Where do great ideas come from...really? And how can you stifle brilliant thoughts before they have a chance to flourish? Associate professor George Newman joins the Executive Summary to share what the research actually tells us about how to foster — and kill — a creative buzz, and how to spark more innovation at both work and home in the year ahead.

Show notes

[0:00] What comes to mind when you think of the word creativity? That paint-splattered easel? The next great novel? What about a simple innovative pitch to a company? Or a new way of approaching a formula? Creativity comes in many shapes, but ultimately, it’s all about bringing new ideas to the fore.

[0:55] Meet George Newman, an associate professor of organizational behaviour and HR management, and author of the new book How Great Ideas Happen.

[2:10] There are a few big mistakes we make when thinking about creativity – and the first is all about the “genius creator myth.”

[3:16] It turns out, when we think people are “born with” the creative gene, it really influences who is allowed to be creative, which is ultimately limiting to both individuals and organizations.

[4:16] Where do new ideas really come from? George’s research shows it’s not from within, but the world around us.

[5:20] It’s time to think of creativity as a path of discovery, rather than a lightning strike of brilliance.

[6:25] The second big mistake we make is jumping into brainstorming too quickly.

[6:50] We also prioritize the novelty of new ideas over value.

[7:50] To brainstorm better, you need to have a concrete plan. And George wants people to approach it like an archaeologist.

[8:41] First, survey the landscape.

[9:03] Second, create a “grid” or organize your thoughts.

[10:00] Third, dig in (aka, start throwing those ideas on a whiteboard!). And make sure you don’t quit before you get to the good stuff.

[11:33] The last big mistake in the quest for new ideas is soliciting feedback at the wrong time. Don’t get feedback while still generating ideas.

[12:41] Also, accept that there’s going to be some negative feedback along the way, and that you’re just going to have some bad ideas along the way too.

[14:28] Also, recognize that you’re your own worst critic.

[15:09] In the end, breakthrough ideas don't just manifest out of thin air. You have to sift through the layers of rubble, dust off plenty of false leads, so that every so often, you uncover something remarkable. The key is to keep going.

Be sure to check out the Executive Summary back catalogue. We tackle everything from how where you work influences the types of innovation you create to how to give better feedback.

In theory, auditing should be unbiased and independent. In reality, biases abound. Auditors are human, and companies — even auditing firms— have agendas that shape how they approach audits. These blind spots can have real consequences for investors and the economy. Associate professor Minlei Ye joins Executive Summary to reveal where these hidden biases come from, how they influence decision-making, and why stronger safeguards and a shift in business thinking are essential for fairer results.

Show notes

[0:00] What happened with Enron and Arthur Andersen

[0:53] Meet Minlei Ye, an associate professor of accounting at the University of Toronto, and she says when audits fail to catch red flags, it can have devastating consequences on individuals and the economy.

[2:22] What is the role of an auditor, exactly?

[2:59] What role did auditors play in the Enron and Lehman Brothers scandals?

[4:49] How can an organizational focus on compliance lead to misrepresentation? And is fair representation a better option?

[6:03] Other systemic biases that shape an audit firms’ accuracy include the need to keep the client happy.

[6:42] Auditors’ personal biases – like familiarity bias, confirmation bias and groupthink also shape how accurate an audit will be.

[7:38] Minlei’s research into otherwise positive programs – like rewards for whistleblowing – can have unintentional consequences on how auditors approach a client.

[9:01] And then there are egos – like when bosses pull superstar employees off key client accounts out of fear the superstar will be poached by another firm.

[9:45] Team makeup – whether homogenous or diverse – matters too.

[10:40] Auditing is built on the fundamental principle of independence.

[11:29] To help mitigate some of the aforementioned biases, regulation is needed to protect that independence. But, in the U.S. in particular, those protections are under attack.

[13:00] In the meantime auditing firms need to step up to protect their independence…and so do the companies being audited.

[14:21] “Instead of looking at auditing as something that they have to do, like a compliance thing that you have to hire the auditor, they can think of the auditor as a strategic safeguard for the capital needs, for their reputation and stakeholder trust.”

Be sure to check out the Executive Summary back catalogue. We tackle everything from how to build a better board room to what employees can tell leaders about an organization's financial health.

Canada faces an acute shortage of doctors and medical equipment. But simply hiring more people or buying more machines won’t fix our healthcare backlog. In this episode of The Executive Summary, professor Opher Baron explains how — from an operations management perspective — we got into this mess, and why smarter planning and better use of data are just as essential as addressing our shortages if we really want to dig out of Canada’s healthcare deficit.

Show notes:

[0:00] Canadians are in a healthcare crisis.

[0:12] Meet Opher Baron, a professor of operations management at the Rotman School, and an expert in hospital queues. He doesn’t believe more doctors and medical equipment will get us out of our healthcare crisis.

[1:34] A recognition that our healthcare system – and its problems – is nuanced and complex, and this episode is just 15 minutes.

[2:07] Canada has a supply shortage: too few doctors and too little equipment to meet the population demand.

[2:42] This shortage is felt across all sectors of healthcare, but acutely in family care and emergency care.

[3:12] The provincial governments are taking steps to remediate the problems, but it won’t happen quickly.

[4:20] So how did we get here? In short: Poor planning.

[5:31] Hospitals are chaotic, and that makes it difficult to plan.

[7:21] Let’s look at how one issue – continuity of care, coupled with physician incentives – can affect how quickly patients move through an emergency room. Simply, doctors are more likely to take patients at the beginning of their shift than at the end of it.

[9:57] How do you address these types of issues? First, you need to be measuring the right key performance indicators…which we’re not. And you can’t fix a problem, if you can’t identify the problem.

[11:49] Let’s start by recognizing that healthcare professionals aren’t operations management experts.

[12:33] Opher has worked with several hospitals to test new operational efficiencies, including Erie Shores.

[13:58] With the advent of AI, there’s also a lot of opportunity in what Opher calls “digital twin” environments, which will allow hospital administrators to test changes virtually before implementing them in real life.

[15:13] We can’t just throw money at the problem and expect we’ll fix our healthcare system. “I hope that once people understand better what is the important data for them and what they can do with the right data…we can improve the efficiency of our systems, and given the current resources, investing a little bit more kind of in the right places.”

Be sure to check out the Executive Summary back catalogue. We tackle everything from whether we can fix our broken online review system to how extreme heat negatively impacts companies' bottom lines.