Innovation Speech: How to Manage for Collective Creativity. This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. At the heart of innovation is a paradox: you have to unleash the talents and passions of many people, yet you have to harness them into a work that is actually useful. Management professor Linda Hill offers three keys to overcoming this paradox and building a truly innovative organization.

Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. She is the faculty chair of the Leadership Initiative and has chaired numerous HBS Executive Education programs, including the Young Presidents’ Organization Presidents’ Seminar and the High Potentials Leadership Program. She was course-head during the development of the new Leadership and Organizational Behavior MBA required course. She is the co-author, with Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove, and Kent Lineback of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation and coauthor with Kent Lineback of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives of Becoming a Great Leader. In 2013, she was named by Thinkers50 as one of the top ten management thinkers in the world.

Professor Hill’s consulting and executive education activities have been in the areas of leadership development, talent management, leading change and innovation, implementing global strategies, and managing cross-organizational relationships. Organizations with which she has worked include General Electric, Reed Elsevier, Accenture, Pfizer, IBM, MasterCard, Mitsubishi, Morgan Stanley, the National Bank of Kuwait, AREVA, and The Economist.

Professor Hill is a member of the Board of Directors of State Street Corporation, Eaton Corp., and Harvard Business Publishing. She is a trustee of the The Bridgespan Group and the Art Center College of Design. She is on the Board of Advisors for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund USA and a Special Representative to the Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr College. She is a former member of the Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller Foundation. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Leadership Quarterly.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

After you’ve watched an innovation video what can you do next? How can you apply what you’ve learned or been inspired to do…and keep learning and being inspired? You can watch more videos or read more on the topic but consider this. We learn most through reflective action, through applying the knowledge we’ve gained, through experiencing and making it real for use. What can you do or take action on?

This Innovation Videos website is a resources to help you stay fresh, on the cutting edge, and up to date with your own learning and personal and professional development. The ability and skill to innovate is becoming more important than ever due to the rapid pace of change in our world. You may not have had a class on “innovation” in school or at your work so it is up to you to gain the knowledge, attitude, mindset, and skill that will allow you to adapt and respond to change with innovation. A first step is to read or watch videos on this site to get inspired and learn ways you can be more innovative. Then, take what you are learning and apply it to your own life and work. Take on an innovative project to create and develop something new that can have an impact, something you may not have ever done before. Perhaps you will get an idea from an innovation video on our site.

After learning on your own look to be a part of a leadership program, workshop, course, or seminar. Join a group or even create a startup with some partners. Involve other people in learning and doing innovation with you. Keep reading and keep listening because there is always opportunity to learn new methods since new technologies are being introduced all the time. When you are just working on your computer, have a video playing to listen and learn. See if you can watch (or at least listen to) a different innovation video everyday to keep developing your knowledge base and leadership skills. But remember…you will need to do something. Take action!