Fast forward: I now lead product and engineering teams. And for a long time, I felt the pressure to choose: was I creative, or was I technical? Could I be both?
In our latest episode of The Frictionless Experience, Chuck Moxley and I had a chance to sit down with Leslie Grandy, a digital innovation expert, to explore a question I've wrestled with for years: what actually makes someone creative?
As it turns out, creativity isn't about what department you're in. It's not about job titles or whether you can wireframe, write copy, or write code. It's about how you solve problems — and how you remove friction for the people you're building for.
As Leslie said:
Leslie shared something that struck a chord with me — and likely will for anyone who's ever felt boxed in by their job description:
"It gives the illusion that creativity is aligned to a role. And I really believe that creative people live throughout the organization. Some of the most creative people I have had are lawyers and finance people who've helped me figure out how to get something done that didn't seem possible to do."
That reframing is powerful because it democratizes innovation. It says: if you can identify friction and think of ways to remove it, you are being creative — whether you're building software or designing incentive models in finance.
Chuck put it simply: "You have to enter those kinds of exercises with an open mind."
But an open mind isn't just about being receptive to new ideas — it's about believing they can come from anywhere.
This all ties back to why some enterprise innovation initiatives go nowhere. According to Leslie, part of the issue is structural:
"They end up alienating the rest of the business that is responsible for day-to-day improvements and customer experience. It really creates two classes of employees."
She continued:
It's a reminder that real innovation — the kind that actually removes friction — can't be isolated in a separate building or a special team.
The story she told about her time at T-Mobile was a perfect example. An innovation lab developed a 3G-enabled picture frame that could receive updated photos remotely. In theory, it was a great product — but:
"The one thing the Innovation Lab did not have was anyone who understood how we sold products as a wireless carrier… you couldn't buy a data-only plan." — Leslie Grandy
They had a product with demand, but no viable go-to-market model.
The result? A promising product became a one-off Christmas run — and then disappeared. The friction wasn't in the idea. It was in the execution path that no one had mapped.
This brings us back to the central idea of our show: creating frictionless experiences. Creativity is the starting point — but execution is what makes or breaks it.
Friction shows up in all kinds of places:
Leslie said something I keep coming back to:
That's a question every team should be asking — and if they are, they're already behaving like creatives.
All of this reminded me of a recent hackathon I was part of.
Some teams started strong but quickly stalled — not because their ideas were bad, but because people in the room started pointing out how "hard" the implementation would be. I watched ideas get shot down for being ambitious, for needing new infrastructure, or simply for feeling unfamiliar.
It reminded me of something I told the group: Don't let implementation get in front of ideation.
Just like in sales, where you shouldn't block a great opportunity because you're too focused on how you'll fulfill it — in product, you can't block creativity by fixating on the build cost before you've evaluated the value.
Leslie's take on this was spot on:
"The attitude and the approach at which that news is delivered really is meant sometimes to shut down the exploration of what it could take to get it done. That's a cultural thing that companies do that actually creates internal friction."
Instead, she offered a better approach:
"Turn that into a creative problem-solving technique called inversion thinking… What's the worst that could happen? Can we address each of those failure points before we throw the idea out?"
Learn more about how inversion thinking turns friction into creative fuel.
In other words, let the friction work for you — as a lens for better solutions, not as a reason to stop thinking.
If you're building teams or products, here are three practical things you can do right now to cultivate creativity — the kind that leads to frictionless outcomes.
Creativity isn't a department. It's a mindset.
Invite legal, finance, and operations into early-stage discussions. As Leslie said:
"You rarely see a finance and legal person in an innovation lab. But that's where some of the most exciting innovation is." — Leslie Grandy.
Don't run from risk — identify it early and solve for it.
"Just having those failure points identified shouldn't be enough of a reason to kill the idea," said Leslie.
Leslie shared how she uses AI not just for automation, but for creative exploration. The key?
"If you told them you don't want to do that, come up with three more, it would. So you're seeing the idea that you can get velocity… to consider more than what you might be biased in your cognitive skills against thinking about."
Generative AI can introduce new mental models — but only if you're willing to iterate.
Recording this episode made one thing crystal clear: creativity isn't just alive in the arts. It thrives in engineering, finance, ops, and even legal.
If you've ever been told "that's not your job" when you had a good idea, or if you've found yourself solving a hard problem with a surprising twist — you're already living creatively.
As Leslie reminded us:
"I had to see myself as having the capacity to solve problems creatively. And I think that is the biggest myth that people subscribe to: it's not my job to come up with a great idea."
But it is your job.
And the more friction you can remove for your users, teams, or stakeholders — the more creative you already are.