How Reflection and Purpose Drive Tech Innovation and Success with Elizabeth Bieniek

For today’s episode, Mike is joined by leadership and innovation consultant, Elizabeth Bieniek. The tech visionary who co-founded WebEx Hologram at Cisco and was named one of the topmost influential female founders by TechCrunch. Elizabeth helps founders and teams stay clear on their why, so they can make better choices and grow with purpose. KEY TAKEAWAYS Solve real human problems instead of just creating innovative features. Schedule regular, uninterrupted strategic thinking time. When deciding where to focus, ask – will this matter to the operation in a week´s time or several months’ time? Hold monthly team and quarterly offsite strategy meetings to avoid mission drift. Writing down your goals and thoughts, by hand, provides you with clarity. Use journaling extensively. Innovation isn't always about creating something entirely new but about solving existing problems in more efficient or creative ways. Taking action is more important than perfect planning. Start small, test your ideas, and be willing to course-correct quickly. Make the workplace fun and more human. Speak to 35 different people when doing research. That diversity of thought is revealing. Understand what your employees truly value. Hire and manage based on thinking and potential. Focus on developing your strengths rather than fixing every weakness. Delegate. Get out of your own head and just do it. Always ask why something is done a certain way. In many cases, the reason will no longer be valid. BEST MOMENTS 2.00 "Tech is always about the why? It's always about people first." 6.00 "Don't start running until you realize what direction you're going and who's carrying the water." 9.57 "Be bored for a while, because that's when your brain kicks in. You come up with a really cool idea." 21.29 “Teams get very demotivated when you don't have milestones, you don't have phases.” 28.32 “I think everyone needs to be very aligned to their contribution and how their contribution impacts the whole because otherwise you're just plugging code.” 37.22 “The technology needs to serve the purpose that you're trying to accomplish.” 40.25 “You can literally gamify anything. You can make anything fun.” 52.57 "Innovation is really just doing something differently." 56.04 "Action trumps everything." 1.05.33 “It´s the moment, taking an intentional pause every day.” 1.07.43 "I'm not hiring you to punch a timecard and fill a certain number of hours. I'm hiring you because of the way you think." If you enjoyed the show, please do me a favour - Hit that subscribe button and send me your growth challenges at https://masteringtechgrowth.com. I really want to know what you're working on and what keeps you up at night. ABOUT THE GUEST https://cakeontuesday.com ABOUT THE HOST Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals. As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/