“Try to find possibility in an idea that feels absurd”
IMEX America keynote Tucker Bryant spent a decade alongside world-class innovators at institutions like Stanford and Google. In his MPI keynote he'll be sharing an unexpected perspective from which to confront the future: the outlook of a poet.
A poet and storyteller, Tucker Bryant channels his talent and techniques as a wordsmith into supporting businesses on the often difficult journey towards innovation.
Bryant discovered poetry as a young student in college in the US.
“It kinda captured my heart and I got obsessed from there,” he says. “I find inspiration in many things, particularly nature.
Tucker Bryant
Tucker Bryant
“However, I find the best thing to do isn't to wait for inspiration, but to force yourself to show up at the place of creation, even if you don’t feel like it. I guarantee, nine times out of ten, you’ll look back at what you've written and there may be a nugget – a thread to unravel. I like to let the page determine what there is to talk about.”
Following his international relations studies at Stanford, Bryant became a product marketing manager at Google, which he summarises as “a marriage of storytelling with the rigour of technology”.
However, during the course of his career in the technology sector, he discovered that even those on the cutting edge of innovation often struggle to take risks.
“McKinsey has found that only 6 per cent of leaders feel fully tapped into their teams’ potential to nurture original thinkers who take an active role in authoring the future of their businesses”, he says.
“It occurred to me that many of the challenges that Google were posing to their team were challenges that poets tackle every time they sit down to write. I wanted to explore this some more – and see if the perspective of a poet would benefit businesses.”
Breaking tunnel vision
A global range of organisations including Google, PepsiCo, NY Times, HuffPost and You Tube have so far benefited from Bryant’s ‘poet’s perspective’. The process starts with three seemingly simple questions.
1. What hasn't changed in a long time in the work I'm doing?
2. What do I not know about that I’d like to know more about?
3. What's a challenge I'm aware of but avoiding?
“These questions act as a trigger for productive change”, he says. “Many businesses are afraid to stray from the high standards they’ve set themselves, but as a result suffer from ‘tunnel vision’.
“We're all, to varying degrees, subject to the repetition of work. I recognise that’s important to developing efficiencies, but what often happens is that when we’re too wedded to our routines, it becomes harder to imagine things being different.
“Our instinct to protect that unconscious comfort suffocates our creativity, disengages us from our work, and stunts our ability to lead.”
Curiosity leads the way
Tucker draws on his skills as a poet to offer keys to unlocking inspiration. He cites the Poets Keys as five essential behaviours which poets use to pump new life into their art. These are:
1. Curiosity
2. Figurative thinking
3. Imperfectionism
4. Rhythm
5. Expression
“The Poets Key that often resonates most strongly with businesses is curiosity,” says Bryant. “Curiosity will lead you to all the other keys eventually.
“I do a lot of work in the food service and technology sectors – figurative thinking resonates strongly in these industries. They tend to be highly focused on business operations and efficiencies.
“Figurative thinking, however, challenges us to try to find possibility in an idea that feels absurd. Poets innovate through language and use metaphors, for example, to bring to life ideas in a way that would be ridiculous if taken literally. How do we use this same figurative thinking to break out of the operationally minded way we operate our businesses and explore the potential of seemingly wacky and wonderful ideas?
“With rising costs, reduced resources and challenges across the supply chain, it’s harder than ever for event organisers to maintain a competitive advantage. Through my work, I hope to shake organisations out of traditional models of thinking and help them build a culture of creative disruption and bold exploration.”
Tucker Bryant’s MPI keynote: The Artist's Guide to Unlocking Innovation takes place on Smart Monday October 16 at IMEX America.
IMEX America 2023 takes place at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, and opens with Smart Monday, powered by MPI on Monday October 16, followed by the three-day trade show October 17-19.
Photo by Everyday basics on Unsplash
Photo by Everyday basics on Unsplash
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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash
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