Ep. 125: Frans Johansson - How Diversity Drives Innovation

This one is a conversation about innovation, diversity, and of course, uncertainty. Our guest is Frans Johansson, one of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners around innovation. Frans’ mission is to prepare individuals and organisations to prepare for the future. Frans is the author of the best-selling book on innovation The Medici Effect, the ideas of which led to Frans founding The Medici Group, a consulting firm that operates where diversity and innovation meet. Frans is also the CEO of the Medici Group.

Frans is all about how diversity drives innovation. This means diversity of culture, of experiences, of opinions, and how to apply these things outside of one’s framework. According to Frans, this is the key to navigating uncertainty and having success. Frans’ own background reflects this. He’s the son of a Swedish father and African-American mother. He grew up in Sweden but went to university in the USA.

This is an awesome conversation that covers:

Innovation, with, among other things, reference to:
- Picasso
- Angry Birds
- Formula 1
How to innovate and test ideas
Failure and risk
Gut instinct versus rationality
Contrarian views
Frans’ own approach to decision-making under uncertainty
Lots more!