Creating a Culture of Experimentation

The closeup of a jet engine.

Developing the Experimentation Culture—One Test at a Time

Experimentation is centered around innovation and is the foundation on which it is built. Yet just what does it take to build this culture into an innovation function and to stoke creativity? As mobile app developer Airship notes, experimentation is becoming more important in new product development. “With a lot riding on product decisions, product managers must validate assumptions, test new ideas and continually improve products. Rapid experimentation is their essential tool… What’s needed is a different set of shared behaviors, beliefs and values—a culture of experimentation.”

Rapid experimentation gives you the power of smarter decision-making, Airship notes, which helps you mitigate the risk of bad decisions and their impact on customer experience. But this is still based on a data-driven approach. In this culture, one can quickly test new product ideas, reduce wasted resources, and improve revenue by continually optimizing the customer experience based on user feedback.

Developing an experimentation culture differs from developing an experimentation strategy, the company notes. “An experimentation culture requires support from the executive level and all teams to experiment constantly and reflexively. There must be agreement that experimentation will lead to better results, and everyone must be fully behind it. An experimentation strategy is also important, but its focus is on defining the goals, KPIs, hypotheses and success criteria for experiments,” advises Airship.

In “5 Keys to Developing a Culture of Experimentation,” Airship further advises that:

  1. Get executive buy-in: To take root, a culture of experimentation needs a champion at the top. The most important buy-in is around data-driven decision-making and a willingness to embrace failure, and that buy-in needs to occur at the leadership level.
  2. Remove barriers to testing: Initiating and refining is impossible if you have to rely on developers alone. All of your employees must have access to tools they can use themselves.
  3. Empower everyone to test: In addition to making experimentation tools and technology readily available, the organization should also authorize and then encourage all employees to use the tools. A culture of experimentation empowers everyone to test hypotheses and test fast.
  4. Accept that some experiment hypotheses will fail: In a culture of experimentation, people see failure in experiments not as wasted tests, but as important opportunities for learning.
  5. Document learnings: Set up a centralized, visual reporting environment that provides real-time insights from all active experiments, as well as customer, channel and campaign data, all in one place.

Failure Has Its Benefits

All Things Insights recently looked at “How Insights Can Benefit from Failure.” No one actively looks to launch an unsuccessful product or venture. Yet failing can have its upside. There is a philosophy of thought in the business world that failure can make you stronger, and those learnings can help you succeed in the future. The “fail fast, fail often” mentality of startups, innovators, and market research is an accepted growth mindset, one where the belief is that any failure could be a critical step to success. While failure can indeed be discouraging, one can also profit from mistakes and capitalize on them in the future.

All Things Innovation explored the data-driven approach in, “Mapping Out the Data-Innovation Journey.” This year, in our latest Innovation Perspectives Report, we brought together a cross-section of innovation, insights and data science executives from a range of companies to discuss their goals, challenges, opportunities and more. In terms of changes transforming the research and development discipline, it should be noted that artificial intelligence is not far from the minds of these innovators. With the growth of AI systems and frameworks, innovation is becoming more of a data-driven world, one in which analytics, data science and insights are playing a more important role. AI may be just a new tool being tested and implemented but it’s an important one for innovation and product development.

The Advantages of Rapid Experimentation

Fostering a culture of experimentation within a corporate enterprise offers a multitude of benefits, propelling businesses towards innovation, growth, and a competitive edge. This can lead to enhanced decision-making, increased innovation, improved customer experiences, and a rise in healthy employee engagement. We asked Gemini for a breakdown of some key advantages:

  1. Data-Driven Approach: Experimentation relies on testing and gathering data. This replaces guesswork with concrete evidence, leading to more informed and data-driven business decisions.
  2. Reduced Risks: By testing ideas on a smaller scale before full rollout, businesses can identify and mitigate potential risks associated with new products, features, or marketing campaigns.
  3. Exploration and Creativity: A culture of experimentation encourages employees to explore new ideas, fostering a spirit of innovation that can lead to groundbreaking products and solutions.
  4. Faster Iteration: Experimentation allows for rapid testing and iteration. Businesses can quickly learn from successes and failures, refine their approach, and bring better solutions to market faster.
  5. Customer-Centric Focus: Experimentation allows businesses to test new ideas with real customers, ensuring they align with customer needs and preferences. This leads to a more satisfying and engaging customer experience.
  6. Adaptability and Agility: By continuously testing and adapting, businesses can remain agile and responsive to changing market trends and customer expectations.
  7. Empowerment and Ownership: A culture of experimentation empowers employees to take ownership of their ideas and contribute to the innovation process. This fosters a sense of purpose and increases employee engagement.
  8. Improved Problem-Solving Skills: Experimentation requires critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This ongoing process hones these skills within the workforce, leading to a more effective and adaptable team.
  9. Openness to Feedback: Experimentation necessitates a willingness to embrace both success and failure. This fosters a culture of learning where valuable insights are gleaned from every attempt.
  10. Continuous Improvement: The iterative nature of experimentation encourages a growth mindset, where continuous improvement is prioritized over achieving perfection on the first try.

Moving Beyond the Status Quo Through Continuous Learning

Building a culture of experimentation empowers businesses to move beyond the status quo. By embracing calculated risks, learning from experiences, and adapting based on data, companies can unlock a world of possibilities, achieve long-term success, and stay ahead of the curve in the marketplace.

In the insightful article, “How Can You Build a Culture of Experimentation?,” Amazon Web Service’s Tom Soderstrom observes that, “In my conversations with hundreds of enterprise executives worldwide, I have found that they like the idea of moving fast and innovating but find it difficult to accomplish within their corporate legacy and constraints. Innovating quickly is especially urgent in light of generative AI’s potential. But to increase innovation, you need to build a culture where experimentation is not just tolerated but the norm.”

Video courtesy of Columbia Business School

Is Your Company Innovation Ready?

An Olympic swimmer in the pool racing.

Weighing Innovation Readiness Factors

There are various methods and strategies to measure and evaluate this readiness, as companies, governments and other institutions strive to stay competitive with their innovation efforts. The lack of preparation is often called the innovation readiness gap, and yet even in measuring those deficiencies, it can help companies better understand how they can prepare for the future.

According to a blog on innovation readiness by RGI from IdeaNote, developing a culture of creativity is key, in addition to incentivizing collaboration; investing in research and development initiatives; providing access to mentors who can offer guidance; offering rewards for innovating ideas; using customer feedback channels; encouraging failure as part of the learning process; and introducing agile working practices. All these measures aim at improving organizational flexibility so that new opportunities can be quickly identified and capitalized upon when needed.

When evaluating an organization’s level of innovation readiness, several factors should be taken into consideration, advises RGI. Having a clear vision on how innovations will benefit customers/stakeholders; availability of adequate financial resources; strong leadership that can motivate employees while setting realistic goals; and easy access to information sources related to current trends within the market. “A key component of any successful effort towards increasing levels of innovation readiness should include an evaluation process where all relevant stakeholders provide feedback on proposed changes,” notes RGI.

Closing the Innovation Readiness Gap

It’s this paradox, and the innovation readiness gap, that concerns BCG as it released its study, the 2024 Most Innovative Companies. According to BCG’s article as part of its study, “Innovation Systems Need a Reboot,” the consulting company asserts, “Companies have never placed a higher priority on innovation—yet they have never been as unready to deliver on their innovation aspirations.”

BCG reports, “We first discussed the readiness gap in our 2021 Most Innovative Companies report. At the time, 20% of companies scored as “ready” based on BCG’s proprietary Innovation-to-Impact benchmark—despite 75% ranking innovation a top-three priority. Today, our 2024 research finds 83% of companies seeing innovation as a top-three priority, but only 3% ready to translate their priorities to results.”

With only 3% of global innovators in the “ready zone,” it speaks to a growing innovation readiness gap. This could be troubling news, although it also speaks to some opportunities in the space to boost corporate enterprise innovation efforts.

Other key takeaways of the BCG report include:

  • While innovation leaders’ number one challenge is an unclear or overly broad strategy, the vast majority are focusing on process optimization, not strategy.
  • Those organizations that exhibit a strong alignment between business strategy and innovation strategy report a share of sales from new products 5 percentage points above the sample average.
  • While nearly all organizations are experimenting with GenAI in innovation, few are implementing at scale—missing opportunities to reshape their innovation processes or to enable new products, services, or business models.

Clearly, there is work to be done in the innovation space. Positioning a clear innovation strategy that links to business strategy is one area that needs improvement, suggests BCG. “Strategy-led innovators achieve a share of revenue from new products 74% higher than companies with just a weak link between strategy and innovation. It’s time for innovators to recommit to strategy,” says BCG.

Can a focus on generative artificial intelligence lead the way back to innovation readiness? BCG reports, “While 86% percent of innovators in our research are experimenting with GenAI to at least some degree, ready innovators are moving out ahead. They’re applying GenAI more frequently in a single use case and are five times more likely to have applied it at scale.” Clearly, AI is becoming a powerful tool to reshape and retrain the innovation space for greater readiness.

Preparing for the Future

Is your company ready to lead innovation during a crisis? All Things Innovation looked at just that in, “Leaning into Crisis Innovation.” In times of crisis, conventional wisdom seems to indicate that companies tighten the reins on personnel and their budgets, and that innovation efforts are stifled as firms go into survival mode. Yet during recent times of uncertainty, such as the pandemic, we also experienced that the opposite could hold true, and that innovation can thrive. Many companies expanded their innovation efforts during the pandemic. For example, out of necessity, many expanded their digital transformation initiatives to meet the needs of consumers and the marketplace.

In addition, we have also examined, “Avoiding Innovation Traps.” The road to innovation can sometimes be straight and unencumbered. But more than likely, it can also be a long and winding route, with many obstacles along the way. There are also innovation traps to avoid if possible. One such trap is the competency trap, which can impact even the most ambidextrous organizations. The competency trap is said to be the false belief that the same practice that led to past success will necessarily lead to future success. An infamous example often cited is that of Kodak, which invented the digital camera back in the 1970’s but struggled and failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

Sharpening Innovation Strategy

So just how can innovative companies avoid this seeming paradox in the marketplace, one where prioritizing innovation seems to be on the rise, yet readiness remains alarmingly low? The BCG study points to several ways that companies can reinforce readiness. Positioning innovation strategies, along with aligning goals, is one way to strengthen readiness, notes BCG. Leveraging artificial intelligence may also give companies a substantial edge.

BCG advises, “Given the significant declines in readiness, it makes sense for organizations to continue their efforts to strengthen the efficiency and consistency of their innovation processes. But that alone won’t be enough to drive superior performance. Achieving real, exceptional outcomes will require attention to two critical areas: first, sharpening strategy for the race ahead—and aligning innovation strategy, resource allocation, and pipeline shape to win in the priority domains; second, embracing GenAI to drive growth and accelerate success across the whole innovation cycle.”

Video courtesy of Boston Consulting Group

Innovation in Action: Trends from FEI 2024

A sphere in space, with data points of light

Harnessing AI and Big Data

The integration of artificial intelligence and big data into business strategies was a dominant theme across the conference. Major brands like Clorox and separately The Aerospace Corporation, in collaboration with Itonics, demonstrated how AI-assisted concepts are starting to outperform human-only ideas, offering a new paradigm in product development.

Successful Case Studies Leveraging Consumer Insights

Consumer insight companies such as Suzy, working with brands like Dr. Pepper, are identifying insights that lead to differentiated offerings in the market. Watch Me Think and others are using social media purchase behavior to gain insights for their clients. Upstream360 emphasized the importance of communicating innovations to consumers in meaningful ways to get the best ROI.

Innovative Partnerships and Business Models

The conference highlighted several compelling case studies on new or disruptive business and partnership models. A standout example was the collaboration between Kimberly-Clark, maker of disposable menstrual products, and Thinx, a producer of reusable period panties. This partnership not only expanded Thinx’s distribution but also enabled Kimberly-Clark to tap into a niche market with a sustainable product that resonates with consumers moving away from traditional solutions.

In addition, Cornell Technology Ventures presented a unique program, working with new PhDs from other countries as postdocs, sponsoring them to start their companies in an incubator model, then taking a portion of equity. This approach fosters international innovation in a novel way.

Technological Advancements: Robots and Cobots

On the third day, I had the privilege of leading the “Brunch with the Bots” keynote presentation with panelists Omar Eleryan from Cleo and Nevada Sanchez from Butterfly Network, which spotlighted the revolutionary integration of robotics in research and development. The session showcased a variety of robotic innovations that are being used in innovative companies today—from Automated Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to articulated robots, humanoid robots, collaborative robots (cobots), and hybrid models.

The hands-on demonstrations were particularly enlightening, showcasing real-world applications of robots in enhancing service quality and data capture, and highlighting the technological prowess and human creativity behind these machines.

Moving Forward

Some questions that occurred to me during the FEI conference:

  • What organizational adjustments will be needed to manage a front-end workforce centered on machine learning, AI and robotics integration?
  • What new organizational titles will be needed? Are the managers of today the same ones that will thrive in this technological change?
  • How should workers be upskilled to meet the demand for these new technologies?

As we reflect on the insights and inspirations from FEI 2024, it’s clear that the future of innovation lies in our ability to adapt and collaborate. The discussions and demonstrations from the conference have set the tone for what’s to come—smarter, more sustainable solutions that are closely aligned with consumer needs and aspirations.

Looking ahead, the challenge for us in the consumer-packaged goods industry is to continue this momentum, ensuring that the advancements in science and technology are leveraged appropriately to create products that exceed consumers’ expectations. As we look toward future innovations, let’s keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Here’s to more breakthroughs and successful collaborations in the coming year!

Editor’s Note: FEI 2025 will be held May 19-21, 2025, at the Omni Boston at the Seaport, Boston, MA.

The Path to a Sustainable Future

A lone tree in an open field under a cloudy sky.

Put simply, net zero means cutting carbon emissions to a small amount of residual emissions that can be absorbed and durably stored by nature and other carbon dioxide removal measures, leaving zero in the atmosphere, according to the Net Zero Coalition at the United Nations.

Can you just tell us a little bit about Carbon Negative Solutions and its award-winning mission?

“We’re remediating both air and ground pollution by creating carbon negative cement supplements,” says Crossland. “In a nutshell, we’re taking upcycled industrial waste, which has zero to negative value, and we’re turning it into a high value commodity that’s used in concrete. And this is huge because, again, we’re using carbon sequestration, and we’re also remediating waste by dredging it and using that end product—and creating an end product that is very valuable.”

Your company is not just focusing on low carbon emissions, but a carbon negative process.

“Yes, it’s carbon negative, so it’s even better than net zero,” says Crossland. “When you think of low carbon, it’s great, and I want to tip my hat to everyone working in the space. But with low carbon, that means you’re emitting less, but we have an atmospheric problem now that’s driving climate change. Reducing emissions won’t do it alone, especially with the forces of capitalism where industry and production is growing. If an industry grows a hundred percent production like my industry is expected to in the next decades, even if you reduce the emissions by half, you’ll get to the same place.”

He continues, “Carbon neutral is great. It’s a much better step, but that’s essentially saying you’re turning off the emissions, and just dealing with what we have now. Although that’s an ambitious effort, again, atmospheric CO2 is what’s driving climate change today, and there’s a lag. There’s some atmospheric CO2 that’s still on its way up from emissions that were generated over these last decades. So maybe carbon neutral is not the catch all solution. But carbon negative is the one way you ensure on a unit basis that everything you produce is actually taking from that atmospheric CO2 and getting us to reverse course.”

The Role of Innovation

Sustainable development is certainly a growing industry. Is innovation playing a big role right now in this space?

“It’s huge,” agrees Crossland. “It’s going to take innovation to change. The largest thing to change with anything is consumer behavior or end product behavior. And so given the regulations in the world essentially coming together to drive this change, now it’s about finding innovative solutions that can help us do this. Innovation is going to a have a huge role because it’s essentially taking what we’ve been doing yesteryear and flipping it on its head and figuring out how can we either produce these same things without emissions, or how can we start pulling atmospheric CO2 back and make those things into use for products. That’s all going to be innovation, and it’s going to take a mindset that is almost the exact opposite from the way we’ve been doing things.”

Speaking of that innovation mindset, you’ve had a few other companies and startups. As an entrepreneur, what’s some advice you could give startups about the innovation space and just the challenges or opportunities?

“Most entrepreneurs already have the spirit, but it’s got to be action oriented,” advises Crossland. “A lot of people want to make the technology perfect or it’s very close to them because they’re inventing it and so forth. But the reality is with the pressures and what’s going on in the climate—we have to act now. I would say in this space, to be action oriented, even if your product or your solution may not be perfect. As you go on your journey, you’re probably going to iterate it. It’s going to change and improve, but you have to start. You can’t let the imperfections be a stopping block. Just get out there with your innovative product. Iterate it as you go but get the solution out because we need the solution that’s being worked on today to come to fruition in the next few years.”

That startup mentality that you mention: Do you feel that it’s hard to go it alone or is it really key to have partnerships, whether it’s a big company, a foundation, an academic institution and so on?

Crossland adds, “Collaboration is everything, especially to large challenges such as climate change. And the reality is if you’re trying to really take away carbon emissions and make a dent in that, you’re likely going to need to partner with these large legacy companies that are emitting at scale, creating products or energy that we all know and love and use today. Collaboration in this space is key.”

A Sustainable Vision

Where do you see Carbon Negative Solutions in the coming years? What would you like to see happen?

“Our vision is to become the leading carbon sequestration material and the leading solid waste removal material simultaneously,” says Crossland. “That’s very achievable by just scaling our product up. In the next few years, we’ll certainly be on that journey to do that. We’re looking to turn, what used to be a liability for many industries, their industrial waste, where they hold hundreds of millions of dollars on their balance sheet. We’re looking to actually remove that, help them while also remove their CO2, and again, create our end product, which is a product and the most produced material in the world, which is concrete. That’s really where we’re aiming. That’s really where we’re going. If all is done right, we could really have a serious game changer that, again, remediates not just the air pollution side, but ground pollution.”

Check out the video for more of the interview with Keith Crossland and Carbon Negative Solutions. For more information, visit their website at https://www.carbonegativesolutions.com.

The Journey to Commercialization

NASA space shuttle launching.

Manufacturing Innovation

Commercialization needs a strong marketing strategy, and at the same time will involve cross collaboration with other teams such as production, distribution, marketing, sales and customer service. Forbes, in the article, “The Eight Steps To Commercialize Innovation,” looks at innovation through the lens of manufacturing:

  1. Understand the “noise” in the system. Too many manufacturers still get caught up in developing ideas without any real concept of how, why or where they will make a difference. Before the ideation process even begins, it is vital to invest the necessary time and resources into understanding the “noise” in the system. This means figuring out whom the innovation is targeting and identifying their precise pain point that you are trying to solve. Only then can you be sure your innovation journey will set off on the right track.
  2. Run a divergent innovation session. Feature targeting a group of around 10 people from different areas of the organization (think marketing, sales, design, engineering or any others who have insight to share from a unique perspective). This is a highly creative, no-holds-barred session. Rather than answers, what you are looking for here are as many ideas as possible centered around your targeted concept.
  3. Hold a convergent innovation session. This is the filtering stage during which the myriad concepts brought up by the divergent innovation session are consolidated and evaluated in more detail. The task here is to separate the ideas that are either impossible and improbable from the one (or more) that stands the best possible chance of making it all the way through to commercialization.
  4. Build a works-like prototype. This is one in which aesthetics and design are set aside in favor of developing the core nuts and bolts that can turn the new product into a functional reality. The aim here is to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to address the pain points at hand.
  5. Develop a looks-like prototype. Here, the designers get involved, packaging the idea into something that will be visually and stylistically capable of cutting through in the market. If it is a product, this means getting consensus on the look and feel. If it is an experience or process, it involves understanding the different stages and technologies required to support it.
  6. Combine into a full prototype. Combine the works-like prototype with the looks-like one. As well as evaluating the concept in its entirety, now is the moment to run focus groups and testing sessions with the relevant stakeholder segment. Capturing and, crucially, acting upon their reactions can help you shape and improve the prototype before committing resources to making more.
  7. Start scaling. Once you have addressed any issues or concerns that arise during the prototype trials, it is time to create a larger lot size. As well as allowing you to perform more testing, this offers a chance to discover what is needed to deliver the product or process at scale. After all, being able to produce, store and distribute it promptly and cost effectively is key to long-term commercial success.
  8. Conduct a soft launch. Before going into widespread release, it is highly advisable to launch your innovation with a more targeted customer segment or in a specific location. This is a step many manufacturers miss but one that can actually make or break the journey to commercialization. Why? Because it is a final chance to test (and refine) its usability, price and effectiveness without the potentially negative financial and reputational effects of launching unsuccessfully to the mass market.

The journey doesn’t stop there, of course. A full launch will involve research, data analysis, and customer feedback as well to refine the product. The timetable may vary from product to product, but Forbes estimates to give yourself at least a year or more to follow these key steps.

Thoughts on Scaling and Supply Chain

In “Sizing Up Your Innovation’s Impact,” All Things Innovation looked at the issues of product scalability. If your company has successfully developed an innovative product or service, you might be at the stage of the process known as scalability. Perhaps you have created something new but your hard work isn’t over yet. It is just beginning, as you gear up to bring the product to market. The challenges are numerous, and there will be many bottlenecks along the way. Stay committed to pursuing the best results possible by scaling viable ideas into products, services and businesses, all while keeping in mind that it’s value creation that you’re after. It’s time to scale up.

Supply chain and innovation may not seem related, yet the activities are more connected than one might think. We looked at this topic in “Strengthen the Supply Chain to Build the Product Pipeline.” For example, once a product is designed and developed, supply chain management calls for the sourcing of materials, manufacturing the product and getting it to the market. Supply chain programs and innovation generate more interaction than at first meets the eye in terms of logistics activities and more. As more innovation groups focus on a broad range of skills in an increasingly cross-collaborative world, it makes sense to communicate within the organization, coordinating with a supply chain specialist when a new product is ready to be launched.

Creating the Right Innovation Mindset

The journey of innovation doesn’t stop at the sketch pad or tablet screen. Indeed, manufacturing will play a key role in the commercialization process. But it is an end-to-end mindset that innovators and manufacturers must embrace to proceed with and deploy their new innovation, whether it’s a new product or service. It’s a multi-stage process that includes production, distribution, marketing, sales, and customer support. And don’t forget the legal team and the crucial steps of intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance and approvals.

A successful commercialization strategy aims to make a product as valuable and profitable as possible for the customer. This should also include post-launch support to gather customer feedback, improve the product, and maintain customer satisfaction. Successful commercialization strategy isn’t just about launching a product, it’s about planning for its sustained success.

Video courtesy of EY Global

FEI 2024 Report: The Future of Innovation

Crumpled paper on top of idea/innovation sketch pad with drawing of light bulb.

The show audience participated in two key innovation roundtables, a variety of general keynote sessions, panels on Gen Z, brunch with several bots from Mass Robotics, off-site experiences and more. A broad range of educational sessions were grouped by the days’ themes, which examined the role of human interactivity in innovation, the growth of artificial intelligence efforts—and the balance of the integral themes of both human-centric and AI-enabled innovation. Day three, meanwhile, looked at the future of innovation with several key trends such as the rise of the Gen Z innovator.

The future of innovation seems limitless but we selected some of the top key takeaways from FEI 2024. We also invite the innovation community to check out our post-show FEI Report, featuring takeaways from every session (to be released soon).

Cultivating A Rogue Mindset

At the outset of FEI 2024, innovators and changemakers alike weighed in on the key themes of the conference, such as the balance of human intelligence combined with AI assistance, and mind versus (or with) machine. Disruption, change and technology was discussed—and how technology will ultimately remain as a way to augment innovation initiatives.

This led to more musings on the innovation journey, and the common threads that hold the community together in the face of change. This includes the escape from the old silo mentality and more emphasis on cross-collaboration and cross-functionality to get the job done. Interdisciplinary interactivity, it seems, is now part of the culture of innovation.

Oh, did we mention going rogue? Certainly, one of the more memorable statements of FEI 2024 was from Tammy Butterworth, Product Innovation Director, Welch’s, about “going rogue.” To be sure, it was a catchy line but one with impact.

Butterworth explained that leaders need to push boundaries. To change the day-to-day culture, one can’t always innovate in a safe space. One must change the culture to a place of curiosity and creativity, find the time and use the tools available to forge innovation.

Will this interdisciplinary approach help close the gap between a problem and its solution and bring about innovation faster? Creating a leadership culture plays in part to having a rogue mindset. Cultivating that mindset is not without risk or failure. But it helps to manage that risk. To be sure, Butterworth reminded the audience, one must still implement innovation initiatives and align with company objectives and strategies. But to change the culture—sometimes, you must go rogue.

Minds With Machines

A fair number of keynote presentations as well as educational sessions focused on human intelligence and interactivity, the role of AI, and the balance between the two. With the growth of AI initiatives, this also led to much discussion about the renewal of the data-innovation journey. Data science, analytics, and insights are playing a key role in innovation today. With everything at a faster pace in the corporate enterprise, innovators are tasked with developing faster both in the short- and long-term. Taking that data-driven approach helps minimize risk and helps innovators place their bets, both small and large, into more winning initiatives that help the business—today and tomorrow.

Speeding the proposition in a decentralized environment, building an innovation community, takes a lot of collective human intelligence, as well as interdisciplinary activity. Strategies must evolve. Failing faster becomes more of a requirement, as is continuous learnings from those failures.

Humans remain at the center of this process, since after all much of innovative solutions have to do with solving very human problems, many innovators agreed, yet AI can augment these efforts.

In one such session on AI and the role of prompt engineering, Donald High, Chief Data Scientist at Internal Revenue Service, seemed to put it succinctly—that it’s really about the best of both worlds. It’s a combination of human ingenuity, creativity and ideation with AI as an accelerator, says High. “Combine the two—that’s the future,” says High. “That’s collective intelligence.”

The process of “mind with machine,” however, may still be a way off, though. While AI may be changing everything, as Kate Carruthers, Head BI, UNSW AI Institute, Chief Data & Insights Officer at University of New South Wales, suggested, we are still in a position of transformational change. “We are still in the early adoption curve,” says Carruthers. “AI is still in the ‘Netscape’ year.” The evolution and implications are still developing. But Carruthers also notes that true collective intelligence may inevitably be human and machine.

Innovation as a Team Sport

With all the diverse discussions at FEI 2024 about human interdisciplinary interactivity and the usefulness yet cautious optimism regarding AI, now what? Where does innovation go from here and into the glorious, perhaps tech-driven future?

In one of the closing keynote sessions, in a day filled with innovative robotics and even more innovative Gen Z entrepreneurs, Katharine English, Head of Innovation Programs, Engineering Excellence at Google, helped ground the discussion. Her fireside chat, “Innovation As A Team Sport,” focused on establishing a winning mindset to actually (and finally) achieve a culture of innovation.

Be a champion of change, yet don’t necessarily take an ownership mindset, says English. “Everyone has to own it as a collective,” she says.

The innovation journey also needs a process. One needs a process mindset regardless of the company, lab or institution one is working within. But in this time of change, democratize that process, English says.

Remember that innovation is indeed a team sport, says English. You can’t do it all alone. To make innovation happen, find that place of psychological safety, she advises. Build with the expectation to fail—and don’t be afraid to fail. Embrace it as part of learning. It may be messy at times, but the process mindset puts some governance on the journey. Sustain that innovation by making it transactional and actionable, she says.

In the end, it’s perhaps that journey of continuous learning that can support the innovator in their efforts in this ever-accelerating world.

“Break the rules,” says English. “Push boundaries.” Which is not unlike, perhaps, having a rogue mindset, after all.

Editor’s Note: FEI 2025 will be held May 19-21, 2025, at the Omni Boston at the Seaport, Boston, MA.

Harnessing the Power of Consumer Insights

Lifting a hand weight at the gym/fitness theme.

Hearing the Voice of the Customer

Ultimately, consumer insights can be gained from several sources, such as online reviews, analytics and data science from resources such as websites, customer purchase activity, surveys, social media, case studies, and focus groups, for example. These are ways to discover new opportunities as well as customer pain points to improve upon products and services.

It’s also important to minimize risk in the product development process. As 46 Mile writes in its blog, “Harnessing consumer insights to drive product innovation,” “Without consumer research, you risk falling short of your audience’s needs. It’s essential to gather feedback early in the product development process.” This feedback can lead to actionable insights that might also lead to improvements in the product development process, or lead to further enhancements down the line. Insights can also help streamline the user experience. This consumer feedback can “allow you to optimize user interfaces and refine features based on their needs.” This goes a long way toward maximizing customer satisfaction, strengthening brand loyalty and improving product market fit, notes 46 Mile.

The end result is that these consumer insights should lead to action and developments in the product creation process. Don’t neglect the consumer insights that have been gained. Consumers will ultimately feel more connected to the brand as well if they feel their voices have been heard. “Customers are more likely to stay loyal to a brand when they feel understood, heard, and valued. You can increase the chance of them having these sentiments by considering their feedback,” observes 46 Mile.

Consumer Insights Are Critical to Innovation

All Things Innovation has examined the insights component several times, such as in “Make Insights Critical to the Innovation Process.” A growing trend in innovation is to break down silos and work more collaboratively, across teams and departments. This applies to both innovation and its close proximity to such organizational groups as marketing, IT, finance and supply chain. As such, increasingly insights is tasked with supporting the product development and innovation team, giving the innovators robust and meaningful research that can help them understand consumer sentiment. This, in turn, can help guide the innovation team’s efforts in building new products and services that aim to satisfy consumer preferences, and bypass any concerns or roadblocks they may have before purchasing.

On All Things Insights’ “Investing Insights into Product & Brand Innovation,” we looked at how customer insights are a key cog in driving brand and product developments. And so, it’s imperative that the insights discipline invests in product and brand innovation. Using surveys, focus groups, interviews and other methods to collect feedback from customers about their needs and wants helps the product and brand innovation process. This gives the organization an idea of what your customers think about existing products and services, as well as ideas for potential new products or services that could be developed.

Creating a Culture of Insights & Innovation

Consumer insights are critical to the new product development (NPD) and innovation process for several key reasons. Creating this type of culture benefits innovation in myriad ways, as outlined by ChatGPT:

  1. Identifying Market Needs and Opportunities: Consumer insights help organizations understand the unmet needs, pain points, and desires of their target audience. By analyzing consumer behavior, preferences, and feedback, companies can identify gaps in the market and opportunities for new products that address specific consumer demands.
  2. Informing Product Design and Features: Insights into consumer preferences and usage patterns guide the design and development of new products. Understanding what features and functionalities are most valued by consumers enables companies to create products that resonate with their target audience, enhancing the likelihood of market success.
  3. Enhancing Customer Experience: Consumer insights provide a deep understanding of the customer journey and the factors that contribute to a positive or negative experience. By incorporating these insights into the NPD process, companies can design products that offer a superior user experience, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  4. Reducing Risk and Uncertainty: Launching a new product involves significant investment and risk. Consumer insights reduce this risk by providing data-driven evidence of market demand and consumer preferences. This information helps companies make informed decisions, prioritize development efforts, and allocate resources more effectively, increasing the chances of a successful product launch.
  5. Guiding Pricing and Positioning Strategies: Insights into consumer willingness to pay, perceived value, and competitive landscape inform pricing and positioning strategies for new products. By understanding how consumers perceive value and what they are willing to spend, companies can set competitive prices and position their products effectively in the market.
  6. Driving Innovation and Differentiation: Consumer insights inspire innovation by revealing emerging trends, preferences, and behaviors. This knowledge enables companies to develop unique and innovative products that stand out from competitors. Differentiation based on consumer insights helps create a competitive edge and drives brand loyalty.
  7. Facilitating Effective Marketing and Communication: Insights into consumer attitudes and preferences shape marketing and communication strategies for new products. By understanding what messages resonate with their target audience, companies can craft compelling marketing campaigns that effectively convey the benefits and value of their new products.
  8. Continuous Improvement and Iteration: Post-launch consumer feedback provides valuable information for refining and improving products. Continuous monitoring of consumer reactions and experiences allows companies to make iterative enhancements, address any issues, and ensure the product remains relevant and appealing over time.
  9. Aligning with Consumer Trends and Values: Consumer insights help companies stay attuned to broader societal and cultural trends, such as sustainability, health and wellness, and digital transformation. Aligning new products with these trends and values ensures they meet contemporary consumer expectations and preferences, enhancing their appeal and relevance.
  10. Building Customer-Centric Culture: Integrating consumer insights into the NPD process fosters a customer-centric culture within the organization. This focus on understanding and meeting consumer needs drives a commitment to delivering high-quality, valuable products that enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Consumer Insights Sustain the Product Pipeline

Consumer insights are vital for informing every stage of the new product development and innovation process. They help companies identify opportunities, design desirable products, mitigate risks, and align with consumer trends, ultimately leading to successful product launches and sustained competitive advantage.

As Caarmo notes in its blog, “Harnessing The Power of Customer Insights,” “The voice of the customer is more than just feedback; it’s a roadmap to business success. As technology evolves and the business landscape becomes more competitive, the importance of understanding and acting on customer insights will only grow.”

Video courtesy of We Are Netflix

Leaning into Crisis Innovation

Man shouting into a large megaphone.

Recognizing Crisis Innovation Potential

Business and innovation strategy is more crucial than ever during a crisis, whether it be short-term or long-term. Often in times of uncertainty, or crisis, this is when a gap in products or services might be identified, or a new opportunity might be uncovered for the first time, or some other solution is needed. Capitalizing on this opportunity might be key to preparing for the future, when the crisis is long past, but the initiatives started during that time might bear fruit.

So why does innovation seem more possible during a crisis, at least to those enterprises that stay nimble, flexible and agile enough to identify the need? According to “What a Crisis Teaches Us About Innovation,” from MIT Sloan Management Review, it is key to understanding how a crisis boosts innovation so that an organization can stay prepared and recognize the need to identify and create solutions during that time, anticipating and fostering a culture of change. The authors of the article, Elsbeth Johnson and Fiona Murray, identified five interdependent conditions that characterize a crisis and boost innovation:

  1. A crisis provides a sudden and real sense of urgency. Proximity to a grave problem creates a critical sense of urgency, focusing attention and galvanizing action, and pushing people beyond the status quo.
  2. This urgency enables organizations to drop all other priorities and focus on a single challenge, reallocating resources as needed. In a non-crisis environment, there may be many initiatives and decisions at play. But in a crisis, the first-order decision is effectively made for you: The crisis tells you where you need to focus with a high degree of precision.
  3. With this singular focus and reallocated resources, it’s now everybody’s job to come together to solve the problem, bringing a new diversity of viewpoints and perspectives. With the reprioritization that a crisis enables, and the resulting reallocation of resources, the problem at hand is now subject to the insights, expertise, and experience of many more people than would typically come together on a project.
  4. This urgency and singular focus legitimize what would otherwise constitute “waste,” allowing for more experimentation and learning. Because of the severity of a crisis and the sense of urgency that it creates, and because organizations understand that it is now the No. 1 problem, leaders become much less concerned about the possibility that some, or even many, attempts at solving it will fail.
  5. Because the crisis is only temporary, the organization can commit to a highly intense effort over a short period of time. Crises aren’t normal, and leaders ought not to think that they are. Nevertheless, it’s tempting to see the massive effort that is possible during a crisis and wonder how an organization might be able to sustain it. The quick answer is, it can’t, and it shouldn’t try.

The authors further add that the popularity and longevity of the idea of sprints—now common in agile methodology and design thinking—also show the importance of constraining not only the scope of innovation but also the time spent on it in each iteration.

Looking Through the Lens of Uncertainty

In All Things Innovation’s “Certain Uncertainty,” Seth Adler explored the concept of uncertain times and how it impacts innovation. In interviewing trends forecaster Magnus Lindvkist, Adler looks to understand how unexpected things happen and how they affect us as individuals, groups, and societies. Based on research and interviews with people whose lives have been “attacked” and deeply changed by the unexpected, Lindvkist’s book tries to help you get over your fear of the unknown by teaching you to embrace it and use it to your advantage. It does this by walking you through the “uncertainty reframe” process, which involves rethinking your perspective and attitude toward uncertainty.

All Things Insights also looked at this topic in “Balancing Insights with Uncertainty.” Uncertainty abounds, from inflation and layoffs to bank failures and talk of recession, to robust job reports, financial resilience, and the strength of the economy. Oh, did we mention wars, the pandemic and climate change? There’s bound to be some anxiety among consumers and corporations during this topsy-turvy time period. And one thing is for certain: Everything is uncertain.

Driving Innovation Through Crisis

Innovation during times of crisis offers numerous benefits that can help organizations not only survive but thrive in challenging circumstances. We asked ChatGPT to outline some key advantages:

  1. Increased Agility and Flexibility: Crises force organizations to adapt quickly to changing conditions. Innovative approaches enable companies to pivot their strategies, operations, and product offerings more rapidly, increasing their ability to respond effectively to unexpected challenges.
  2. Problem-Solving Under Pressure: Crises often present unique and pressing problems that require immediate solutions. Innovation encourages creative problem-solving, allowing organizations to find novel and effective ways to address urgent issues, whether through new technologies, processes, or business models.
  3. Improved Efficiency and Cost Savings: Innovative solutions can lead to greater efficiency by streamlining processes, reducing waste, and optimizing resources. During a crisis, these improvements can result in significant cost savings, helping organizations to maintain financial stability.
  4. Enhanced Customer Engagement: Crises often lead to shifts in customer needs and behaviors. Innovation allows companies to develop new products or services that better meet these changing demands, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. For instance, the rapid development of online services and contactless solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic helped businesses stay connected with their customers.
  5. Resilience and Competitive Advantage: Organizations that innovate during crises are more likely to emerge stronger and more resilient. By continuously improving and adapting, they can gain a competitive advantage over less agile competitors. This resilience is crucial for long-term success in an unpredictable market environment.
  6. Opportunity for Market Expansion: Crises can disrupt traditional markets and create opportunities for new ones. Innovative companies can seize these opportunities to expand into new areas, diversify their offerings, and reach new customer segments.
  7. Employee Engagement and Morale: Encouraging innovation during a crisis can boost employee morale and engagement. When employees see their ideas being implemented and contributing to the organization’s survival and growth, it fosters a sense of ownership and motivation. This positive culture can lead to increased productivity and a stronger commitment to the organization.
  8. Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Crises highlight the importance of continuous improvement and adaptability. Organizations that prioritize innovation during tough times can cultivate a culture that values ongoing learning, experimentation, and improvement. This culture is beneficial not only during crises but also in stable times, driving sustained growth and success.
  9. Long-Term Sustainability: Innovation during crises can lead to the development of more sustainable business practices. Companies may discover more efficient ways to use resources, reduce environmental impact, or create products that align with evolving consumer values around sustainability.
  10. Enhanced Stakeholder Relationships: Demonstrating a proactive and innovative approach during crises can strengthen relationships with stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, and partners. It shows a commitment to overcoming challenges and can build trust and loyalty that lasts beyond the crisis period.

Creating Impactful Change Through Innovation

Innovation during times of crisis is not just about survival; it’s about leveraging the opportunity to improve, adapt, and position the organization for future success. By embracing change and encouraging creative solutions, organizations can navigate crises more effectively and emerge stronger and more competitive.

As we all experienced during the pandemic, innovation can happen at a scale and pace that might seem impossible under normal circumstances. But it’s still important to learn the dynamics of this type of innovation, post-crisis. As the authors of the MIT Sloan Management article attest, “We believe that by understanding the conditions that crises foster, leaders can create some proxies for crisis that make innovation easier and more likely—even in the absence of an emergency.”

Video courtesy of Jeremy Gutsche: Innovation Keynote Speaker

Selecting an Innovation Framework

A white empty picture frame leaning on a white brick wall.

Navigating the Innovation Process

A strategic approach to innovation, with the customer as the central focus, drives adaptability and continual improvement, as well as boosting competitiveness. Structuring ideation efforts also supports a more systematic and consistent innovation strategy. This process also ensures that innovation initiatives are in line with the company’s strategic goals and objectives. It also increases efficiency and resource optimization, promotes resilience and adaptation, and engages and empowers employees.

IdeaScale, in its article, “What is an Innovation Framework?,” further notes that instituting these processes or methodologies can help future-proof the business: “An innovation framework helps businesses future-proof themselves by embracing change and proactively seeking new opportunities. It enables businesses to anticipate market trends, identify emerging technologies, and explore business model innovation. This forward-looking approach helps businesses adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving business landscape.”

In addition, IdeaScale identifies ten types of commonly used frameworks:

  • Open Innovation Framework: This involves collaborating with external partners, such as customers, suppliers, or research institutions, to exchange knowledge, ideas, and resources for innovation. It focuses on leveraging external expertise to drive innovation within the organization.
  • Blue Ocean Strategy Framework: Blue Ocean Strategy aims to create uncontested market space by identifying and developing innovative products or services that differentiate the organization from its competitors. It involves shifting the focus from competing in existing market spaces to creating new market opportunities.
  • Disruptive Innovation Framework: Coined by Clayton Christensen, this refers to the development of new products or services that initially cater to niche markets but eventually disrupt established markets. This framework emphasizes the importance of identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to disrupt existing industries.
  • Business Model Innovation Framework: Business model innovation involves reimagining and reinventing the way an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. It focuses on transforming or creating new business models to gain a competitive edge and capture new market opportunities.
  • Design Thinking Framework: Design thinking is a human-centered approach that emphasizes empathy, problem-solving, and creative thinking to drive innovation. It involves understanding user needs, ideating solutions, prototyping, and iterating based on user feedback.
  • Lean Startup Framework: The lean startup framework is centered around building and launching minimum viable products (MVPs) to quickly test assumptions and gather user feedback. It focuses on a cycle of build-measure-learn to iteratively refine products or services based on validated learning.
  • Customer-Centric Innovation Framework: This framework revolves around deeply understanding customer needs, pain points, and desires. It involves gathering customer insights, conducting market research and leveraging customer feedback to drive innovation and create value for customers.
  • Platform Innovation Framework: Platform innovation involves developing a platform or ecosystem that enables the integration of multiple products, services, or technologies. It focuses on creating a network effect, where the value of the platform increases as more participants join and contribute.
  • Sustainability and Green Innovation Framework: This framework emphasizes developing environmentally sustainable solutions and practices. It involves incorporating environmental considerations into product design, supply chains, and operations, aiming to minimize environmental impact and create more sustainable business models.
  • Co-Creation Framework: Co-creation involves customers, partners, and other stakeholders in the process. It focuses on collaborative idea generation, co-design, and co-development to create solutions that align closely with the needs and preferences of the intended users.

Stay Focused on Agile Solutions

All Things Innovation has looked previously at frameworks as an innovation solution, such as “Create A Blueprint for Success With Innovation Frameworks.” The road to innovation development is rarely a straight and narrow path. Often, there are many detours along the way. But taking an innovation framework approach could help create a blueprint for success. It’s not enough anymore to just throw an idea onto the wall and hope it will stick. Instead, these flexible and agile frameworks are a strategic structure designed to give the enterprise and the innovation team the ability to tap into ideas. One can then evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each idea, sharpen the decision-making around each idea generated and build strategies to turn them into value-generating opportunities.

Sometimes, having a big idea is not enough. In All Things Innovation’s “Operationalizing Ideation Through Idea Management,” we looked at how ideation, the creative and systematic generation of ideas, is an important step in the innovation process. This is a method for collecting ideas and refining them through a multi-stage process consisting of phases and gates, for example. Ultimately, these ideas can be refined further over the course of the process, which aims to identify which ideas can potentially be turned into solutions. While ideation is often seen as a brainstorming process that opens the gateway to innovation, there is also a mode of thought that seeks to operationalize ideation. Turning these abstract concepts and ideas into something more measurable is akin to ideation management.

Managing the Innovation Framework Process

There are several steps to forming an innovation framework, regardless of whichever one might be flexible and agile enough to fit your company’s needs. But implementing and managing such frameworks requires planning and rigorous execution. It also requires a commitment from leadership. Fostering a culture of innovation, from the leadership of the company and the team to the individual employees, is a crucial lever of growth.

From cross-functional collaboration, to idea management and resource allocation, to championing innovation throughout the company, all play a role in in the innovation framework process, which in the end can organize, support and reinforce the company’s efforts. Ignite innovation by carefully choosing the right framework for you. These are powerful tools and mindsets that can make real progress to achieve your innovation goals.

GP Strategies, in its article, “Innovation Frameworks: What They Are and How to Build One,” makes note of a common misconception: “There is a widespread misconception that innovation is some otherworldly, extraordinary element that the lucky few stumbles upon. Realistically, you want your innovation potential to be sustainable and reliably accessed over time. If you want innovation, you need tools to understand and gauge innovation. You need science, not magic.”

Video courtesy of Growth Tribe

Creating the Right Innovation Team

A variety of ingredients in spoons. Diversity.

Developing an Innovative Community

The innovation discipline has caught on to this mindset. It is a leadership position that seeks to maintain a place at the executive table and to continue to make an impact at the highest level, continually innovating over time. Leaders in innovation also see that setting the stage is key, as is creating and fostering a culture of innovation. This includes developing a community which has the willingness and ability to innovate, as put forth in the blog “Innovation is a Team Sport,” by IBM Center for the Business of Government. The blog, referencing a Harvard Business Review article, looks further at these two cogs of innovation:

Willingness to Innovate:

  • Purpose is about a collective identity. The researchers say: “Purpose makes people willing to take the risks and do the hard work inherent in innovation.”
  • Shared values are what we agree is important. The researchers note: “values include individual and collective thought and action.”
  • Rules of engagement are how we interact with one another and think about problems. The researchers write: “Together with purpose and values, rules of engagement keep members focused on what’s imperative, discourage unproductive behaviors, and encourage activities that foster innovation.”

Ability to Innovate:

  • Creative abrasion is honest discourse and rigorous debate, where review meetings put ideas to the test.
  • Creative agility is the ability for teams to “pursue new ideas quickly and proactively with multiple experiments” and “adjust their plans and actions on the basis of the results and to repeat the cycle.”
  • Creative resolution isthe ability to “make integrative decisions that combine disparate or even opposing ideas” to reach a conclusion.

Innovation Talent & Teamwork

All Things Innovation examined the teamwork needed in innovation in “Putting Together Your Innovation Team.” As the community’s recent Innovation Spend & Trends Report indicated, innovation teams are not working in a bubble, or at least not as much as they used to. Are the days of working in a “silo” gone forever? Moving forward, for agile organizations there is a much greater emphasis on cross-collaboration with other teams and departments in the company. From marketing and finance, to research and insights, to technology and IT services, innovation teams are expected to integrate, co-create and align with the business and its strategies on a broader level.

In “Growing the Next Generation of Innovation Talent,” All Things Innovation looked at the theme through the lens of the next generation. With technological developments evolving, and the notable growth of artificial intelligence, it becomes increasingly important to cultivate the next generation of talent for the innovation industry. Attracting and retaining the best talent for innovation, and encouraging and developing the next leaders in research and development, becomes of prime importance to position the enterprise for future success.

Growing the Culture of Innovation

As Adeva notes in its blog, “Creating a Culture of Innovation,” creating a culture of innovation is a key driver of success and growth for organizations: “By promoting a culture that values creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking, organizations can unlock the full potential of their workforce and drive innovation that can lead to new and improved products, services, and processes.” Adeva points to several steps leaders can take along the road to innovation:

  1. Define and Communicate a Clear Innovation Strategy: This strategy should align with your company’s overall goals and objectives and provide a framework for how innovation will be approached.
  2. Empower Employees to Generate and Pursue New Ideas: This requires a shift away from traditional hierarchical structures and towards a more collaborative and inclusive approach.
  3. Create Psychological Safety: Encourage regular team meetings where everyone can share their progress, challenges, and ideas. Leaders can also facilitate brainstorming sessions and encourage team members to think creatively and critically without any judgment.
  4. Remove Unnecessary Bureaucracy: One way of removing unnecessary bureaucracy is by implementing a flatter hierarchy. Flatter hierarchies reduce layers of management to create a more agile and responsive company. This can be achieved by eliminating unnecessary levels of management, empowering teams to make decisions, and promoting a culture of collaboration and teamwork.
  5. Let Information Flow Freely: Transparency within a company is necessary for building a culture of innovation. In addition to knowing the company’s top priorities, transparency also breeds trust. Trust, in turn, breeds both engagement and personal connections. Taken together, they encourage creative thinking and the confidence to share those ideas and work with teammates to bring them to life.
  6. Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration: Cross-functional collaboration can bring together diverse perspectives and expertise to drive innovation and find creative solutions to complex problems.
  7. Celebrate Innovation Successes: If you want to create a culture that values creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking, it’s critical that you celebrate innovation successes. This can help motivate employees and inspire them to pursue innovative ideas and solutions.
  8. Hire With Diversity in Mind: By forming a homogenous team, you run the risk of missing out on the best solutions. Instead, strive to create an environment where individuals can expect to have their views challenged by those who differ in appearance, communication style, and thought processes.

    Collective Innovation

    With the right strategies in place, a culture of corporate innovation can be developed, and thrive, in an atmosphere that values innovation, and harnesses the power of teamwork.

    Putting the right leadership in place to see this perspective is crucial. As Harvard Business Review’s article, “Collective Genius,” puts it, “Great leaders of innovation see their role not as take-charge direction setters but as creators of a context in which others make innovation happen. That shift in understanding is critical to fostering the next generation of innovation leaders and must permeate the organization and its talent management practices.”

    Video courtesy of Brett Bartholomew