CEO Total Media Group & Innovation and Strategy Director
Playbook of Innovation:
Can you answer this in one word? Innovation, for you, is…
Thomas Laranjo:
New.
Innovation opens up the possibility to introduce something new, something different. I’m a very curious and restless person and innovation is a great way to channel that curiosity and restlessness. More tangibly, it represents a strong opportunity to solve problems and identify opportunities. I think that’s something we try to stay true to as an agency culture. Innovation isn’t the end point; it’s used to help solve a problem or to create something better. It’s not innovation for innovation’s sake. I don’t think anyone needs that. It’s to drive relevance and performance. Purposeful innovation is really important to me.
Dr. Alexandra Dobra-Kiel:
Usefulness.
It’s about being able to solve a problem, which means deepening our understanding of it so as to strip away all the fluff and uncover what’s really essential for solving the problem in a durable, sustainable manner.
Playbook of Innovation:
Why is innovation important for you, your teams, your agency, clients, consumers, and the industry?
Thomas:
For me, it’s important because I’m curious and restless. Innovation is a good way to channel that curiosity and restlessness into creating and helping shape new things. For our teams, it represents a clear opportunity and a challenge. How can we, together, make things better?
For our agency, it’s a route to solving problems and identifying opportunities again, so it’s a key part for us. For our clients, it’s all about results. We’re in a results business, and innovation is a path to improving performance.
For consumers, I think purposeful innovation is powerful. It can’t simply be a gimmick; innovation is only important for customers if it solves real-world opportunities and needs. For the industry, we return to the idea of relevance and performance. Innovation is key because the same thing that took our industry to this point isn’t going to get us anywhere in the next ten years.
Alexandra:
As an individual, it’s most valuable in the way that it compels me to explore diverse perspectives and consider overlooked angles. This also involves challenging some of my own biases. In terms of agencies, it’s about commercial viability. There’s no point in innovation for the sake of innovation. We need to be solving a problem effectively.
Playbook of Innovation:
How do you create an environment where innovation can fluorish?
Thomas:
Alexandra has actually created a really innovative solution around psychological safety. It’s a way of codifying and auditing psychological safety within an organization and then suggesting behavioral nudges relating to how the company can improve this.
A direct consequence of higher levels of psychological safety within an organization is innovation, because it creates the right tension between comfort and discomfort that is needed to drive performance and make changes that are difficulty yet powerful.
It also ties into my answer of what I’m most proud of, because I’m very proud of the solution Alexandra has created.
Alexandra:
Our definition of psychological safety takes the concept way further in a much more tangible way. It’s not about safety; it’s about creating that environment where employees balance comfort and discomfort to unlock innovation.
So, to go back to the question, you need that cultural element, of course, but also a second element, which I’d call a thinking element. It’s about nurturing the Socratic method. It sounds a bit pompous, but the Socratic method is about emphasizing open-ended questions and critical thinking. It’s a powerful tool to prompt individuals to think in a more innovative way. It takes you out of that pool of constantly doing and repeating yourself. That’s the two elements you need for innovation to flourish.
Playbook of Innovation:
What inspires you?
Thomas:
I’m easily inspired. But one thing is genuinely curious people who are willing to look beyond their own worldview.
It’s so easy now to live in a bubble and to be unwilling to see other people’s perspectives, especially when they’re different to yours. I find that people who show the intellectual curiosity and integrity to see other people’s points of view very inspiring because it pushes me to do the same and not always to think that what I think is right is what’s going to take me to the future.
It’s going to be sound very corny, but kindness, too. And not always massive acts or things that you put on LinkedIn or your social channels, but just authentic kindness. You see it in the office or in day-to-day, people who are just nice, who look out for other people. I find that very inspiring because it encourages me to be as well. Those two things inspire me: curiosity and kindness.
Alexandra:
Philosophy.
I know that philosophy has quite a bad reputation because we often think that it’s not practical in terms of its application, but actually it is very practical because of how it can help you in exploring mental questions, pursuing rigorous thinking, challenging assumptions, engaging with diverse perspectives, pursuing interdisciplinary thinking, pursuing endless intellectual possibilities, and really trying to understand the complexities of a problem that surrounds you.
All of these, we surely agree, have really practical applications. So, I’d say philosophy is a source of inspiration for me.
Playbook of Innovation:
Is there a tool, service, or product inside your agency that you consider a great example of innovation?
Thomas:
Yes. Two amongst a number. One is Reveal-Ex, the solution and service around auditing and codifying psychological safety, and the other is Reveal-AI, a framework for understanding the behaviors at an individual and company level that will help companies to roll out AI most effectively.
What I love about both Reveal-AI and Reveal-Ex is that they put people at the heart of the solution, understanding how we can drive innovation through improving the conditions and culture around our people. They’re innovative because they’re completely proprietary. Original thinking helped spark them. They solve real-world problems.
In the end, they’re exciting because you go to bed thinking, if people take up these solutions, when they take up these solutions, you’ve helped company cultures to improve. You’ve helped people’s team dynamic to improve and be more enjoyable. You’ve helped people to roll out AI in a way that’s dignified, relevant, and exciting, as opposed to scary and worrying, with a high degree of ethics. Those are my two favorite solutions.
Alexandra:
The same person, with the same capabilities, depending on the environment in which that person is, could create or could not create these solutions. I’d say Tom was key in creating that environment.
Playbook of Innovation:
In your opinion, what’s the most innovative thing about Mediaplus?
Thomas:
What I find innovative about Mediaplus is that you’re always looking to innovate.
Every seminar, every touchpoint I go to you’re relentlessly trying something new. Even if they don’t work, you’ll try something else. That’s the mark of a company dedicated to delivering innovation , because you appreciate that not everything works, not everything’s perfect, but you have to keep trying, keep striving to do things better. The hunger for innovation is probably the most innovative thing about Mediaplus.
Playbook of Innovation:
Did your view of innovation change in the last years? If yes, why?
Thomas:
Yes, definitely. The quick answer is that I’ve learned how important it is to have good questions before you embark on innovation. I’ve seen the importance of understanding what you’re trying to achieve and how you want to do it. Without purpose, without critical questioning, efforts end up being quite meaningless.
So, yes, I’m constantly reminded of the power of good questioning. And when I haven’t done that, my attempts at innovation have definitely been the worst for sure.
Alexandra:
I’d say it didn’t really change.
Years ago, when I embarked on my PhD, the idea was that any PhD needs to be innovative. Back then, I considered innovation to be this grandiose new addition that no one has ever thought about. That thought was scary because you have very few individuals throughout history who have managed to do that.
But then I came to appreciate that it’s more a matter of expanding usefulness. Innovation can also be about shedding a different – and useful – light on an already explored solution. That view of innovation hasn’t changed for me. My main worry is that we cast innovation in anything that has to do with big tech, big investments. But we don’t really quiz whether these big investments actually have the results societally, but also economically that we expect them to have.
I do wonder if, after all this frenzy of “innovation, innovation, technology, technology,” we won’t end up in a situation where we can’t distinguish between what is truly innovative and what is not, and perhaps find ourselves in a situation where a few of us will hold a certain skepticism towards innovation.
Playbook of Innovation:
Thank you for sharing your insights into the world of innovation. Before we wrap up, let’s settle the age-old debate. Are you a cat or a dog person?
Thomas:
Cats. One million percent cats.
We’re a crazy cat house. We have three cats. If the question is cats versus dogs, I think they’re much better and less needy. I love the behavior of cats. They’re a lot more elegant, a lot more fun, a lot more playful, and easier to manage. Definitely cats.
Alexandra:
Definitely cats because they’re far more elegant, and as a person who pays quite a lot of attention towards aesthetics, cats just win that game in comparison to dogs.
Sorry to all dog lovers. I’m sure they’re cute, but they just can’t compete with cats.
