We welcome entrepreneur, innovation expert, professional speaker, and jazz guitarist Josh Linkner to the ExD studios. Josh talks about his new book "Big Little Breakthroughs," taking us through how creativity in all aspects of our lives can be the spark needed to make big changes through seemingly little ideas. Josh takes us through his personal journey from his hometown of Detroit, and how the spirit of Detroit continues to be the foundation for his work today.
Our guest today Josh Linkner has had a pretty varied set of experiences that led to to writing his latest book, Big Little Breakthroughs. In fact, he describes himself as being a “strange mix of things.” From an early age he picked up guitar. That’s not necessarily notable, as lots of young kids pick up guitar. However, his interest led him to focus on jazz guitar, resulting in him even attending the Berkeley School of Music here in Boston. But his journey didn’t end there, as he ended up transferring to University of Florida to study business (as well as guitar). Afterward, he found himself drawn toward being a tech-startup entrepreneur, having a number of successes and as he describes it, plenty of failures. From there, he has become a well-known and much sought after professional speaker and venture capital investor, talking to audiences across industries as well as helping companies find their innovative spark.
The author of four books, Josh and I talk about what it means to be innovative, and how little changes and small insights can lead to dramatic transformations. From his fascination with the video game Frogger, to our conversation on the need for change in our educational system, we explore the potential for creativity in all aspects of our lives, filling what he calls the creativity gap in organizations, and how Detroit serves him as the hub of his innovative approach and spirit for renewal.