Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
"Innovation isn't a gift. It's a simple, repeatable five-step process that anyone, at any level, can learn — with nothing more than a stack of Post-it notes."
Carla Johnson, author of RE:Think Innovation, is on a mission to teach one million people to consistently come up with new, great and reliable ideas. In this anniversary-edition conversation, she takes Aidan McCullen through her updated Wheel of Innovation — observe, distill, relate, generate, pitch — and the cautionary tales that show why so many good ideas die in the boardroom.
In this conversation, Carla reveals:
• Why a pet-flavoured water startup failed — and the warning signs it ignored
• The "CF-uh-O" who killed a Disney-inspired pitch, and what it teaches about how ideas are packaged
• What brand detachment disorder is — and why "that would never work here" is your most expensive excuse
• How Big Ass Fans transplanted the customer experience of Zingerman's Deli into an industrial fan company
• How the CDC's zombie apocalypse campaign got 60,000 hits in an hour and put Dr. Ali Khan on stage at Comic-Con
• Why Great Ormond Street Hospital brought in Ferrari's Formula 1 pit crew to cut surgical handover errors
• How Tim Washer turned the Cisco ASR 9000 router launch into a Valentine's Day love story
• Why real creativity only starts after your first 200 ideas
• The "how might we" language shift that stops your brain killing ideas before they're born
• How to give feedback that builds perpetual innovators instead of silencing them
Chapters:
00:00 Innovation Is A Process
00:49 Why RE Think Matters
02:10 Thirsty Pet Cautionary Tale
05:01 Defining Innovation Clearly
07:29 New Great Reliable Ideas
09:54 Perpetual Innovators Explained
11:03 Mentorina Pitch Gone Wrong
15:10 Brand Detachment Disorder
18:29 Complexity Bias In Innovation
22:07 Brand Transplant Big Ass Fans
25:38 Constraints And If Onlys
28:23 CDC Zombie Preparedness Win
33:18 Wheel Of Innovation Update
33:53 Constraints Spark Creativity
34:27 Cisco Router Love Story
39:32 Observation Drives Innovation
45:01 Distill Dots Into Patterns
48:05 Relate Ideas To Brand
53:00 Generate 200 Ideas
55:50 Pitch The Idea Journey
59:32 Feedback That Builds
01:04:19 Where To Find Carla
Find Carla Johnson at carlajohnson.co (carlajohnson.co/) — take the innovation archetype assessment and sign up for her fortnightly newsletter.
Subscribe to the Thursday Thought on Substack thethursdaythought.substack.com (thethursdaythought.substack.com/)
About The Innovation Show: the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes. Hosted by Aidan McCullen, author of Undisruptable, it brings you conversations with world-class authors, scientists and practitioners on disruption, innovation, change, transformation and leadership.
Website: theinnovationshow.io
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-innovation-show/id1148455669
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/63nFKf4bsSWo3W72gWtOsK?si=b62d9614237c4450
YouTube: youtube.com/c/theinnovationshow
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aidanmccullen
"Innovation isn't a gift. It's a simple, repeatable five-step process that anyone, at any level, can learn — with nothing more than a stack of Post-it notes."
Carla Johnson, author of RE:Think Innovation, is on a mission to teach one million people to consistently come up with new, great and reliable ideas. In this anniversary-edition conversation, she takes Aidan McCullen through her updated Wheel of Innovation — observe, distill, relate, generate, pitch — and the cautionary tales that show why so many good ideas die in the boardroom.
In this conversation, Carla reveals:
• Why a pet-flavoured water startup failed — and the warning signs it ignored
• The "CF-uh-O" who killed a Disney-inspired pitch, and what it teaches about how ideas are packaged
• What brand detachment disorder is — and why "that would never work here" is your most expensive excuse
• How Big Ass Fans transplanted the customer experience of Zingerman's Deli into an industrial fan company
• How the CDC's zombie apocalypse campaign got 60,000 hits in an hour and put Dr. Ali Khan on stage at Comic-Con
• Why Great Ormond Street Hospital brought in Ferrari's Formula 1 pit crew to cut surgical handover errors
• How Tim Washer turned the Cisco ASR 9000 router launch into a Valentine's Day love story
• Why real creativity only starts after your first 200 ideas
• The "how might we" language shift that stops your brain killing ideas before they're born
• How to give feedback that builds perpetual innovators instead of silencing them
Chapters:
00:00 Innovation Is A Process
00:49 Why RE Think Matters
02:10 Thirsty Pet Cautionary Tale
05:01 Defining Innovation Clearly
07:29 New Great Reliable Ideas
09:54 Perpetual Innovators Explained
11:03 Mentorina Pitch Gone Wrong
15:10 Brand Detachment Disorder
18:29 Complexity Bias In Innovation
22:07 Brand Transplant Big Ass Fans
25:38 Constraints And If Onlys
28:23 CDC Zombie Preparedness Win
33:18 Wheel Of Innovation Update
33:53 Constraints Spark Creativity
34:27 Cisco Router Love Story
39:32 Observation Drives Innovation
45:01 Distill Dots Into Patterns
48:05 Relate Ideas To Brand
53:00 Generate 200 Ideas
55:50 Pitch The Idea Journey
59:32 Feedback That Builds
01:04:19 Where To Find Carla
Find Carla Johnson at carlajohnson.co (carlajohnson.co/) — take the innovation archetype assessment and sign up for her fortnightly newsletter.
Subscribe to the Thursday Thought on Substack thethursdaythought.substack.com (thethursdaythought.substack.com/)
About The Innovation Show: the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes. Hosted by Aidan McCullen, author of Undisruptable, it brings you conversations with world-class authors, scientists and practitioners on disruption, innovation, change, transformation and leadership.
Website: theinnovationshow.io
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-innovation-show/id1148455669
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/63nFKf4bsSWo3W72gWtOsK?si=b62d9614237c4450
YouTube: youtube.com/c/theinnovationshow
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aidanmccullen
