Brian Mattimore “Chief Idea Guy” of the Growth Engine Company

The Revenue Maze

Today’s Guest is Bryan Mattimore. An Innovative thinker and author and co-founder and “Chief Idea Guy” of the Growth Engine Company, a 24-year-old innovation agency based in Stamford, Connecticut.

In his business consulting career, Bryan has “ideated” and managed over two hundred successful innovation projects, leading to $3 billion in new sales annually for one-third of the Fortune 100 companies. Clients include IBM, LVMH, Merck, Pepsi, P&G, Mondelez, and Unilever, to name a few.

Bryan is a Senior Fellow with The Conference Board and an innovation and marketing instructor for Caltech in their Executive Education Department. His two-day creativity workshop, Ingenious Problem Solving combines the newest advances in generative AI with proven group ideation techniques.

Bryan’s seven books on creativity, ideation, and innovation processes include 21 Days to a Big Idea and Idea Stormers. A cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College with a major in psychology, his two new books on creativity and AI are Quirks and Quotes

In this episode, we'll delve into Bryan's unique perspective on ideation, his thoughts on the evolving landscape of technology, and his valuable advice for organizations facing seemingly impossible challenges.

Highlights

• Sometimes the barrier to new thinking and Ideation is lack of time, it doesn't have to be a long process and can be done in a shorter timeframe like say lunchtime.

• Applicable not only for big challenges but also for problem-solving in day-to-day situations.

• Companies that use these techniques are more likely to continue using them because they are effective for example the game of "20 questions" that activates curiosity.

• Evolution of technology and its impact on ideation. Mention of Franklin Covey, Palm Pilots, Blackberries, and Apple, and of course most recently the advent of access to Ai.

• Emphasis on bringing research to meetings with buyers to demonstrate an understanding of customer preferences.

• Redefining the subject, verb, and object to approach a challenge differently. Plus, its effective to apply this technique to trigger creativity within teams.

• Value of input and insights from customers in understanding the reasons for a company's existence.

• Various techniques such as worst idea technique, questioning assumptions, problem redefinition, picture prompts, and the TRIZ methodology.

Quote of the Show

There are so many quotes in this episode, but a stand-out point is that,

“Even if done poorly, using these techniques is better than not trying at all or just asking for ideas.”