We can no longer rely on the rules of the past to win.

Innovation is a subset of creativity. Innovation often deals with product launches and is often relegated to the C-suite or to heads of R&D departments. Innovation requires creativity, but creativity is something that is much more broad. It applies to people at all levels of an organization. Today, we all are responsible for delivering "everyday creativity". Small creative acts that add up to big things.

The inhibitor of creativity isn't potential it's fear. We worry about saying the wrong thing or looking foolish so we govern our imagination.

Institutions too often focus their energy preserving the problem to which they are a solution than to innovate their way to success.

In the business world, there are systems and processes for just about everything else. Yet creativity and innovation, arguably THE most important aspects of progress, are often left to happen by chance. The system provides a scaffolding for creative support and exploration, yet is open enough to avoid curbing creativity or outputting cookie-cutter solutions.

When you ask "why", "what if" and "why not" you force yourself to explore what's possible and not just what is.

Business today is all about improvisation, which is the essence of jazz. Perhaps in the past we could just follow the operating manual and do what we were told, but today the world is too complex and fast. Today it's all about real-time innovation and creativity. Individuals may get hired based on their resumes, but they'll get promoted and reach their dreams based on their ability to create. In that context, being a jazz musician was the best MBA I could have ever received.