The official letter from The Innovation Doctor. Your weekly prescription of practical creativity to get your ideas unstuck.
🎙️ Was your 'wrong' path the right one?
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Hey Reader, Three years into The Innovation Doctor, I’ve been looking back at the seed that started it all. It wasn't a straight line. This week's lab notes are about the beautiful detour that led me here. Dear Creativity, I don't think there was ever a time we weren't in conversation. But looking back, our partnership has had distinct seasons. When I first took the brave step of leaving my teaching career, we were hand-in-hand. That "teacher gap year" was a whirlwind of experiments with you: creativity challenges, maker spaces, learning to get comfortable on video. The plan was a business called Edstoria. But when I went back to teaching, trying to juggle both proved to be too much. Edstoria, the path I thought was the path, turned out to be the wrong one for that season. Yet, that "wrong" path was the very thing that opened the door for The Innovation Doctor to take seed. It wasn't a failure; it was the required coursework. And now, all these years later, I feel us hand-in-hand again, on the precipice of something extraordinary. It’s that same feeling—the one that brings you chills because you know it's right, and you are terrified, yet excited for what is to come next. What beautiful detours have we all taken that were secretly the direct path to who we are today? Innovatively yours, “From the Studio” is where The Innovation Doctor shares her weekly lab notes. The call-in lines are always open. If you have a question or a story for the Doctor, you can leave a message for her right here. |
The Doctor Is in // Lab Notes From the Studio
The official letter from The Innovation Doctor. Your weekly prescription of practical creativity to get your ideas unstuck.
Hey Reader, I went to see Phantom of the Opera for what must be the fifth time, expecting a nice afternoon but no real surprises. I should have known better. This week's lab notes are about what happened next. One more to add to the collection of playbills (Broadway San Jose -Phantom of the Opera) Dear Creativity, On my way into the theater, I was carrying all the usual static of the world—annoyance at the woman who tapped my bumper in the parking garage, the frantic rush to get to our seats....
Hey Reader, I needed a logo for a new high-end offering, and the process became a powerful experiment in modern creativity. I want to share the story of my new favorite creative partner. More in this week's lab notes. Iterations of logo development for The Idea Studio Residency. Dear Creativity, I found myself needing a logo for a new offer—one that could capture luxury, the bridge between the Lab and the Studio, and a sense of childlike wonder. It was a tall order. So, I assembled my...
Hey Reader, Some people crochet. Others knit. I've discovered my meditative activity, and it involves a pile of stickers and a simple notebook. More on this discovery in this week's lab notes. The Computer Science Teachers Association from 2016 to today is captured on pages in my "junk journal". Dear Creativity, I've finally found my meditative activity: junk journaling. It started with the guilt of holding on to piles of beautiful stickers. I didn't have the conviction to commit them to a...