Breaking the Three-Story Limit (ft. Carla Johnson)

Mic Drop

Guest Bio:

Carla Johnson is a world-renowned keynote speaker, author of ten books, and a master of connecting the dots between creative problem-solving, strategy, and customer experience. She is best known for helping leaders and organizations cultivate innovative thinking and apply it to everyday business challenges. Carla’s innovative approach earned her the title of the world’s leading innovation architect, working with Fortune 500 brands, startups, and associations to rethink how they innovate and achieve breakthrough results. Her latest book, Rethink Innovation, provides a roadmap for unlocking creativity and achieving bottom-line impact.

Core Topics:

Defining and Conquering Your "Three-Story Limit": Carla’s concept of the "Three-Story Limit" is a powerful metaphor for the boundaries we often unknowingly impose on ourselves. Just as early architects believed buildings couldn’t exceed three stories, people often set limits on their potential. By identifying these hidden barriers and confronting them directly, leaders and innovators can break through constraints and reach new heights, just as William LeBaron Jenney did with the world’s first skyscraper.

Cultivating Curiosity as a Strategic Advantage: Curiosity, according to Carla, is the foundational skill that drives all forms of creative thinking and problem-solving. By intentionally pausing to understand a problem fully and resisting the urge to jump to quick solutions, professionals can uncover unconventional insights. Carla suggests applying curiosity in structured ways, such as reframing problems, examining them from multiple perspectives, and exploring ideas to their extreme possibilities.

Exposing the Hidden Costs of the Status Quo: Carla argues that maintaining the status quo often carries a hidden cost—stagnation and loss of relevance. She challenges organizations and individuals to evaluate whether their “safest” path is actually putting them at risk of obsolescence. By constantly questioning accepted norms and pushing for bold experimentation, people can unlock new growth opportunities and avoid the trap of complacency.

Applying the Concept of "Expiration Dates" to Drive Continuous Reinvention: To prevent content and strategies from becoming stale, Carla introduces the idea of assigning “expiration dates” to everything from keynotes and speaker reels to messaging and business strategies. This practice encourages regular re-evaluation, keeping ideas fresh and compelling. It’s not about change for the sake of change but rather about embracing a mindset of continuous renewal to remain relevant and impactful in a rapidly evolving world.

Resources:

Learn more about Carla Johnson:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• X

Learn more about Josh Linkner:

• Website
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• X
• Facebook

ABOUT MIC DROP:

Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter its starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.

Learn more at: MicDropPodcast.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.

On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (moo-DEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.

While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. Josh has been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world. His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh

is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.

Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com

SPONSORED BY AMPLIFY PUBLISHING GROUP:

Partnering with CXOs, keynote speakers, change makers, and other visionary leaders, Amplify Publishing Group (APG) is a leader in the hybrid publishing space with more than twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books.

Passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard, they're known for launching books that start engaging and timely conversations. At each turn, they have been at the forefront of innovation and have spearheaded a critical disruption of the publishing industry.

Learn more at: amplifypublishinggroup.com

ABOUT IMPACTELEVEN:

From refining your keynote speaking skills to writing marketing copy, from connecting you with bureaus to boosting your fees, to developing high-quality websites, producing head-turning demo reels, Impact Eleven (formerly 3 Ring Circus) offers a comprehensive and powerful set of services to help speakers land more gigs at higher fees.

Learn more at: impacteleven.com

PRODUCED BY DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits.

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com