Innov8rs.co

🥳 Well, that was fun, welcoming hundreds of corporate innovators from around the world to The Innovator’s Handbook 2025 Launch Event yesterday... We're excited to share the news that the new handbook is now available. 300+ pages, 100+ contributions... The "bible" for everyone leading and doing innovation in large organizations. As always, we’ve captured the takeaways from the many online and in-person sessions and conversations we’ve hosted over the last twelve months. For this 8th edition, we’ve also added brief summaries of some of the best content from other sources, plus we’re featuring a handful of our members looking back at their achievements in 2024 and reflecting on what’s next in 2025. 👉 It's free, but great value. Get your copy via https://innov8rs.co/ihb25/ #corporateinnovation #innovationmanagement #innovationleadership #innovationstrategy #intrapreneurship #openinnovation #venturebuilding #innovationculture #innovationleader

The strategic role of innovation to deliver business growth and speed to market is harder – and more important – than ever, says Alexa Dembek. 🎤 We're excited for Alexa to join us at Innov8rs Phoenix (8-9 April 2025), to share openly challenges and key success factors based on her experience as Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer at Dupont. ❓ Are innovation opportunities tightly aligned with business strategies based on valuable problems to solve? ❓ How to incorporate sustainability requirements into the strategic innovation choices? ❓ How to accelerate digitally-enabled innovation for productivity and new business models? ❓ How to drive a culture change for increased impact and speed? 🧐 Curious to know more? Check out the conference website https://lnkd.in/ebRrEHs6 ❇️ Like to join? Apply via https://lnkd.in/eXcaSwdW ⚠️ Conference tickets are available for are available for current corporate innovation leaders and professionals only In the next weeks, we'll be presenting to you some of the speakers you could be learning from and working with at Innov8rs Phoenix... if you join. Stay tuned for more updates! #innovationleadership #corporateinnovation

"Organizations assume that if people know better, they will do better. But behavior change is about making the right choice the easiest choice,” says Matt Furness. Lasting change comes from minimizing friction by redesigning environments and systems to make desired behaviors easy, natural, and sustainable. “When you lower the effort required, people don’t need to rely on motivation—they’ll just do it because it’s the easiest choice. By focusing on the environment, we eliminate the conditions that make relapse inevitable, breaking the cycle entirely,” says Matt. He argues that instead of assuming people make rational decisions effortlessly, we should acknowledge their limitations and design for them. Rather than resisting these constraints, we should embrace them by designing change that works even when people are tired, stressed, or busy. What's your take on / experience with #culturechange?

Many Fortune 500 companies stagnate or decline because they fail to effectively measure and invest in future growth. “The big reality is that, in any short period of measurement, companies built to be resilient for the really long term will slightly financially underperform companies built to capitalize on a particular moment. And that is the crux of the measurement issue we grapple with as innovators.” Rita McGrath argues that the problem isn’t that innovation doesn’t create value; most companies aren’t measuring the right things. Read more > https://lnkd.in/euzcHRVr #corporateinnovation #innovationmanagement #value #growth

The future of innovation requires businesses to prioritise ethics alongside profitability, driving positive, lasting change. Responsible innovation (RI) provides a practical path to balance commercial success with societal impact, building trust and long-term resilience. At Kainos, they explored the AREA framework—anticipate, reflect, engage, act— to integrate responsible practices into project delivery. Over six weeks of workshops, teams used the framework, presented as a deck of cards, to critically assess how they design and deliver digital services. The prompts range from strategic questions like “Should this work be undertaken?” to practical considerations such as “Who could be indirectly affected?” and “How diverse is the delivery team?” These tools address ethical, regulatory, and transparency challenges, encouraging continuous improvement. This Thursday, member of Innov8rs Community and Head of Innovation at Kainos Paul Batterham will jump on our virtual stage to present learnings from their journey to implementing Responsible Innovation. *** The session is for members of Innov8rs Community only, but if you are currently in a corporate innovation role and you'd like an invite, email community@innov8rs.co

We all face moments of profound uncertainty—whether launching new ventures, transforming organizations, or reinventing careers. While we can’t eliminate uncertainty, we can learn to navigate it with purpose and confidence. In his opening keynote at Innov8rs Phoenix, Jeremiah Gardner will reveal a powerful approach to turning uncertainty from an obstacle into an opportunity for growth. You’ll leave with: – A clear understanding of your "Goldline "– the unique truth that anchors and propels you to explore – The ability to make confident decisions in ambiguous situations while staying true to your core purpose – A proven method for converting uncertainty into innovation, growth, and competitive edge 🧐 Curious to know more? Check out the conference website https://lnkd.in/ebRrEHs6 ❇️ Like to join? Apply via https://lnkd.in/eXcaSwdW ⚠️ Conference tickets are available for are available for current corporate innovation leaders and professionals only In the next weeks, we'll be presenting to you some of the speakers you could be learning from and working with at Innov8rs Phoenix... if you join. Stay tuned for more updates! #corporateinnovation #innovationmanagement

Pilot results are strong, market potential looks promising, and leadership is excited. Now, it’s time for the handover to the core business for scaling. But this is where things get tricky. The day-to-day business is designed for safely delivering operational KPIs and the margins that keep shareholders happy. It’s short-term, process-driven, and risk-averse. This is at odds with scaling new innovations because they introduce uncertainty and unstructured processes. Frank Mattes identifies three common mistakes that companies make during the transition from "innovation" to the "core": 🚫 Over-investing in innovation teams but not addressing the integration challenge: “Companies pour resources into the front end but don’t solve the ‘now vs. new’ dilemma. Eventually, they face a sunk cost problem.” 🚫 Handing over the innovation too early: “Emerging business models often ‘die the death of a thousand cuts’ because they’re forced to fit into existing processes and mindsets that weren’t designed for them.” 🚫 Relying on shared resources: “Innovation teams are told to use the same functional departments as incremental innovation projects, but when there’s a conflict, the core business always wins.” 👉 Which one(s) have you seen playing out in your day to day?

Disruption is inevitable. The S-curve model demonstrates how businesses grow, plateau, and then decline unless they create the next wave of growth in time. The time window to jump to a new S-curve is now half what it was 40 years ago (less than 20 years), yet most companies fail to transition due to denial, slow decision-making, or misaligned incentives. Instead of aiming at "transformation", Stryber's Jan Sedlacek argues that the solution lies in companies mastering the art of "Unicorn Breeding". Rather than trying to overhaul a legacy business, successful companies plant new ventures that can thrive independently. Unicorn breeding is the process of growing billion-dollar businesses within a corporate structure—an antidote to slow-motion failure. https://lnkd.in/etEK7kX9

As one of the most dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems in the U.S., Arizona has emerged as a hub of innovation, often called “Silicon Valley 2.0.” The region has gained prominence in semiconductor manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, defense, drones, autonomous electric vehicles, and medical, financial, and space technology. We’re excited to announce that Innov8rs.co and the W. P. Carey School of Business – Arizona State University are co-hosting a 2-day conference in Phoenix on 8-9 April 2025, welcoming a curated group of 250+ cross-industry innovation leaders for two days of in-depth conversations, relevant connections and quality content. “After hosting events in 30-plus cities worldwide, we’re excited to bring Innov8rs to Phoenix, one of the most vibrant innovation ecosystems today,” said Hans Balmaekers, founder and chief at Innov8rs. “At Innov8rs conferences, we dive into the best and latest in corporate innovation — from strategy and culture to venture building, open innovation, and AI. This year’s conference will also spotlight corporate innovators from Arizona’s thriving ecosystem, alongside innovation leaders from brands like 3M, Dupont, Unilever, Microsoft and WL Gore. If you have innovation your title, you don’t want to miss this one.” W. P. Carey is committed to partnering with global leaders who are driving meaningful innovation,” said Hitendra Chaturvedi, professor and faculty director of the graduate program in entrepreneurship and innovation at W. P. Carey. “Arizona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and our school’s culture of innovation make Phoenix the perfect host for the global Innov8rs conference. We aim to showcase the depth and breadth of W. P. Carey’s entrepreneurial assets, empowering leaders and businesses to thrive and disrupt like no other region in the world. Arizona State University is the state’s secret weapon, driving the economy with graduates who possess an entrepreneurial mindset and are prepared to build and lead the next generation of global companies.” 👉 For more information > https://lnkd.in/epZfrSXv 👉 Check the agenda and more details about the conference > https://lnkd.in/ebRrEHs6

💡 Leaders responsible for long-term projects need to think big picture, aiming to make an impact- rather than looking at little improvements and trying to make their bosses happy, says Behnam Tabrizi. They better unlearn what they learned at business school in order to be successful. 👉 Yes, no, maybe? #corporateinnovation #innovationleader #innovationmanagement