Podcast: Overcoming a Narrow Mindset

Today, we conclude our three-part series of ideas on innovation from the Purpose & Profit Podcast with a conversation with my co-host Carly Berna about the limitations of expertise. 

Adapted from a Wave Report on The Problem with Expertise, we talk about a hidden drawback of expertise – the more deeply expert any of us becomes, the more narrow our perspective tends to become. This can be a problem when you need breakthrough innovation. 

This final Wave Report in our three-part series concludes our summer of Joie de Vivre, in which our family is traveling and seeking to expand our own “Outside Mindset” – a concept we talk about in the episode. 

I hope you can find ways to do the same and expand your outside mindset. In the episode, we’ll suggest some ways to do that.

The Hidden Drawback of Expertise: Overcoming a Narrow Mindset

This episode is about a problem with expertise and how to overcome it.

In this episode of the Purpose & Profit Podcast, Carly and I discuss some of the potential limitations of expertise and how this can sometimes threaten to hold us back when we are breaking ground in new areas as a nonprofit organization or a for-profit business. 

We define what I call an “Outside Mindset” and examine the relationship between humility and curiosity in fostering innovation. We glean insight from David Epstein's book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and Liz Wiseman’s book Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work and share ways that non-profits and for-profits alike can grow by overcoming narrow mindsets that can come from expertise.

Listen today:

Season 4, Episode 10

The Hidden Drawback of Expertise: Overcoming a Narrow Mindset

Episode Topics:

  • How expertise is often perceived as a precursor to innovation.

  • The definition and characteristics of an Outside Mindset.

  • The relationship between humility and curiosity in fostering innovation.

I hope you enjoy our conversation. If you’d like to read more on the topic, here are a few related Wave Reports:

If you are reading this and are not signed up for free weekly email insights from The Wave Report, you can do that at www.imago.consulting/wavereport.

Next week marks 100 consecutive weeks of Wave Reports. 🤯 Stay tuned for a special edition. 

Until next week… Surfs Up! 🌊

  - Dave

About the Author | Dave Raley

Consultant, speaker, and writer Dave Raley is the founder of Imago Consulting, a firm that helps non-profits and businesses create profitable growth through sustainable innovation. He’s the author of a weekly trendspotting report called The Wave Report, and the co-founder of the Purpose & Profit Podcast — a show about the ideas at the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit brands.

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100 Waves Later: Key Lessons and Reflections

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Practices at the Intersection of Innovation and Impact (Podcast)