562: Steve Jobs' Former Colleague on How to Achieve Creative Velocity in the Age of Gen AI

562: Steve Jobs' Former Colleague on How to Achieve Creative Velocity in the Age of Gen AI

Leslie Grandy, a seasoned executive who has led global product teams at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and T-Mobile, shares a deeply practical perspective on how leaders can activate creativity across functions, not just in design or strategy.



Drawing from her early years in the film industry and later executive roles in technology, Grandy explains how she developed three capabilities that proved critical in high-performance product environments:



"You've got to grind it out… and you have to have that intrinsic motivation to continue, even when it looks like failure is obvious."

"You have to be resilient and flexible… because you have so many people depending on the outcome."

"If I haven't seen the problem before, it doesn't seem daunting to me… It seems fun."

These capabilities (grit, adaptability, and creative problem solving) formed the foundation of her success in ambiguous, fast-moving, and high-stakes environments.

Grandy also speaks directly to what supports and undermines creative velocity inside organizations. She notes that the most adaptive cultures don't reserve creativity for a few select teams:

"They expect every role is going to show up with that same creative intention… that the status quo doesn't seep into the lower ranks."

But she also warns:

"Status quo as a cultural norm is dangerous."
"Consensus-driven thinking is equally problematic for creative velocity."

Her insights on Steve Jobs provide a rare look inside Apple's leadership culture. When asked about her interview with him, she explains:

"Your interview will be five minutes or it'll be 60 minutes. It's up to Steve."
"I didn't come in there acting like I was an equal… I just came in there with a confidence that I could answer whatever he asked."

When her team added preset engraving suggestions to iPods to help customers complete purchases, Jobs reacted immediately:

"He saw it, and within a day, it was pulled down."
"He had such a finite view of his brand… there were no blurry edges around the brand."

Grandy's new book, Creative Velocity, argues that creativity is not a fixed trait, but a capability that can be developed with intention.

She addresses how leaders should approach generative AI, not just as an efficiency tool, but as a creative partner:

"What's really transformative… is doing the exact opposite of prompt engineering."
"It's not about speed to answer. It's about using that time to evolve a thought into different tributaries of thought."

This episode raises a critical question for senior leaders:

"Are you designing your organization to perform or to invent?"

Get Leslie's book here: https://rb.gy/d5zr69

Creative Velocity: Propelling Breakthrough Ideas in the Age of Generative AI

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128: How to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and bad excuses, with Martin Lindstrom

128: How to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and bad excuses, with Martin Lindstrom

Martin's book THE MINISTRY OF COMMON SENSE: https://amzn.to/3962pE9 Meet New York Times bestselling author Martin Lindstrom (one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People). We interviewed Martin about his new book THE MINISTRY OF COMMON SENSE: How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Bad Excuses, and Corporate BS. Doesn't your workplace drive you crazy when you get cc'ed on irrelevant email chains, invited to unnecessary meetings, or forbidden by company policy to do the exact thing your boss commands you to do? These and many other frustrations stem from the same underlying cause: a lack of common sense! In an interview Martin discusses the most typical roadblocks to common sense: (Bad) customer experience Politics Technology Meetings and Power Points Rules, Regulations, and Policies Compliance and Legal And has remedies for all. Martin Lindstrom is the founder and chairman of Lindstrom Company, a global branding & culture transformation firm, operating across five continents and more than 30 countries. TIME Magazine has named Lindstrom one of the "World's 100 Most Influential People," and for three years running, Thinkers50, has selected Lindstrom to be among the world's top 50 business thinkers. Among the companies he advises are Burger King, Lowes, Boar's Head, Beverly Hills Hotels, Pepsi, Nestle and Google. Lindstrom is the author of seven books including several New York Times bestsellers that have been translated into 60 languages. The Wall-Street Journal praised his book Brand Sense as "one of the five best marketing books ever published," and his book Small Data as "revolutionary," and TIME called his book Buyology "a breakthrough in branding."

21 Jan 20211h 17min

127: Fear is not a strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #11)

127: Fear is not a strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #11)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

18 Jan 202130min

126: One of the biggest strategy shifts ever in the next 10 to 20 years (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #10)

126: One of the biggest strategy shifts ever in the next 10 to 20 years (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #10)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

11 Jan 202128min

125: Netflix vs. Disney+ vs. AppleTV vs. HBO Max (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #9)

125: Netflix vs. Disney+ vs. AppleTV vs. HBO Max (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #9)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

21 Dec 202030min

124: What Bob Dylan teaches us about digital strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #8)

124: What Bob Dylan teaches us about digital strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #8)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

14 Dec 202028min

123: Career strategies don't build themselves (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #7)

123: Career strategies don't build themselves (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #7)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

7 Dec 202028min

122: What is strategy, Understanding Michael Porter, ex HBR editor & MBB partner. Joan Magretta

122: What is strategy, Understanding Michael Porter, ex HBR editor & MBB partner. Joan Magretta

Joan Magretta, M.B.A (Harvard)., Ph. D., is an award-winning contributor to the HBR, where she was the strategy editor (1990s). Prior to that Joan was a partner at Bain & Company. As part of her distinguished career, Joan worked closely with Michael Porter and published number of important books, including her latest books: What is Strategy: https://amzn.to/2Jp80LV Understanding Michael Porter: https://amzn.to/39EECMj Free training episodes here: https://www.firmsconsulting.com/promo We use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using our affiliate links, we will get a bonus).

4 Dec 202059min

121: Strategy is in the details (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #6)

121: Strategy is in the details (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #6)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we're going to focus on four major themes from last week's news. To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for "Strategy Skills" in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

30 Nov 202025min

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