Hidden truths of corporate innovation
Twelve posts first published on LinkedIn between May and July 2025, each on a truth about corporate innovation that companies prefer to ignore. In reading order.
-
Nobody agrees on what innovation actually means
Ask your executive team, "What should be the role of innovation?" You'll get different answers from everyone. Here's the reality: To Marketing, it's …
-
Fail fast, they say, but no one wants to be the one who fails
We’ve glorified failure. “Fail fast, fail forward, fail often.” But here’s a truth no one admits: Most organizations will punish failure. The people who …
-
Harmony is overrated: innovation thrives on friction
Companies obsess over collaboration, alignment, and harmony, but innovation actually requires conflict and disagreement. Here’s the uncomfortable truth …
-
Listening to the boss vs. listening to the customer
“Customer-first” is the promise. “Boss-first” is the reality. Here’s what really happens: Too many teams spend their time managing upward instead of …
-
Innovation starts with courageous leadership
We talk about innovation as a process or a strategy. But at its core, innovation is a leadership decision — and it takes guts. New ideas challenge the …
-
Having everything is the enemy of innovation
We think innovation needs abundance: budgets, teams, resources. But: When you have everything, you stop questioning.; When you have nothing, you start …
-
Companies want innovation but fire the innovators
Companies hire and reward employees that are good at operating the business. This means: Rewarding conformity; Suppressing original thinking; Punishing …
-
Stop wasting millions on innovation
I’ve seen too many corporate innovations fail — not because of a lack of effort or brilliant minds. The real problem? Companies rush to build and push new …
-
Innovation Theater IS Innovation
Hackathons, labs, demos, and communications are often dismissed as empty corporate cosplay —all show and no substance. Companies pretending to innovate …
-
Agile is just Waterfall in disguise
And it’s killing innovation. The Agile Manifesto aimed to free development from processes and rigidity: Individuals and interactions over processes and …
-
User research is wasted empathy
User research should be your compass for innovation. Find hidden hopes and fears; Discover frustrations that make them quit; Reveal the struggles they …
-
HiPPO isn’t an evil dictator
The Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (HiPPO) appears when decisions default to the highest-ranking person’s opinion —regardless of data or expertise. And the …
