Ozan Varol: Former Rocket Scientist
Ozan Varol, rocket scientist turned bestselling author and professor, equips leaders and organizations to unlock creativity, innovation, and moonshot thinking.
Quick Facts:
- Former NASA Mars Exploration Rovers team member
- Award-winning law professor and bestselling author
- Global keynote speaker on innovation and creativity
- Creator of “moonshot thinking” concept
- Formats:
Keynote Speaker and Innovation Expert
- Audiences:
Executives, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, and organizations seeking to break barriers, embrace bold ideas, and spark innovation
- Outcomes:
- Develop innovative and creative thinking skills
- Challenge assumptions and embrace new perspectives
- Apply practical frameworks for breakthrough problem-solving
- Travels from: Portland, OR
- **Fee range: $50,001 - $75,000
Keynote Topics
Reimagine the Status Quo with Moonshot Thinking
Moonshot thinking is a way of turning the seemingly impossible into the possible. It’s the key to leaving behind the baggage of history and fostering innovation. Businesses that take moonshots perform better, attract and retain top talent, and inspire teams and customers. In times of unrelenting change and uncertainty, it’s moonshot thinking that sets apart industry-leading businesses from the rest.
In this keynote, Ozan reveals his 4-step moonshot model to help you launch your own moonshot, spot opportunities you couldn’t see before, and create an extraordinary advantage to shape the future of your industry. The keynote draws on Ozan’s #1 bestselling book, Think Like a Rocket Scientist, which has been called “dazzling” by Adam Grant and “must read” by Susan Cain.
You’ll Learn:
- How invisible assumptions constrain your business (and what to do about it)
- How to abandon the “We’ve always done it that way” mindset and reimagine the status quo
- Why obstacles and uncertainty present opportunities to innovate
- The single principle SpaceX used to revolutionize rocket science (and how you can use the same principle to transform your business)
- Why breakthroughs begin with a smart question—not a smart answer
- How to nail your next product launch using an unstoppable astronaut training strategy
- How to place little bets on innovative ideas without risking it all
Awaken Your Genius: Escape Conformity, Ignite Creativity, and Become Extraordinary
We say that some people march to the beat of a different drum. But implicit in this cliché is that the rest of us march to the same beat. We copy and paste from our peers and competitors, chase trends, and adopt the latest fad. We hide the creative genius of our employees under outdated modes of working.
An extraordinary group of organizations think and act with genuine independence. They stand out from the crowd because they don’t copy the crowd. They unlock the full creative potential of their employees and create a thriving workplace that attracts and retains top talent. They become remarkable in an increasingly competitive marketplace and generate raving customers.
In this keynote, which draws on Ozan’s bestselling book Awaken Your Genius, Ozan will share practical strategies that you can use to escape conformity, ignite creativity, and become extraordinary.
You’ll learn:
- How to ignite the creativity of your team members and unlock their superpowers
- How to discover your edge—the qualities that make your organization extraordinary
- The secret to fostering an engaged and motivated workforce
- Why brainstorming doesn’t work (and what to do about it)
- Why success creates complacency (and what to do about it)
- Why there actually are stupid questions (and how to ask better ones)
- How to look where others don’t look and see what others don’t see
Innovation and the Future of Work
The old ways of working no longer work. Businesses can’t afford to live in a world of endless meetings, bureaucratic red tape, and broken ways of collaborating that decrease employee morale, hurt engagement, and hamper innovation.
The pandemic-induced disruptions—including greater uncertainty, talent shortages, and supply chain constraints—are just the beginning. Although people yearn for a return to “normal,” or try to predict the “new normal,” there is no such thing as normal. There is only change. Never-ending, constant change. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but constant nonetheless.
As we return to work, how can businesses stay at the forefront of change instead of being unraveled by it? In this keynote, Ozan shares research-backed tools and tactics for accelerating innovation in the new world of work.
You’ll learn:
- What you can do to activate a culture of belonging, boost psychological safety, and set up the ideal environment for creation and collaboration
- How to strengthen your organization with lessons learned during the pandemic, instead of reverting to “business as usual”
- Why searching for certainty is a mistake—and how to thrive, not just survive, in uncertain conditions
- Three science-backed strategies for avoiding burnout and cognitive overload
- Why searching for certainty is a mistake—and how to thrive, not just survive, in uncertain conditions
- Why success creates complacency (and what to do about it)
- How to let go of past successes and continuously reimagine the status quo
Talent Short Bio
Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned award-winning law professor, #1 bestselling author, and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker. A former member of the operations team for the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers, Ozan brings a rare mix of technical expertise, storytelling, and practical strategies to audiences worldwide. Today, he is recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on creativity, innovation, and critical thinking.
Through his books, including Think Like a Rocket Scientist and Awaken Your Genius, Ozan empowers leaders to reimagine the status quo, embrace bold ideas, and pursue transformative change. His concept of “moonshot thinking” challenges individuals and organizations to aim higher, take smarter risks, and create groundbreaking solutions in uncertain times.
Trusted by industry-leading companies across technology, healthcare, finance, and beyond, Ozan blends inspiring narratives with actionable frameworks. His programs are designed to ignite curiosity, dismantle conventional thinking, and equip audiences with tools to navigate disruption. A captivating storyteller and educator, Ozan leaves audiences energized and empowered to achieve what once seemed impossible.
Read Full Bio
Ozan Varol is a literal rocket scientist turned award-winning professor, #1 bestselling author, and internationally acclaimed speaker. He is one of the world’s foremost experts in creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. Ozan helps organizations reimagine the status quo and launch ideas into orbits of their own.
Ozan has been called a “true original” by Adam Grant and dubbed a “superhero” by Dan Pink. His work has been described as “must read” by Susan Cain and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time, BBC, CNN, Washington Post, Fast Company, and more, igniting sparks of inspiration for millions worldwide.
Audiences frequently call Varol the best speaker they’ve ever seen on stage. Ozan Varol doesn’t just speak; he ignites minds, transforming complex ideas into unforgettable “a ha!” moments. He has the rare ability to get people to drop their phones and tune in, leaving his audiences with practical insights they can implement right away to make giant leaps in work and life.
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Talent Videos
Awaken Your Genius by Ozan Varol
Ozan Varol uses the story of Johnny Cash to inspire audiences to reject conformity and unlock their authentic creativity.
Read Summary & Key Moments
Summary
This keynote highlight captures Ozan Varol’s ability to weave storytelling, history, and actionable insight into a powerful message on authenticity and innovation. He begins with the story of Johnny Cash’s 1954 audition at Sun Records. Cash initially played a gospel song, mimicking what was popular at the time, until producer Sam Phillips stopped him and demanded, “Sing something different. Sing something real.” Cash then performed an original song he had written in the Air Force, abandoning imitation and becoming unmistakably himself.
Varol explains that most of us don’t dare to do what Cash did. We follow the herd, assuming conformity will keep us safe. But the center is crowded. The only way to stand out is to embrace individuality because, as Varol emphasizes, “No one can compete with you at being you.”
He outlines how this principle applies directly to innovation and leadership. When your ideas, work, and thinking reflect your unique internal wisdom, you stand in a league of your own. Throughout the keynote, he structures the audience journey around four stages: birth, inner journey, outer journey, and transformation. Each stage helps individuals and organizations reimagine the status quo, tap into creative potential, and create workplaces where diversity and inclusion thrive as living practices, not buzzwords.
Audience reactions underscore the impact: participants describe Varol’s message as inspiring, practical, and deeply personal. Some were surprised at how a rocket scientist could move them to tears with his storytelling. Others highlighted how his framework provided both clarity and motivation for personal and professional growth.
He closes with a call to continuous reinvention: to remain relevant, you must reimagine what you are doing and let old truths compost into new revelations. Transformation, he reminds audiences, is not the loss of self, it is the discovery of deeper purpose.
Key Moments
00:00–01:10 — Story of Johnny Cash’s audition and the lesson of authenticity
01:11–01:50 — Conformity vs originality: why the center is too crowded
01:51–02:30 — Framework for the journey: birth, inner journey, outer journey, transformation
02:31–03:10 — Audience testimonials: impact, relatability, and inspiration
03:11–03:50 — The need for reinvention: composting old selves into new truths
03:51–04:02 — Closing: transformation as discovery of soul, not loss of self
Ozan Varol Demo Reel
Rocket scientist and bestselling author Ozan Varol shows how moonshot thinking turns uncertainty into breakthroughs and helps teams challenge the status quo.
Read Summary & Key Moments
Summary
The reel opens with September 1962 at Rice University, where President Kennedy pledges to land a person on the moon and return them safely to Earth. Ozan Varol highlights how audacious that promise was. NASA did not know if the lunar surface would support a lander, and some required materials did not yet exist. The achievement, he argues, was not only a triumph of technology but of a distinctive thought process that transforms the impossible into the possible.
Varol contrasts this mindset with the pull of the status quo. Even in enlightened institutions we repeat what worked yesterday. Real progress begins when we surrender the certainty of answers and embrace uncertainty. He defines moonshot thinking as the intersection of idealism and pragmatism, then outlines a four stage process. Reimagine asks whether we own our assumptions or they own us, and pushes teams to surface breakthrough ideas that can redefine an industry. Experiment invites constant hypothesis testing and prompts the powerful question, What if we did the reverse, to expose hidden constraints. Accelerate focuses on iteration and improvement based on evidence. Achieve reframes success. Even if you miss the moon, you can fail above everyone else’s success.
Varol illustrates with his own path. He aimed to become an astronaut and did not get it, yet that ambition led him to work on a landmark interplanetary mission. The lesson is to loop the process continuously. Reimagine, experiment, accelerate, achieve, then start again. He closes with a reminder that breakthroughs are reasonable only in hindsight. To create a future worth getting excited about, individuals and organizations must pursue moonshots and seek escape velocity from conventional limits.
Key Moments
00:00–00:28 — JFK’s 1962 Rice University pledge and the audacity of the moonshot
00:29–01:05 — Unknowns at NASA and the leap into the “cosmic void”
01:06–01:25 — Apollo as a triumph of thinking, not just technology
01:26–01:58 — The status quo as a super magnet and why repetition stalls progress
01:59–02:28 — Embracing uncertainty and defining moonshot thinking as idealism plus pragmatism
02:29–03:00 — Step 1 Reimagine: question assumptions and identify breakthrough ideas
03:01–03:25 — Step 2 Experiment: ask “What if we did the reverse” to reveal blind spots
03:26–03:55 — Step 3 Accelerate: iterate and improve with evidence
03:56–04:18 — Step 4 Achieve: redefine success and learn even when you miss the target
04:19–04:40 — Personal example, continuous loop, and call to pursue escape velocity
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