhead.com/roger-martin/• A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness: https://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Think-Management-Effectiveness/dp/164782351X• RJ Scaringe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rjscaringe• Lomi: https://lomi.com/products/lomi• Otis elevators: https://www.otis.com/en/us• How to build a breakthrough … the secret of Backcasting: https://medium.com/@m2jr/how-to-build-a-breakthrough-3071b6415b06• John Bielenberg's website: https://www.thinknado.com/• Eddie Yoon: https://www.eddiewouldgrow.com/• Marc Andreessen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmarca• Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create a Category of One: https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Leopard-Legendary-Writers-Category/dp/1956934456• Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets: https://www.amazon.com/Play-Bigger-Dreamers-Innovators-Dominate-ebook/dp/B015MOJ80G• Niche Down: How to Become Legendary by Being Different: https://www.amazon.com/Niche-Down-Become-Legendary-Different-ebook/dp/B07FLKJJQQ• The 22 Laws of Category Design: Name & Claim Your Niche, Share Your POV, and Move The World from Where It Is to Somewhere Different: https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Category-Design-Somewhere-Different/dp/195693457X/• An inside look at Deel's unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of Growth): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/an-inside-look-at-deels-unprecedented-growth-meltem-kuran-berkowitz-head-of-growth/• Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah: https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richard-Bach/dp/0440204887• What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-Smart Executive: https://www.amazon.com/What-Teach-Harvard-Business-School/dp/0553345834• Inventing Anna on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81008305• The rise and fall and rise of Tony Eltherington: https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2017/04/27/rise-and-fall-and-rise-tony-eltherington—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

LINKS:COMMON www.common.isThe Consilience Project: https://consilienceproject.org/FB, IG, INSTA, MEDIUM @commonworksMark Eckhardt Bio - "Together We Can Be FearLess"Forever curious about the intersection of culture, neuroscience, and business, Mark has spent the last two decades applying his insights and research in a wide range of projects and organizations. He has worked with high-level executives, renowned creative professionals, politicians, startups, large corporations, and Presidential Candidates. Former positions include Vice President of Client Affairs for Globefish Media BV, and Principal at UFUSE Visionary Strategy Management. As the CEO of COMMON, a creative accelerator, and community for social enterprises and projects, Mark joined Alex Bogusky, Rob Schuham, and John Bielenberg. At COMMON, he advises a wide range of businesses spanning 25 countries and 30 industries using a blend of leadership development and organizational design methodologies. He is the creator of the Maniacal Business Attack, an immersive strategic process that aligns intent with action in the marketplace, and has been called on to help senior leadership at brands such as Calvin Klein, Taco Bell, Warner Bros. create new approaches to leadership and responsive systems for operating responsibly in complex market conditions. As a principal at UFUSE Visionary Strategy Management, a global consulting firm devoted to unleashing creativity, Mark helped entrepreneurs and high-level creatives produce outstanding results through innovative business strategies, organizational design, and alignment of partnerships. His work at UFUSE leveraged his experience as an independent consultant and founder of LYFE Systems, a development consultancy that worked with professionals in the area of leadership. Through LYFE Systems Mark integrated aspects of eastern philosophy with western methods and science for increasing human performance and effectiveness. From 2002 to 2005, Mark served as part of the founding management team and Vice President of Client Services for Globefish Media BV, where he oversaw the implementation of mobile and digital content management, distribution and billing, and reporting technologies for clients in the entertainment sector in the U.S. and North America. Additional duties included high-level business development with major record labels, recording artists, film studios, and media companies. Prior to Globefish, Mark spent fifteen years as a producer, composer, and performer who oversaw and contributed to projects for Fox Studios, MGM, Disney Animation, PBS, Mitsubishi, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Activision, Life/FX, Kids Save, Boston Market Restaurants, Power Athletic Footwear, and various record labels. He has also worked with numerous recording artists such as Whitney Houston, Bonnie Raitt, and Ben Harper. He is married to Malene, a Dane, and father of two beautiful girls, a classical composer, and lover of tractors. Mark studied Zen Buddhism under the auspices of Bill Yoshin Jordan, Abbot of the Santa Monica Zen Center from 1997 to 2011. He took his first set of Priest vows in 2007 and completed his full ordination in 2008. He currently resides in Denmark.  

On this episode, let's talk about how to inspire legendary creative marketing people to do their legendary creative marketing work. Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. Letting Legendary Creative Marketing People Do Legendary Creative Marketing Work Years ago, I was the head of marketing for a red-hot internet company called Scient. We had engaged with a group of creative marketers, designers, and copywriters led by the legend himself, John Bielenberg. At the beginning of the project, this is what I said to him: “Look, I know you guys are standalone, in terms of the incredible legendary marketing creative you guys create. So what I'm asking you to do is go away, and design the most legendary piece of work you've ever done.” In this case, it was a brochure that will serve as “grenade”: it was the kind of piece that when you got it, you knew you got it, and you never forgot getting it. They did just that. So when they came back a week or two to present their work, I asked the question that I always ask, “Do you think what you're about to show us is legendary work?” John smiled and looked at me and said, “Yes, we do,” and he showed us this most legendary brochure that he created. Acknowledge Your Legendary Creative Marketing Team's Efforts Another thing to address is to let your creatives know that you are aware that their best works don't usually see the light of day. This is either due to poor follow-through by the higher-ups, or poor feedback from people who weren't involved in the project, but higher up the food chain. So acknowledge this and then tell them, that once they deliver a legendary creative marketing piece that will blow away everyone, you will fight tooth-and-nail for it to see the light of day. Once they do so, remind them to remind you to not fuck it up. The Takeaway So what's the lesson here? One, when you're talking to creative people about doing creative work, let them know you want them to do their most legendary work. Second, let them know that you also know that most of their most legendary work has never seen the light of day. This is because most of the companies they worked for or the clients that they had didn't have the courage to execute their legendary work. They didn't have the courage to say to them, once they presented truly legendary work, “Don't let us fuck this up.” Now, here's the other AHA about this. If you as a marketing leader/CEO/CMO get a reputation with the creative people in your company for A) inspiring it and asking them to do legendary work, and then B) with very few modifications, actually execute the legendary work, guess what happens the next time they have to do something creative. They know that you want their most legendary work. Also, they know that if they put the thinking and their heart and their soul and their blood, sweat, tears and whiskey into that work, that you are not going to be the leader who takes that legendary work and lets it get crushed and watered down so that it never sees the light of day. And when legendary creative people know that you want them to do their legendary work and that you're actually going to implement it, guess what? They're going to keep giving you legendary work. Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.

Arrange a 30-minute one-on-one call, and learn how to make this strategy work for your healthcare business >> CLICK HERE TO CHOOSE DATE/TIMEIs there a way to surprise and impress prospects who've "been there, done that, seen it all?" THINK WRONG!John Sbrocco and Craig Lack review the book "Think Wrong" by John Bielenberg, mixing it with their advice and case studies.Get the REAL self-help practices that go beyond writing goals, meditating, and keeping a positive attitude.Learn how to unlock a broker's ingenuity to build and grow clever, practical, original, and viable solutions to your biggest challenges. Here's what we cover:  How to use metaphors with your prospectsA new way to sell Self-FundingQuestions to change your prospect's behavioural patterns Meet John Sbrocco and Craig Lack on Aug 9-10, at the annual VIP event for healthcare brokers - HIGH STAKES ADVISING 2021. Early Bird tickets expire soon! >> CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOURS. 

In this episode of Lochhead on Marketing, let’s talk about how to stand out. In many ways, if you want to do legendary marketing, you need to do what the opposite of what most people do.   Doing the Opposite As part of the mega category people refer to as Creators, there was something that we’ve noticed: People spend a lot of time telling other people how awesome they are. When you start looking at creator marketing, what you’ll see is a lot of creators just touting their best achievements and how great they are. Ergo, you should consume the content they create so you can share in his glory, or something. So what did we do? First of all, we do very little paid advertising. Recently, our friends at Podcast Magazine ran their annual edition that has a directory of all the top podcasts. What we did was buy a full-page ad in it. Though rather than your usual positive reviews and highlights, we ran it featuring negative reviews. “We ran an ad featuring negative reviews: “Off-putting to some” from The Economist and The Fall. “Annoying host uses profanity needlessly”, and “Very disappointing”. So imagine a photo of myself with those big headlines next to me.” – Christopher Lochhead   Follow Your Different You might be asking: Why do this? John Bielenberg talks about how he’s always looking for the dog with the red hat. In other words, he’s looking for ways in order to stand out. At a time where people are bombarded with information from all sides, people have learned to tune things out. So if they see something that’s pretty much the same as any other information they’ve seen before, they pay less attention to it. Yet if something different suddenly comes along, say a dog with a red hat, you’d immediately notice it. Because it’s new and it’s not something you see every day. So I would encourage people to do the opposite of everyone else and stand out amongst the crowd. “In our case here with this ad, the creator industry is stuffed with what I would call self-congratulatory influencers and hustle porn stars. They are all very busy breaking their arms, patting themselves on the back. So we said, what's the opposite? Well, the opposite is running an ad with negative reviews in it.” – Christopher Lochhead   Things that Drive Us If you’re not convinced or still wondering why we did all this, here are seven key things that were driving us… sort of. It was Funny It’s Different It's Provocative This is a first in #podcasting Category designers force a choice, not a comparison Knowing who is NOT your customer, is more important than know who IS your customer I want to empower all creators to say "fuck the haters!" We share that story with you to encourage you to think in broad and unconventional ways before you're going to take on any marketing or advertising. Ask yourself: “what's the opposite of what everyone else would do here? What's provocative? What's funny?”  You ask yourself, “what is everybody in our industry doing? What is the exact opposite of that?” You don't have to do exactly the opposite. Just map it out and see what others are not doing, and eventually new ideas will probably emerge. As you're looking for those new ideas, start with what's the opposite. Do what John Bielenberg suggests, and go find your dog with a red hat.   Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion. He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the foun...

Over time, our brains are biologically hardwired with neural pathways and synaptic connections that largely determine our behavior. Once those pathways are formed our brains are pathological about following them. This is both good news, efficiency, and bad news because it actively inhibits new ideas and solutions. Real creativity, real problem solving, always comes from exploring the unknown and the uncertain. So, how do you go from the way things are… to the way things need to be? Welcome to Thinknado. A Thinknado is the freeing of your brain to act like a tornado to pull random ideas in and spin them around and upside down. Tornadoes do not edit what is right or wrong for a tornado – they just whirl and grab at everything in their path. Thinknados are the same in that they throw ideas – crazy ideas, wrong ideas together pulling them into their vortex, spinning them back to the ground. Co-Founder of Thinknado, designer, entrepreneur and imaginative advocate for a better world, John is recognized for innovative investigations into the practice and understanding of design and leadership in the “design for good” movement. John is founding creative director of Pando Populus and a member of the board of directors and co-author of the book Think Wrong. The thing that John Bielenberg designs best is designers. He doesn't think much of design as an end in itself, but rather sees its value in its impact on people, and the world. He's always had a tendency to do something he calls “thinking wrong,” which means, “Whatever you're supposed to think, or make, or say—do your best to do the opposite, and see where it takes you.” Co-Founder Thinknado, entrepreneur, connector of dots and people. Brandt Williams is a strategist with a knack for transforming ideas into successful ventures. He is a member of the board of directors of Pando Populus. As a serial entrepreneur, Brandt has served as founder/co-founder/CEO for early stage ventures and well as an intrapreneur and CMO for Fortune 500 companies. Brandt cares most about mentoring people and teams to find their true purpose. Deeply invested in building a better future, Brandt strives to find new paths for creativity, sustainable livelihoods, and fulfillment. Much of his early career was spent at Microsoft, Apple and a handful of early stage companies as a co-founder and senior leader. Galvanized by the entrepreneurial rigor and having built and sold a couple of companies, Brandt joined a Fortune 500 company as an intrepreneur where he was able to launch several successful ventures. After several years of working at making businesses bigger he pointed his efforts to people. Brandt has been a guest lecturer at Haas Business School, UC Berkeley, St. Mary's College and an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts in San Francisco in both Graduate and Undergraduate levels, teaching in several divisions. Brandt is currently an Adjunct Professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana teaching design thinking and entrepreneurship. “Teaching gives a fresh outlook on how best to communicate to motivate. Nothing is more gratifying seeing second career students in grad school find their passion in the process of discovery” -Brandt. His real success is in building impactful teams and help individuals unlock their creativity to build better: businesses, careers, communities and lives.

If you’re currently doing a big initiative, say a new product launch, a new campaign, a sales kickoff or a lightning strike, let’s talk about why you are also, most probably, making a huge mistake. Shit sometimes, gets too complex and we know that complexity is the enemy of revenue. So on this episode, let’s talk about why it’s time to shave the marketing dog. Doing Too Much There’s 99.9% chance you are doing too much in marketing. Christopher candidly shares that sometimes in life, it is not about winning the activity. For contests, as a matter of fact, there is an inverse relationship between activity and results. “I see this a lot in marketing, a lot of activity, a lot of moving, a lot of bands, bouncing and dancing, and there's stupidities in marketing today. I hear stuff like, ‘Oh, you need to be everywhere. You need to be on every channel. You need to be putting out 200 pieces of content today across every channel.’ That stuff is ridiculous. All that stuff is bullshit.” - Christopher Lochhead Where To Shave The Dog Whenever Christopher is doing anything marketing related, he loves to pose the question, “where do we shave this dog?” He encourages every marketer to do a forced ranking of all the activities and choose top 3 (or more) that will guarantee the same level of results from doing a couple. I learned everything I know about design from a couple of legendary designers and one of them is John Bielenberg. He's an incredible business and corporate marketing designer. He has a perspective, he calls thinking wrong. The idea is this, when you do anything creative, ask yourself ‘what is 180 degrees from what everybody else would do? What is wrong? What would be the wrong way to go do this?’” - Christopher Lochhead Activities That Multiply Outcome Christopher also shares another thinking of pursuing activities that multiple the outcomes of another former activity. One should always ask, “does this component of our plan, materially multiply our chances of achieving the outcome we want from this marketing activity?” “Shave the dog. Shave that doggy down. Practice getting everything out. Consider getting even more radical.” - Christopher Lochhead To know more why Complexity Is The Enemy of Revenue and Why It’s Time to Shave The Marketing Dog, download and listen to this episode.  Bio: Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion. He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; was the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.

My recent interview with John Bielenberg about his new book entitled "Think Wrong — How to Conquer the Status Quo and do Work that Matters". In Podcast 730: Think Wrong with John Bielenberg you'll discover how to breakthrough the status quo and improve your problem solving skills and abilities.

Forever curious about the intersection of culture, neuroscience, and business, Mark has spent the last two decades applying his insights and research in a wide range of projects and organizations. He has worked with high level executives, renown creative professionals, startups, and large corporations. Former positions include Vice President of Client Affairs for Globefish Media BV, and Principal at UFUSE Visionary Strategy Management. As the CEO of COMMON, a creative accelerator and community for social enterprises and projects, Mark joined Alex Bogusky, Rob Schuham and John Bielenberg. At COMMON, he advises a wide range of businesses spanning 20 countries and 25 industries using a blend of leadership development and organizational design methodologies. He is the creator of the Maniacal Business Attack, an immersive strategic process that aligns intent with action in the marketplace, and has been called on to help senior leadership at brands such as Calvin Klein, Taco Bell, Warner Bros. create new approaches to leadership and responsive systems for operating responsibly in complex market conditions. He is married to Malene, a Dane, and father of two beautiful girls, a classical composer, and lover of tractors. Mark studied Zen Buddhism under the auspices of Bill Yoshin Jordan, Abbot of the Santa Monica Zen Center from 1997 to 2011. He took his first set of Priest vows in 2007 and completed his full ordination in 2008. He currently resides in Los Angeles. "There is no shortage of creativity, know-how, and resources. A better world comes down to creating powerful experiences that remind people that they actually love and care about the welfare of other human beings. For those who embrace this view, businesses and brands are tools that we can use to generate that experience, and inspire people to take action. I’ve been fortunate throughout my career, and as CEO of COMMON, to have been asked to participate in this pursuit." In this episode we discuss Trauma and its effects, relinquishing the assumed right to power, managing rage, being a black man in LA during these times and much more.

We sat down with John Bielenberg, a design guru with more than 250 design awards. From working with some of the world’s top businesses to questioning the practice of design and its function in the world, John is now focused on improving the state of the world through the application of creativity and ingenuity. While humans have the capacity to effect positive change in the world, John believes dysfunctional neural pathways often get in the way. Using this sentiment as the crux behind his design thinking, John continues to inspire our youth and community to use their creative genius to positively serve the world.

John Bielenberg is an advocate of not just thinking outside the box. He's vocal about thinking wrong in order to confront challenges in more effective and efficient ways. In today's episode, we hear about his take on innovative thinking, natural wrong thinkers, and our own challenge to push our brains beyond their comfort zones. “The status quo or business as usual is like gravity. It will want to pull everything onto that linear pathway.”  - John Bielenberg Three Things We Learned To think wrong doesn't necessarily mean to think better It means to challenge what is widely accepted in order to create avenues for alternatives to the norm. People need to embrace the exponential value of what makes them different instead of the incremental value of what makes them better. Ultimately, a different perspective can save one's neck, much like how adaptive features can save a species through an extinction event. Our brains are hardwired to conform, but we need to train them to think wrong At an early age, we're all trained to do things a certain kind of way—from how to walk, how to tie our shoelaces. Throughout human history, however, people who defied the normalcy came out of it as pioneers in their own right. “It's the thing that's different that gets people to pay attention.” - John Bielenberg There are natural wrong thinkers, then there's the rest of us Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Steve Jobs… they all went against the current at some point, and these geniuses are naturals at thinking wrong. While there's everyone else who will have to work to keep our brains from acting on the compulsion to follow pre-existing thinking pathways. Innovative thinking can be so radical that people would likely flock to the opposite direction. It's being comfortable with the thought that deviating from what we're all conditioned to accept breaks boundaries. In the end, thinking wrong will advance our lives and our careers. BIO John Bielenberg is a designer, entrepreneur, and imaginative advocate for creating a better world through the application of creativity and ingenuity. John co-founded Future Partners, a Silicon Valley Innovation firm, in 2012 to teach Think Wrong Practices to individuals, teams, and organizations around the world. Through his client work, his partnerships with universities, and via invitations to participate in top conferences and events around the world, John engages with thousands of people a year. In 2001, John co-founded C2 Group, a brand strategy firm, to help leaders from technology start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and the world's top business management consulting firms develop, build and protect their brands. In 2003, John created Project M, an immersive program designed to inspire and educate young designers, writers, photographers and filmmakers that their work can have significant positive impacts on communities. John has won more than 250 design awards, including the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Gold Medal for lifetime achievement. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired six of his design projects and staged a solo exhibition of his work in 2000. In 2009, John was awarded the Washington University Skandalaris Award for Design Entrepreneurship and an honorary doctorate degree from Maryland Institute College of Art. Most recently, John launched Secret Project, a new Center for Thinking Wrong at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Links: https://www.futurepartners.is https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-bielenberg-7694a/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bielenberg https://www.aiga.org/medalist-john-bielenberg

Have you ever had a great idea only to have it rejected by your organization? If you are nodding your head, you will want to read Think Wrong: How to Conquer the Status Quo and Do Work that Matters. The authors, John Bielenberg, Mike Burn, and Greg Galle, lead a Silicon Valley innovation firm called Future Partners that gives people the language, frameworks, and tools they need to drive positive change in their organizations and communities. John, Mike and Greg explain the two important reasons we experience these hurdles, namely, human biology and culture. Then, they walk us through ways to challenge and, ultimately, overcome them. In this interview we discuss: How thinking right is all about predictable results and ho-hum solutions How thinking wrong feels awkward because we are acting outside what is acceptable The fact that we cannot follow the same predictable paths if we want to create and innovate How a lot of brains operating on the same neural pathways create a culture The six practices of thinking wrong: be bold, get out, let go, make stuff, bet small, and move fast How letting go is about rethinking assumptions, biases and orthodoxies The importance of making stuff so that our ideas come to life for others to see Why betting small lets us run lots of inexpensive experiments How moving fast allows us to iterate together on learning to accelerate progress Why innovative outlaws need a shepherd and a scout to offset organizational sheriffs and posses How biology and culture limit our thinking and ability to innovate The fact that we say we want innovation when we really want optimization How stepping off a predictable path makes us feel uncomfortable and vulnerable The value of teaching different kinds of problem-solving systems The value of learning from investment over return on investment How incremental innovation, or increvation, will not help us solve big, important problems Links to Topics Mentioned in this Podcast @FuturePartner Future Partners Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio Mach49 Deflection Point Exercise Uncertain and Unknown Exercise Creative Change by Jennifer Mueller Project M Pie Lab If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes - your ratings make all the difference. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening! Thank you to Emmy-award-winning Creative Director Vanida Vae for designing the Curious Minds logo, and thank you to Rob Mancabelli for all of his production expertise! www.gayleallen.net LinkedIn @GAllenTC

John Bielenberg is a designer, entrepreneur and imaginative advocate for a better world.

From his base at the FearLess Cottage in Boulder, CO, Alex Bogusky has expanded his role as brand advocate to also being a consumer and social advocate. This new relationship emphasizes transparency, sustainability, democracy and collaboration among businesses and consumers. In October, 2010, Bogusky called on the public to help write a new consumer Bill of Rights for the new Century. Partnering with friend Rob Schuham and his wife Ana Bogusky, their FearLess Revolution serves as a creative consultancy, business incubator and media laboratory. In January 2011, Bogusky and Schuham partnered with designer John Bielenberg to launch COMMON, a creative community for accelerating social ventures  under the shared values of a unified brand. For more information on Alex Bogusky, visit: http://wwwalexbogusky.com

From his base at the FearLess Cottage in Boulder, CO, Alex Bogusky has expanded his role as brand advocate to also being a consumer and social advocate. This new relationship emphasizes transparency, sustainability, democracy and collaboration among businesses and consumers. In October, 2010, Bogusky called on the public to help write a new consumer Bill of Rights for the new Century. Partnering with friend Rob Schuham and his wife Ana Bogusky, their FearLess Revolution serves as a creative consultancy, business incubator and media laboratory. In January 2011, Bogusky and Schuham partnered with designer John Bielenberg to launch COMMON, a creative community for accelerating social ventures  under the shared values of a unified brand. For more information on Alex Bogusky, visit:http://wwwalexbogusky.com

The TD Guest Speaker/Designer in Residence Program and Emily Carr are proud to present designer and Project M Founder, John Bielenberg and his featured talk, When Wrong is Right. In 2003, John created an immersive program called Project M that is designed to inspire and educate young designers, writers, photographers, and filmmakers by proving that their work—especially their “wrongest” thinking—can have a significant impact on communities. Since 2003, Project M has developed projects in Alabama, Baltimore, Connecticut, Costa Rica, Detroit, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, Maine, Minneapolis, and New Orleans. In his career, John has won more than 250 design awards, is an AIGA Fellow, has been featured in the ID 50, and teaches at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired six of his projects and staged a solo exhibition in 2000. In 2011, John collaborated with Alex and Ana Bogusky and Rob Schuham to form COMMON, a brand that supports, connects and celebrates those designing a new era of socially minded enterprise. Most recently, John has partnered with long-time collaborator Greg Galle to launch a new firm called FUTURE that engages with organizations, institutions and companies that believe benefiting people, communities, society, and the environment is the new advantage in business.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 The TD Guest Speaker/Designer in Residence Program and Emily Carr are proud to present designer and Project M Founder, John Bielenberg and his featured talk, When Wrong is Right. In 2003, John created an immersive program called Project M that is designed to inspire and educate young designers, writers, photographers, and filmmakers by proving that their work—especially their “wrongest” thinking—can have a significant impact on communities. Since 2003, Project M has developed projects in Alabama, Baltimore, Connecticut, Costa Rica, Detroit, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, Maine, Minneapolis, and New Orleans. In his career, John has won more than 250 design awards, is an AIGA Fellow, has been featured in the ID 50, and teaches at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired six of his projects and staged a solo exhibition in 2000. In 2011, John collaborated with Alex and Ana Bogusky and Rob Schuham to form COMMON, a brand that supports, connects and celebrates those designing a new era of socially minded enterprise. Most recently, John has partnered with long-time collaborator Greg Galle to launch a new firm called FUTURE that engages with organizations, institutions and companies that believe benefiting people, communities, society, and the environment is the new advantage in business.

In this audio interview with Debbie Millman, Alex Bogusky and John Bielenberg discuss branding, global warming and impact entrepreneurs.