Paul Sears Paul Sears

Agile Alchemy: Why Agile Needs a Makeover

Agile has revolutionized the way teams collaborate and innovate, but it has also suffered heavy criticism. Going as far as calling it cult-like, opponents say Agile can stifle creativity and motivation. We believe Agile is a mindset rather than a process, and it needs the support of other frameworks to be effective.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Empathy, Play and AI: How Democratized Design Moves Business Forward

When I first starting leading design thinking workshops over a decade ago, I learned a lot about how to bring groups together to co-create.

A decade later, I believe democratizing the design thinking process isn’t just an abstract goal to work on; it’s a necessity. When we open the doors to more people, we get more perspectives faster, break down hierarchies and foster creativity. Getting ideas from everywhere makes solutions more reflective of the diverse world we live in.

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Rachel Moore Rachel Moore

The Innovation Imperative: Inclusivity is Non-Negotiable—An Interview with Rachel Moore

Looking back, I’ve seen so many examples of what not to do in the workplace, and it has made me want to create better environments. It also makes the business more successful. I frequently reference a study from MIT that found groups with high collective intelligence performed much better at things like problem-solving, decision-making and innovation. When everyone feels heard and valued, they are much more likely to take creative risks and innovate.

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Sarah Harrison, MBA Sarah Harrison, MBA

Unlocking Hidden Potential: How AI Can Transform Operations Management

In this piece, Paul Sears, Founder & CEO of The Navigator Collective interviews Sarah Harrison, MBA, Founder & Principal Consultant of Order of Operations, LLC. Sarah is an experienced operations professional and author of "Streamlining Success: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Operations Management." Sarah shares her insights on leveraging AI to enhance business operations, informed by her extensive career in operations.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Promoting Inclusive Creativity: The Navigator Collective's Paul Sears on the Gloria Bailey Ray Show

Our Founder & CEO, Paul Sears, recently had the pleasure of joining the Gloria Bailey Ray Show, to chat about The Navigator Collective’s viewpoints on AI in culture. Gloria and Paul discussed and debunked common misconceptions about AI, tackled the critical issue of bias in AI algorithms, and envisioned a world where great ideas can come from everywhere, regardless of an individual’s background or training.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Why Your Communications Strategy is Stuck in the Past and How to Fix it

In today's high-pressure marketing & communications world, not giving your team access to AI is a bit like the tortoise hoping the rabbit didn’t learn anything from the last race. et giving access to AI without meaningful training is about as risky as handing a set of Ferrari keys to an unlicensed driver.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Think AI Can Replace Humans? Think Again: It’s Creating All-New Possibilities

I continue to read pieces about ageism, particularly in creative industries. And many fear AI is a culprit. But as a power user and AI trainer—I know full-well that AI is nowhere near replacing human creativity

But what it can do is partner with humans to dramatically enhance creativity, and unlock it from all corners. We just need a radical re-think about how that’s supposed to happen.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Transformer, not Terminator: AI is Redefining Roles, Not Removing Them

I’m a huge sci-fi geek. Especially dark, dystopian stories. Movies like The Terminator, The Matrix, Blade Runner, I Robot, Ex Machina - I love them all. But when it comes to really thinking about AI and its impact on society, I’m 10,000x more optimistic than my taste in movies would suggest.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Introducing Our New Brand Identity!

Today at The Navigator Collective, we’re excited to launch our new identity!

We’ve been working with a brilliant design team for the past few weeks to bring this new look to life. As soon as we saw the first iterations, we loved the vibrant color, the approachable hand-drawn shapes, and the powerful storytelling.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

The Creativity Crisis: How AI is Revolutionizing the Hunt for the Next Big Idea

In today’s blazing-fast marketplace, companies are hitting a wall when it comes to innovation. The pace of play is only accelerating, and financial markets are raising the stakes to get it right, fast. The traditional model of relying on a small group of professionally-trained creatives and innovators is starting to show its age. How can new AI-enabled approaches flood the R&D pipeline with great thinking?

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Unleashing Creativity with Cognitive Restructuring: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creativity isn't just for the creatives; it’s a skill that lives in all of us. Unfortunately, what we’ve learned from others—and even our own inner talk track—can dim the spark. But there’s a fix: cognitive restructuring, a psychological technique that helps us change our thought patterns and let our creativity shine. Here are 5 key steps:

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Turning Up the Heat: Why Choosing Creative Concepts Burns Out Teams

The creative process – it's a bit like team-cooking, isn’t it? Everyone brings their own ingredients. When it’s time to decide what goes into the pot, things too often get heated. Without care, the pot can boil over, leading to hurt feelings and dissatisfaction among team members. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

ADHD in the Boardroom: Harnessing Hyperfocus for Hypergrowth

Living with ADHD often feels like the lifelong square peg, perpetually trying and failing, to fit into the round hole of social norms. Yet, what if the traits seeming to hold people back were actually their greatest strengths? The narrative around ADHD is ripe for disruption – from viewing it as a barrier to recognizing it as a superpower.

By embracing ADHD's unique gifts and adapting our approaches, we can cultivate fertile ground for innovation. Here are four ways we can meet with people ADHD where they are.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Part 2: Unleashing Creativity with LIMA

In the dynamic world of creative innovation, embracing LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) principles from behaviorism, can revolutionize how groups ideate and innovate together. In Part 1, we talked about the first three layers of the LIMA pyramid. Now, in the long-awaited follow-up, we will highlight the top 3 layers: differential reinforcement, negative punishment and extinction, and the dreaded positive punishment.

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Paul Sears Paul Sears

Hacking the RFP: How Agencies can Use AI-powered Collaboration to Slash Biz Dev Costs

Agencies can’t escape the relentless and often unrewarding process of pitching. Studies show agencies can sink 7-figures before landing a client. And we all know there’s no silver medal. The process creates huge financial pressure as well as soft-costs: disruptions to client work, lost trust, and impacts to staff morale. How can agencies break the vicious cycle of spec-pitching and get into a much more virtuous one?

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