Ep 62: Melissa Kennedy: Everyone Can Innovate

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Diva Tech Talk interviewed K. Melissa Kennedy, best-selling author, and Managing Partner/Global Innovation Facilitator at 48 Innovate (http://www.48innovate.com/) a platform for generating employee-driven problem-solving through nimble entrepreneurial practices in 48 hours.

Clearly a “change-maker,” Melissa owes her technology orientation to “good old Dad,”a network administrator, who “really exposed me and my brother to technology at an early age.” In high school, she “dabbled” in tech; but went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications. She worked for North Carolina State University as the campaign co-leader for an education bond referendum, winning $3.1 billion in higher education bonds --- “the largest higher education bond in U.S. history!” NC State “serendipitously launched my career in more STEM-oriented” directions.

She obtained her NC State master’s degree in marketing, with a focus on technology companies. For Melissa, this “opened the door, and gave validation” so she could move from higher education and government to work for what was then a startup provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions – Channel Advisor (https://www.channeladvisor.com/ ). After that, Melissa joined Cisco Systems, (www.cisco.com). “That’s when my career exploded.” Melissa felt like “I had a real impact on the business because I applied some of my skills from a startup I worked with, in ecommerce, to this big networking giant. I worked with 3000-4000 channel partners, helping them scale their marketing efforts.” She credits her ability to work cross-functionally across many organizations as being key to her 5-year Cisco success; and is grateful for this period allowing her to experiment with a variety of marketing techniques.

From Cisco, Melissa jumped headfirst into the world of entrepreneurship. “I just went all in,” she said. “I got introduced to StartUp Weekend” (https://startupweekend.org/) a nonprofit 54-hour event convening North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham Triangle designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and experts from all domains to do amazing things. Melissa facilitated over a dozen StartUp Weekends around the world (“from Rio de Janeiro to Cedar Rapids, Iowa”).

Learning through her own career, Melissa’s current company was born from insightful observations. “Big companies have a problem moving fast,” she said. “The startup world taught me that there are tools and skills you can apply within big businesses to help them innovate. And more importantly, you can help them enable and empower their employees to do cool stuff!” She views her central mission as “making work meaningful, fun and productive, again.” 48 Innovate offers a methodology to help companies move from idea to concrete ‘executive proof’ plan in 48 hours or less. “It uses pitch skills. It uses design thinking.” She also deploys some “traditional” strategic management tools and planning, all wrapped into one fast-track program. “Organizations can bring cross-functional teams to solve their greatest challenge or address their opportunity in 48 hours.”

“I’m passionate about helping other people do things they didn’t think they could do. I use technology in all of my work.” So, Melissa has three tips for would-be entrepreneurs:

1. “You don’t have to know everything.” For things at which you are not naturally talented nor proficient, contract it to someone else, or consider partnering.
2. “You have to develop a ‘good enough scale.’ ” Prioritize the high value tasks; concentrate on them.
3. “The pursuit of innovation is all about practice. Start small. Build the “strength muscle of being comfortable in the uncomfortable.” Then start applying for innovation opportunities.

Melissa has written a book, that is now an Amazon (www.amazon.com) best-seller: The Innovation Revolution: Discover the Genius Hiding in Plain Sight, to “share the things I learned.” She said: “We’re in a new era. We have crossed from the Industrial Age, and its linear thinking, to the Information Age. The tools, the processes, from the old age are not going to apply. I have figured out to help leaders and individuals to make the simple change(s) that make a difference!” She firmly believes “everyone has innovation within them. It’s up to us to go from idea to action.” Melissa can be reached at her 48Innovate website and on Twitter at @kmelissakennedy.

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