Future-Proofing Through Core Innovation: Principles and Practices from lululemon
What sets certain brands apart in a crowded marketplace? For lululemon, the answer lies in a strategic approach to core innovation to drive immediate growth while paving the way for future opportunities. This deliberate methodology keeps the brand relevant, distinctive, and consistently valuable to its customers year after year. By balancing…
Partners in Crime: How Multiple Corporates Can Co-build Successful Ventures
When multiple corporates come together to build a new venture, the potential benefits are huge: complementary capabilities, shared resources, diversified risk, and a stronger position to enter new markets. Done right, co-building ventures enables each partner to achieve more than they could alone. But the reality is often messier. Even when…
Can’t Innovate Without a Mandate
What do The Blues Brothers, Don Quixote, and the First Crusade have in common? Each had a clear sense of mission, a “mandate from above” that drove them forward with conviction and legitimacy. Now replace “mission from God” with your company’s call to innovate. Do you have a real mandate that defines purpose, scope, and leadership expectations?…
Innovating for the Post-Carbon Future
The energy landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, with the UK now generating more energy from renewables like wind, solar, and hydro than from fossil fuels. This isn’t an isolated trend; it’s part of a larger global transformation. Yet, many still fail to see the profound implications of this change, which extends far beyond sustainability or…
Deliberate, Diverse Innovation Portfolios: Betting on Uncertainty
Stakeholders demand results. CFOs ask for projections. Yet innovation teams often find themselves pitching bold ideas with little more than a business model canvas that doesn’t fit a quarterly earnings report. As Tristan Kromer, Founder and CEO of Kromatic, puts it: “At some point, somebody with a calculator is going to ask how much money…
How To Create Buy-In Without Selling Your Idea
You don’t ever have to make your case. You don’t have to beg, coerce or plead with people to join your movement. You don’t need to host a massive event to announce the start of the transformation. There is only one thing you need to do… create momentum. Invite the right people to your movement at the beginning. Then work with those people…
Building “Advantaged” Ventures: A New Growth Lever (For the Right Problem)
As a corporate innovator, you’ve likely faced the formidable challenge of solving complex problems with limited resources, slow-moving processes, or a lack of entrepreneurial flexibility. Turning to startup partnerships might seem like the perfect solution to drive fresh energy and innovation into your organization. But too often, these…
Challenge-Driven Innovation: A Guide to Unlocking Fresh Solutions
For years, a global soda company struggled to perfect the bubble size in its carbonated drinks. Despite significant internal R&D efforts, the breakthrough came from an unexpected source: a metals expert in India specializing in industrial foaming techniques. By reframing the challenge and seeking external expertise, they found a solution they…
Real Options: A Smarter Way to Fund Innovation
Innovation thrives on uncertainty, but traditional financial models often struggle to account for its unpredictable nature. The net present value (NPV) method, a staple for evaluating investments, falters when applied to high-risk, uncertain innovation projects. In a recent Innov8rs Learning Labs Session, Claus Hirzmann, Co-founder and CEO of…
Good Team, Bad Team: And Why it Matters in Innovation
Have you ever pitched a brilliant idea only to have it shot down before it even had a chance to breathe? You’re not alone. Many innovation teams face resistance—not because their ideas lack merit but because they fail to gain support from other departments like finance, engineering, or sales. Why does this happen so often in organizations filled…
Mastering Portfolio Management for Impact
Innovation is a primary growth driver in consumer health, so why do so many promising initiatives fail to deliver strategic impact? Innovators know that new products, formulations, and market expansions are essential for staying ahead. Yet, despite significant R&D investments, many organizations struggle to turn their innovation pipeline into…
Startup or Spinout? Choosing the Right Path
The stakes are high for corporate leaders tasked with bringing new innovations to market. Choosing between building a venture internally or seeking external partnerships is a strategic decision and critical to long-term success. Yet many leaders hesitate, unsure of the risks, trade-offs, and hidden challenges of either path. How can you determine…
