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Mick Ebeling

Founder and CEO, Not Impossible Labs; Author, Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn’t Be Done

Mick Ebeling

Mick Ebeling’s speaking fee:Over $70,000

Mick Ebeling is an innovation keynote speaker, Founder and CEO of Not Impossible Labs and the Not Impossible Institute, and author of Not Impossible: Do What Can’t Be Done (Simon & Schuster). He created the Commit Then Figure It Out™ Framework, a leadership and innovation methodology for making high-stakes commitments under uncertainty: executive teams lock in the outcome first, distinguish real constraints from organizational friction, and build the path to execution.

Teams Mick has led have earned three TIME Best Inventions and two Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards, and Not Impossible Labs was named a 2026 Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators winner. His portfolio includes the EyeWriter, which enabled paralyzed artist Tempt One to draw using only eye movements; Project Daniel, which deployed 3D-printed prosthetics in war-torn South Sudan; Music: Not Impossible, wearable haptic technology that lets deaf audiences experience live music; and Bento, a health-tech platform that has delivered more than 6 million meals to high-risk Medicaid and Medicare patients.

Fortune named Mick one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. He is a three-time Tribeca Disruptor Award recipient, a two-time SXSW Innovation of the Year winner, and a WIRED Agent of Change. He has delivered keynotes and workshops for more than 500 organizations, including over 50 Fortune 500 companies such as Deloitte, Microsoft, Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly.

Through the Not Impossible Institute, Mick works directly with executive teams at organizations like Baker Hughes and Eli Lilly to overcome organizational inertia, accelerate R&D, and execute high-stakes innovation strategy, from AI implementation to market transformation. Executive audiences leave with a field-tested method for making bold commitments and executing on them when the path isn’t clear.

Mick Ebeling’s Speech Topics

Innovation Culture and Execution

Give the people closest to the problem permission to start without asking.

A fix for good ideas dying in approval queues. Leadership's job shifts from choosing which ideas to greenlight to clearing the obstacles in front of the ones already moving.

Purpose-Driven Innovation

Stop measuring awareness and start measuring whether a real person’s life changed.

A tougher standard for social-impact work — and a more useful one, because it turns philanthropy and ESG budgets into products and services the business can actually stand behind long after the campaign ends.

Impossible Problem-Solving

Commit to the outcome publicly, then work backward until it’s real.

A way out of endless research and planning: the public deadline forces decisions that another quarter of studying the problem never produces, and it recruits the partners you need because the thing is already happening.

Human-Centered Innovation

Solve it completely for one person, and you build something better for everyone.

Most teams build for an “average” customer who doesn't actually exist, so the product ends up vague and safe. Picking the person with the hardest version of the problem forces the sharp decisions the average never surfaces.

The Not Impossible Way Workshop: Unlocking Possibilities

A dynamic, hands-on workshop that is designed as a powerful extension of Mick Ebeling’s keynote and helps participants move from bold inspiration to practical application. Tailored to your audience, goals, and event, the session invites participants to rethink assumptions, identify meaningful opportunities, and actively shift and apply their mindsets towards possibility. Participants engage in hands-on exercises that help them challenge the status quo, generate new “What if?” directions, and align around practical next steps that fit their real-world priorities.

Each workshop is customized to the client and built to be energizing, hands-on, and immediately relevant.

Creating a Culture of Impact and Purpose

Imagine what companies could accomplish and be if their entire workforce was activated by a sense of purpose. This isn’t just about employee satisfaction, recruiting or retention; this is about tapping into the Movement of Purpose so that both companies AND society win. In this talk, Mick will delve into the creation of a Culture of Purpose and Impact and the direct effects this has on profitability, productivity, innovation and engagement.

Audiences Will Learn:

  • The importance of fostering a sense of purpose among employees and how it transcends traditional markers of job satisfaction.
  • How to identify and work with individuals who possess collaboration-worthy traits.

Radical Collaboration

Take a Hollywood producer, a NY professor, a fine artist and a hacker with a criminal record…Put them together and what do you get? A device that helped a paralyzed man create drawings using only the movement of his eyes. Collaboration comes in many form, some of them unexpected. In this talk, Mick discusses the tools necessary to become a stellar collaborator, and to recognize the traits of collaboration-worthy individuals for your next big idea.

Audiences Will Learn:

  • The value of diverse perspectives and skills in driving creativity and innovation.
  • How to overcome common obstacles in collaborative projects, such as differences in opinion, communication barriers, and coordination challenges.

The Fallacy of “Impossible”

Since the launch of the Eyewriter and Not Impossible Foundation, Mick has passionately studied the concept of “Impossible.” All the modern conveniences we see around us were once considered “impossible” by people who didn’t know any better. Synthetic fabrics, cell phones and digital watches (not to mention cars and computers) were all figments of the imagination until inspiration met execution and the impossible became a reality. In this talk, Mick dives deeper into “Impossible,” the underlying psychological effects it has on an organization, and how to overcome “Impossible” so true innovation can take place.

Audiences Will Learn:

  • The psychological effects of the concept of "impossible" on organizations.
  • Methodologies and practices that companies can employ to instill a culture where every employee feels aligned with a broader mission, contributing to society as well as to the company's goals.

What other organizations say about Mick Ebeling

Works by Mick Ebeling

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