Maggie Nichols

With hard data, practical insights, and contagious energy, Maggie will inspire you to think faster, smarter, and more creatively through this highly interactive keynote packed with actionable strategies you can use right now to find, filter and fast track ideas for anything.

It’s grounded in over 20 years of experience with 35,000 people in 2,000 companies worldwide to determine the fast (& fun) way to unlock your inner innovator.

You’ll leave empowered with tools and a mindset for inventing and reinventing your personal and professional future. This isn’t just a talk—it’s a call to action for your most innovative self.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. How you can CREATE & FIND 8X more BIG IDEAS.
2. How to FILTER out great ideas from the bad ones.
3. How to FAST TRACK your big ideas, so you can make changes NOW.

Practical Strategies to Catalyze Innovative Thinking and Action in Your Team

We can teach employees how to problem-solve. We can have senior leaders preaching innovation and change. But here’s the truth for many people – you’re somewhere in the murky middle, stuck in the squeeze.

On one side: KPIs, urgent deadlines, the constant pull of short-term results. On the other: an internal voice that knows innovation is what’s needed. You’re not senior enough to bulldoze the roadblocks. You’re not junior enough to shrug and say, “Not my call.” So what do you do to ensure you’re the catalyst…and not the constraint.

In this dynamic talk, Maggie Nichols shares the Top 10 dos and don’ts of leading teams to design and deliver innovative solutions—and at least half will surprise you! Drawing from decades of experience, she provides actionable strategies to help you lead with confidence, drive faster innovation, and empower your team to perform at their best.

You’ll learn how you can free up your time while giving your team the structure they need to succeed. Plus, discover how to set motivating goals that inspire bold thinking and breakthrough results.

This isn’t just theory—it’s a roadmap for aligning culture, leadership, and strategy to create lasting impact. Walk away with proven tools to lead innovation effectively and transform the way your team works.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Master the Key Dos and Don’ts of Innovation Leadership
2. Leverage Smarter Work Systems to Drive Efficiency and Creativity
3. How to Set Motivating Goals That Inspire Breakthrough Performance

Change isn’t waiting for us to catch up. It’s moving fast—bringing uncertainty, competitive pressure, and new opportunities that didn’t exist yesterday. The organizations that thrive aren’t just reacting—they’re building the capabilities to lead change.

This keynote reveals the mindset and capabilities leaders need to not just adapt—but to set the pace of change.

We’ll explore how Innovation Maturity—your organization’s ability to consistently turn ideas into results—becomes the foundation for long-term resilience and growth.

Drawing on decades of work at Eureka! Ranch, where we’ve helped over 2,000 companies make innovation a repeatable, measurable part of how they operate, I’ll walk you through the practical side of building a culture where new ideas can thrive—and deliver.

Whether you’re leading a global enterprise or running a small but mighty team, this session will give you a clear path forward. You’ll leave with tools, language, and inspiration to drive meaningful change—before change drives you.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Assess Innovation Maturity so you can see clearly where your strengths are and where there’s room to grow
2. Cultivate an Innovation Culture that encourages creativity, experimentation, and smart risk-taking
3. Overcome Innovation Barriers like fear, perfectionism, and analysis paralysis—that quietly kill good ideas before they ever get a chance