Is Strategic Thinking Your Comfort Zone or Danger Zone? With Carla Johnson
2 Minutes
Episode Overview
In this episode of Better Experiences by Design, keynote speaker, author, and “Innovation Architect” Carla Johnson joins us to unpack how curiosity fuels strategy—and how teams can shift from tactical comfort zones to brave, exploratory thinking. Carla shares her “Curiosity Compass” and practical pre-work you can use to disrupt default patterns, plus facilitation moves that turn “no, because…” into “yes, and…”, creating cultures where ideas compound into real outcomes. She also explores how habits, environments, and cross-industry inspiration keep innovative thinking alive long after the workshop ends.
“If you leave a strategy session with every answer in a spreadsheet, you weren’t being strategic—you were being logistical.”
Key takeaways from this episode
- How to use the “Curiosity Compass” to redirect discussions from logistical/tactical to strategic/exploratory.
- The “Naïve Expert” technique: who to invite and how it rewires group dynamics.
- How to build cultures of curiosity through habits, environments, and intentional constraints.
- Why comfort zones become danger zones in fast-changing markets—and what to do about it.
About Carla Johnson
Carla Johnson is a best-selling author, global keynote speaker, and CEO of RE:Think Labs who teaches leaders and teams how to make innovation everyone’s business. She’s authored 10 books, including RE:Think Innovation, and is widely known for practical frameworks that help organizations escape the status quo and deliver measurable results.
Ways to connect with Carla
Resources from Carla
- New Book: RE:Think Innovation
NOTIFY ME OF NEW EPISODES
Fill out the form below to be notified of new podcast episodes!
"*" indicates required fields
By signing up you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.