Most of us miss the obvious.
We walk past it every day—at the coffee shop, in the checkout line, in our meetings—blind to the clues that innovation hides in plain sight.
A customer improvises a fix for something that should have worked the first time. A colleague hacks together a workaround in a spreadsheet. A neighbor queues up in a way that reveals the real bottleneck in a service line.
These aren’t accidents. They’re signals. And leaders who learn to watch—not just look, but really watch—see possibilities where others see routines.
That’s the first move in what I call the WATCH framework for building an innovator’s mindset. (If you want to go deeper into the research behind it, consult the classic work on the Innovator’s DNA by Clayton Christensen, Hal Gregersen, and Jeff Dyer.)
Here’s the opportunity to step up your innovation mindset:
W – Watch: See what others overlook. Notice behaviors, workarounds, and unspoken needs.
A – Ask: Push past the obvious with Whys and What-ifs.
T – Test: Try small bets that turn hunches into evidence.
C – Connect: Learn from people beyond your bubble.
H – Harvest: Gather threads, link patterns, and weave new solutions. Connect the dots.
Want to get better at Watching? (You should!)
If you’re just starting:
Keep a pocket notebook or phone list. Write down three things a stranger might notice that you usually ignore.
Watch for hacks and workarounds. Every shortcut is a signal of something broken.
Pretend you’re a tourist in your own space. What feels odd, unnecessary, or invisible until you look with fresh eyes?
If you’re developing the skill:
Pick a place and treat it like a lab—observe systematically. Where do people hesitate, repeat, or improvise?
Shadow someone at work. Don’t guide, don’t interrupt—just notice what slows them down or makes them smile.
Look for contrasts: first-timers versus veterans, rush hour versus downtime. What changes? What stays the same?
If you’re seeking mastery:
Design and lead ethnographic studies. Go where the friction lives, and uncover what customers can’t yet articulate.
Teach others to see. Build a culture where noticing is rewarded as much as fixing.
Connect the small with the big: that sticky note taped to a monitor might be the breadcrumb trail to a broken system—or your next big opportunity.
It starts with observation, but it doesn’t end there. Watching sharpens our attention. Asking reframes what we thought we knew. Testing gives us feedback we can trust. Connecting broadens our field of vision. Harvesting makes meaning out of the mess.
WATCH isn’t about adding more to your to-do list. It’s about tuning the way you already move through the world—so that every encounter, every question, every test, every connection becomes raw material for better ideas.
Start small. Today, write down three surprising things you notice before lunch. By this time next week, you’ll have a page of possibilities most people walked right past.
And once you’ve seen them, you can’t unsee them. That’s the beginning of innovation.
— James.