Carla Johnson

Carla Johnson Speaking Topics

• RE:Think InnovationTM

  People think innovation is expensive, time-consuming, and complicated. That it takes special skills, special titles, and special budgets. Are we doomed to a life of status-quo thinking and underperforming results? Of wistfully dreaming we’re the golden unicorn who comes up with fantastical ideas at the drop of a hat?

  What if, instead of struggle and frustration, there was a proven framework for consistently developing the great ideas that drive bottom-line impact? And what if everyone in your organization could learn it?

  Audience Takeaways...

  • Reimagine the role innovative thinking plays in how teams and organizations get work done.
  • Understand why most groups fail at innovation even though they say it’s a key competitive priority.
  • Learn the 5 irrefutable steps to innovation that will empower you to consistently come up with inspired ideas for any situation that delivers a bottom-line impact.

  Ideal for...

  • Demystifying how innovation icons break through status-quo thinking with less friction and less risk.
  • Understanding why true innovation can come from anywhere in an organization and lead to measurable results in days, not years.
  • Learning how to introduce a new culture of innovation where people are excited to develop new ideas, make good ideas better, and support a mindset of innovation by everyone.

• Applied Curiosity

  The world around us is moving faster than ever before. While efficiency, productivity, and AI are the de rigueur of the day, teams are struggling to keep pace with change. What if, instead of being a time-consuming distraction, curiosity is the ultimate competitive advantage that’s right under our noses?

  It’s time we understand the true fundamentals of curiosity and how to apply them so that we can not only do more, better, and faster, but also find a way to connect on a deeper human level. All while finding a renewed sense of excitement about the future and our collective contribution to it.

  Audience Takeaways...

  • Discover the two fundamental criteria necessary for curiosity to flourish.
  • Learn the three ways of thinking that makes better results come faster.
  • Ignite a movement that values questioning, experimentation, and collaboration to elevate outcomes everywhere.

  Ideal for...

  • Cracking the curiosity code and learning how to build your team’s curiosity muscles from the ground up.
  • Creating an ecosystem that ensures that the way we work is inspired, educated, collaborative, psychologically safe, and grounded in care and intention.
  • Building a shortcut to smarter innovation, deeper trust, and monumental growth. Teams that can instantly deploy curiosity will be the ones that thrive in the future of work.

The Muse and the Machine: How Human Creativity Propels an AI World Forward

While technology and Generative AI have exploded, the ability to think creatively is the one core human truth that will remain relevant in this brave new world. Instead of defaulting to using technology to think for us, do for us, and succumb to its dominance, it’s critical that we reawaken our childlike sense of possibility.

Gone are the days when we can compete by having a few innovative thinkers lead the collective. It’s more important now than ever to equip every individual, team, and department in your organization with the skills and tools to develop, champion, and execute on high-quality, highly relevant ideas in any situation.

Audience Takeaways...

• Bust the belief that you’re ‘not the creative type’ and AI’s the answer.
• Learn how to reignite your latent creative genius by bringing a renewed sense of fun, playfulness, and imagination to your work.
• Discover how creativity fuels alignment, adaptability, and collaboration, creating the ultimate environment for greater growth and performance.

Ideal For...

• Discovering why imaginative thinking is your ultimate competitive advantage in the world of AI.
• Learning why rethinking the status quo is the least risky route to revenue growth.
• Catalyzing your personal creative muscle, executing on your imagination, and knowing when and how to take smart risks with avant-garde ideas.

The Six Faces of Innovation

People think to be innovative, you need to maximize your tech and your processes. They focus on KPIs, OKRs, and stacks of technology. The tools aren’t the answer, it’s the people using the tools that create sustainable impact. Processes and technology without the human connection just create bureaucracy and organizational silos. The result is that your efforts toward innovation actually stymie growth, rather than encourage it.

What if we gave the same time, attention, and detailed consideration to the human elements of innovation as we do the processes and technology? The real opportunity for growth lies in human integration.

Audience Takeaways...

• Learn the six types of innovative thinkers and how they show up in the world.
• Master the ability to identify why teams get stuck delivering uninspired work, and quick shifts that turn into original outcomes.
• Increase collaboration, trust, and adaptability of teams as everyone rediscovers the joy of the work they do and the people they work with.

Ideal For...

• Knowing and understanding the drivers of each member’s superpowers to allow teams to unlock and unleash the potential of everyone’s ideas.
• Creating an ecosystem that draws on your team’s broader pool of expertise.
• Building teams that solve bigger, more complex problems with greater creativity, faster execution, and better outcomes.