Two years ago, I wasn’t sure what I should do. I was launching an advising practice focused on helping organizations grow through sustainable innovation. My dream was to invest half of my time in research, learning, writing, and speaking, and the other half in working directly with clients to apply that learning.

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.

Today, we continue our three-part series of ideas on innovation from the Purpose & Profit Podcast with an interview with Gabe Cooper, CEO and Founder of Virtuous, on best practices of innovation in nonprofit organizations.

Today’s Wave Report is a short one. For the next couple of weeks, our family will be taking time to travel and create memories as we conclude our Joie de Vivre – our summer living en France.

Joie de vivre is a French saying that means the “joy of life.” As in, “they are filled with joie de vivre.”

As I write this, I’m in one country of red, white, and blue 🇫🇷, thinking of another country about to celebrate the red, white, and blue 🇺🇸… my country, for which I’m grateful.

By the time you read this, the barbecue grills will have cooled, hot dog eating contests weighed, small town parades walked, and fireworks watched.

As many of you know, I’m working on a book.

I’m immersed in the depths of editing at the moment. There is one trend in particular that I’m struggling to articulate, and I wonder if you might be able to help.

I have big news to share. We're moving to France! 🇫🇷

...for six weeks. 😬

I have a few lessons to share in light of this grand adventure. But to understand how we got to today, we need to rewind the clock.

Today marks 20 years that I’ve been in this industry. 🥺

Twenty years ago, on June 7, 2024, I walked into my first day in a new job and into a new world of marketing and fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

Just a few weeks prior, I had no idea that working with nonprofits was even a career option for someone passionate about marketing and making a difference. 

The graveyards of history are littered with organizations that pioneered one way of doing things but failed to transition to the next model.

I can’t think of a better illustration than two days—ten years apart—at this little company called Blockbuster.

“Do you use AI?”  It’s an odd question, if you think about it. 

I think the way we talk about artificial intelligence today is wrong.

The conversation is either ambiguous, or philosophical, or technical, creating confusion. We talk about it in a primitive way – what does the question “Do you use AI?” even mean?

It reminds me of the early days of the internet. 

Do you remember your first time going on the internet? 

I have exciting news to share with you... On May 14, I’ll be speaking at Chick-fil-A’s Impact Accelerator Conference in Atlanta, GA!

The Chick-fil-A Impact Accelerator is a conference dedicated to supporting nonprofit leaders across the nation, hosted by the folks at Chick-fil-A HQ. The event is sold out in person, but there is still room to register to attend virtually if you are interested.

It’s a huge honor to be asked to speak on innovation, specifically on leveraging AI to grow innovation and impact.

But I have to be honest. Until recently, I didn’t think of “innovation” when I thought of Chick-fil-A. Wasn’t the idea to keep things the same and not innovate?

If you know me, you know that I believe that recurring revenue, specifically sustainable “subscription” giving for nonprofits, is one of the most significant opportunities facing charities today.

Content without Connection is Worth-Less.

If you want learning and growth to occur, then it is important to create a culture where people feel safe and connected.

I’m a teacher at heart. For as long as I can remember, I’ve derived great joy from helping others to learn, understand, and act on new insights.

I used to think that learning was all about the quality of the ideas and the clarity of the explanation (i.e., the act of teaching). But the longer I’ve taught and the more I’ve studied the learning process, the more I realize that I’ve been missing half of the equation.

This week’s Wave Report is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style journey through the power of redemptive entrepreneurship and the intersection of culture and brand.

Have you ever read a Choose Your Own Adventure book?

Today, I’d like to give you a lesson on surfing the waves of innovation and creating sustainable growth, and it’s all about attitude. 🏄

The pace of change can feel a lot like the unending pounding of the waves: overwhelming, disorienting, exhausting, and lonely.

Have you ever been to the beach and watched surfers in the water?

They never seem to be in a hurry.

The most recent episode of the Purpose & Profit Podcast features a conversation with Nathan Chappell, co-author of a catalytic book that anyone passionate about causes and the state of philanthropy in the United States should read.

The book is called The Generosity Crisis: The Case for Radical Connection to Solve Humanity's Greatest Challenges, and we discuss it in this latest episode:

Purpose & Profit Podcast | Season 4, Episode 2

One of the joys of the role I get to play in the nonprofit sector is to promote and encourage innovation. Every organization, every institution, every product, and every person is on a natural lifecycle that, left unchanged, leads to slowing, plateauing, and decline.

Season 4 of the Purpose & Profit Podcast just premiered, with an episode on a topic near and dear to my heart.

When I first started speaking and writing about the opportunities that nonprofit leaders have to tap into recurring revenue in light of the subscription economy, I came across the work of Robbie Kellman Baxter.

Expertise has a problem.

I’ve written about it before, so I’ll just summarize it here:

Expertise is often considered a precursor to innovation. Shouldn’t the most innovative ideas come from the people with the most expertise in that field? After all, they have a deep and nuanced understanding of how their field works.

The problem with expertise is that the more expert you or I become in any given domain, the more we accumulate knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. This deep expertise deservedly leads to a high level of confidence. But at the same time, it leads to narrowing one's perspective and being less open to new and fresh (read: unproven and unconventional) approaches.

In other words, if you are holding a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.Excerpt from The Problem with Expertise

What business are you in?

I’m fascinated by the search for understanding how and why organizations thrive. What drives their economic engine? And what practical insights can we can apply to our leadership?

The more I study organizations and leaders, the more I see that each organization has different natural strengths.

The answer to the question “What business are you in?” is typically answered with something along the lines of “what we do” or “what industry we are in.”