What's Your Problem? with Kevin Popović

Throughout our careers, we're rewarded for having answers. Experience earns credibility, expertise builds confidence, and success reinforces what we know. But what happens when certainty starts getting in the way? In this episode of What's Your Problem?, Kevin Popović explores the relationship between expertise, curiosity, and innovation—and why the most innovative leaders aren't alway...

At some point, every leader faces the same uncomfortable reality: a decision they believed in isn't working. The strategy made sense. The team was aligned. The investment was made. Then the results started telling a different story. In this episode of What's Your Problem? , Kevin Popović explores one of the most difficult moments in leadership: realizing you were wrong—and deciding what to...

Businesses are automating everything: communication, workflows, customer service, onboarding, meetings, even creativity. The intention is good: move faster, reduce friction, and improve efficiency. But what happens when a company becomes so optimized that it no longer feels human? In this episode of What’s Your Problem?, Kevin Popović explores the hidden cost of over-optimization and why some busi...

Most teams are drowning in dashboards, reports, and analytics—but still struggling to make decisions. Why? Because data doesn’t create clarity. Interpretation does. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović breaks down why organizations get stuck reviewing numbers instead of making progress—and how to shift from reporting to real insight. If your meetings feel like endless data revie...

Ever leave a meeting thinking everyone agreed—only to realize later that no one saw the same idea? That’s not an idea problem. It’s a communication problem. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , we tackle a common frustration: ideas that get lost in explanation. When teams rely only on words, interpretation takes over. The result is confusion, misalignment, and stalled momentum. The fix is sim...

In large organizations, innovation doesn’t stall because of a lack of ideas—it stalls because no one owns the problem. This episode challenges the belief that innovation starts at the top and shows how individuals can create real progress by acting where they are. If you’re waiting for permission, you’re waiting too long.

What happens when teams build before they understand? In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popovic breaks down one of the most common and costly mistakes in innovation: solutions without a clear problem. Learn why activity isn’t progress, how misaligned ideas waste time and resources, and the simple shift that brings focus back to what actually matters. If your team feels busy but stuck...

Most people think creativity is something you either have or you don’t. But what if that’s the wrong question? In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , we unpack a familiar challenge: teams that struggle to generate and scale new ideas. The assumption is often that creativity is lacking—but the reality is something else entirely. Drawing on a simple but powerful insight—popularized by the idea th...

Ever been in a meeting where one person seems to have strong opinions about everything—even topics clearly outside their expertise? You’re not imagining it. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy®, explores the Dunning–Kruger effect —a cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge often overestimate their competence. In team environments, this false confidence c...

Many organizations assume that difficult problems require complex solutions—new tools, new systems, new strategies. But what if the explanation is simpler than we think? In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović explores the principle of Occam’s Razor , a centuries-old idea that can help leaders cut through complexity and focus on what really matters. Instead of adding more layers to...

Most people say they want feedback. What they really want is validation. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popovic explores a common leadership challenge: asking for help, then reacting defensively when the answer isn’t what we expected. It happens in business all the time. A founder asks for advice on their website. A leader asks for feedback on a strategy. An entrepreneur shares a...

In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović expands on his latest San Diego Business Journal column tackling a common leadership frustration: Why do teams disengage when asked to create new ideas? When innovation is framed as a workshop, an exercise, or something separate from “real work,” it competes with deadlines and performance pressure. But when it’s positioned as a way to remove...

Most teams don’t struggle because they lack effort. They struggle because they lack clarity. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović explores why busyness often masks avoidance, how activity replaces progress, and what leaders can do when everything feels urgent but nothing moves. If your team is working hard but spinning its wheels, this one’s for you.

Most leadership teams don’t stall because they lack intelligence. They stall because everyone wants to be right. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović explores a common but rarely named innovation trap: confusing being right with finding the right answer. When opinions turn into power plays, progress slows, learning stops, and leaders are forced to make decisions just to move thi...

Every team has one. The person who always has an idea—and somehow, none of them seem to make things better. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , I break down why bad ideas keep surfacing, why shutting people down isn’t the answer, and what leaders can do to turn noise into progress. We’ll talk about the real difference between good ideas and bad ones, why ideas without impact are just distrac...

Some teammates don’t mean to derail a project — they just do it by “helping.” They work ahead, change direction, or create their own version of the plan, convinced they’re contributing. Meanwhile, the team is left confused, frustrated, and off-track. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , I break down why this happens and how leaders can bring talented but independent teammates back into a shar...

Most business leaders struggle to find time for innovation. The calendar fills up, urgent tasks take over, and the work you want to do gets pushed to “someday.” In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , The Idea Guy® reframes the challenge: the issue isn’t time — it’s the absence of a simple system that supports thinking. Kevin explains why ideas don’t require long afternoons or creative retreats....

HI × AI: Start with People, Accelerate with AI AI is moving fast, but that doesn’t mean your strategy should. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin explains why the smartest leaders start with human insights — not technology — and how AI can amplify the impact when it follows the right foundation. A simple principle guides it all: Humans provide the insights. Artificial intelligence ampl...

In this week’s What’s Your Problem? column for the San Diego Business Journal , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy®, answers a question from a leader wondering whether HR can really contribute to innovation. This episode explores how HR can shift from managing policy to building capability by teaching employees the fundamentals of problem identification, Design Thinking, and prototyping. Innovation begin...

Not every partnership fuels innovation. In this week’s What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy® , tackles a reader’s question about finding better collaborators. Too often, we default to working with whoever’s nearby — the people we sit next to or already know — but proximity doesn’t equal compatibility. KP explains why creativity thrives on complementary strengths , not identical ones,...

You don’t need a title to lead. Real change begins when one person decides to act. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , The Idea Guy® answers a reader who asks, “Who am I to make change when I’m not in charge?” Learn how small actions, clear framing, and quiet initiative can transform teams—and organizations.

Most leaders assume their decisions are rational. In reality, our brains run on shortcuts that distort how we see data and judge new ideas. In this episode, Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy® , unpacks three of the most expensive biases in business — confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy, and the halo effect — and explains how confidence can quietly turn into complacency. Listen to learn how great compan...

When leadership teams can’t agree on what’s wrong, progress stalls. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy®, explains how leaders can use the Four Frames Model —Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic—to see problems from multiple perspectives. You’ll learn why every leader may be “right but incomplete,” and how clarity comes from integrating viewpoints,...

When everything feels uncertain, innovation can stall. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy®, explains how to create clarity in a VUCA world—one defined by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. You’ll learn how to use the VUCA framework as a lens to identify what’s changing, what’s unclear, and what’s slowing you down—so your team can adapt faster and...

Some companies talk about innovation—but don’t actually practice it. In this episode of What’s Your Problem? , Kevin Popović, The Idea Guy®, explains how to spot the difference between innovation as performance and innovation as practice. You’ll learn three warning signs of “innovation imposters,” why most organizations have an intention problem —not an innovation problem—and what it takes to move...