WINSight // WIN NY Salon: Perspectives on Innovation

WIN NY’s first event of 2023 – and first in-person event since the pandemic – brought together innovators across industries and career stages for an intimate conversation on the meaning of innovation today. We invited three women leaders with various innovation backgrounds to speak to how they put innovation in practice to serve our rapidly changing world: 

Special shoutout to Courtney Pace, Head of Strategy NA at Frog, who was scheduled to speak but was unfortunately unable to make it to the event.

In a conversation moderated by WIN NY Programming Lead Saba Rashid, our speakers shared how innovation manifests in their day-to-day, gave advice on how to break into an innovation role (hint: you don’t have to have the word “innovation” in your title), and offered thoughts on the professional value of innovation as talks of recession encircle our lives. We’ve captured some of their insights below.

As important as an innovative idea is how we apply it

Aisha Chottani of Moment thinks of innovation in two parts: first, the idea, but more importantly, the execution. “If it can’t be applied successfully to create value,” Aisha remarked, “I wouldn’t call it innovation.”

Shaina Horowitz of Newlab echoed Aisha as she recounted an informal saying her team follows: “It’s not innovative unless it’s applied.” For Shaina and her team, innovation is where the rubber meets the road, and as innovators, they’re responsible for its impact. 

Katie Skibinki of Planned Parenthood emphasized the importance of impact as well. “At Planned Parenthood we think about innovation as holding solutions as lightly as possible,” she said. “Trying to not be too attached to the form of the solution but being accountable to impact.”

Innovation doesn’t need to equate to big breakthroughs; it can be incremental and still deliver value

Aisha highlighted the small innovative changes we make at work as stepping stones to the eventual disruption we’ll achieve. “Don’t discredit incremental innovation,” she said. “When you hear about big breakthroughs, they all had to go through incremental innovations to get there.” 

You don’t have to have “innovation” in your job title to bring it into your work

No matter your role, design thinking can push you closer to your goals. “Get comfortable with systems-level thinking,” advised Shaina Horowitz of Newlab. “Think about what would have to be true for you to lean towards where you want to be. Talk about where you are today and what bridges need to be built to get you into that future state. What are those gaps that become opportunities for innovation?”

“The first aspect,” Aisha added, “is building the critical thinking within you to challenge the status quo. If you see a problem, how can you fix it quickly?” 

If you do seek an innovation title, the best way to break into the innovation field is often right where you are

The relationships you’ve established within your organization can open doors into the experimental roles you may be yearning for. “It depends so much on relationships,” Katie emphasized. “We had a few leaders in the organization interested in making it more nimble knowing we were going to face challenges. I raised my hand and asked if I could help them build it.” Katie is now the CIO.

Recession doesn’t hinder innovation – in fact, innovation often comes from being in the most restrained environments

“Recession breeds innovation,” Katie remarked. “There is a version of innovation that’s super cheap, super quick and super dirty, and that’s how you learn the most.” When strapped for cash, Katie’s team implements lean frameworks. “We once made a slide to approximate a digital screen and called ten people on the phone to show it to them, and then another 15 people to show it to them. Super scrappy.” 

“There’s so many courses out there where you can learn the basics, pick up a project and push yourself to the next level,” Aisha added. “I think anyone can do anything they set their mind to.”

Our speakers shared a number of resources that inspire them and help them stay on top of all things innovation. See their recommendations below: 

Written by Sabrina Romviel, WIN NY Programming & Marketing Lead

WIN Women