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Probe Your Bubble

  • Writer: Deborah (Ellen) Wildish
    Deborah (Ellen) Wildish
  • Sep 23
  • 3 min read

Cinder to Flame Probe Your Bubble

I designed this photo with the intention to inflict some degree of discomfort. Probing your bubble is about assessing your tolerance for risk taking when faced with a complex challenge that requires navigating through disruption, ambiguity and failure. Corporate case studies have linked these abilities with a healthy corporate culture that aligns people and enables the journey to successful innovation.


Another name for breakthrough, disruptive or radical innovation is major innovation. Imagine that innovation falls along a continuum from low to high. At the lower end lies continuous (quality) process improvement that is associated with minimal risk and small change(s). At the upper end is major innovation that entails a paradigm shift in thinking and action. It is associated with significant change to create something novel that yields a greater positive impact (i.e. desired outcome).


Dr. Carol Dweck’s Mindset Theory describes how a person’s mindset affects the way you live and experience your life. Risk taking has been linked to a growth mindset that centres on the belief that abilities can be developed through learning and sustained effort. Such individuals embrace challenges and are willing to take bigger risks because they view setbacks and failure as learning opportunities. A fixed mindset is the opposite, and captures attitudes, outlook and disposition that centre on the belief that abilities cannot be changed. This hinders one’s desire to take risks, undertake challenges, face failure and innovate.


Innovation studies have identified that entrepreneurs tend to take bigger risks, are willing to venture into the unknown and boldly push boundaries. I launched Cinder to Flame with the vision to open the gateway to sustainable, quality living. My overarching goal is to help solve complex corporate and system challenges by aligning people for major innovation to promote well-being of clients and communities. I draw upon systems and creative thinking, and resilience to keep moving forward… 


Cinder to Flame helps Corporations solve complex challenges with strategic services that energize people, fuel a healthy corporate culture and ignite major innovation.

Let’s consider examples of Corporations who took bigger risks and exercised courage:


  • Virgin Atlantic disrupted the established airline industry by crafting a unique in-flight experience to supercharge customer service that led to a significant share of the UK-US market.

  • Apple’s introduction of the iPhone transformed how people use mobile devices and decreased dependency on laptops and personal computers to access the internet.

  • Whole Foods’ focus on organics and natural products carved out a new market niche.

  • Spanx’s founder had no business background but fully understood the problem, women’s discomfort with pantyhose.

  • Charmin capitalized on “potty humour” as an innovative way to market its brand to success.


Elite examples of people who probed their bubble and took big risks to achieve stellar success are Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Their success stories began with a vision coupled with the ability to sustain high resilience and persevere through repeated failures. While it’s unrealistic to assume that everyone can achieve their degree of success, there are ample opportunities to exercise greater risk taking, push boundaries, and move further along the continuum toward major innovation.


Are you ready to probe your bubble?

What bigger risk(s) can you take?


Prepare for your journey and read this article:


© Deborah (Ellen) Wildish, Cinder to Flame 2022-Present. All Rights Reserved.


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