Sometimes, what’s really in the way isn’t the idea or the budget or the timing. Sometimes it’s something quieter. Something harder to notice. It’s you. More specifically: it’s what you won’t let yourself see, think, or even consider. This is where innovation gets stuck, before it even has a chance.

We think of innovation as a technical process that involves product iterations, market feedback, creative brainstorming etc. True, but all of that still runs through you. If your thinking is boxed in, the process will be too. That’s why the biggest breakthroughs often start with shifting your perspective.

Mental blocks don’t show up as walls. They show up as habits. Assumptions you don’t question. Constraints you don’t notice. A fixed story about what’s possible and what isn’t. And many times that story feels so familiar, so logical, that you don’t realise it’s not fact. It’s just your filter.