Are You Firing the Wrong People?

Are You Firing the Wrong People?

Bruce Vojak & Nancy Dawes | PDMA Inspire Innovation Conference • November 14, 2022

Are You Firing the Wrong People?

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With today's emphasis on standardized processes like Lean Innovation, Stage-Gate, and Design-Thinking, organizations can easily lose sight of the critical importance of the unique individuals who drive breakthrough innovation. Serial Innovators are among the most provocative and challenging of these people. Their engagement style often confuses leaders and teammates who can miss their disproportionate impact on a company's financial value. They problem-solve using non-linear recursive methods, challenge and reframe core business assumptions, and routinely connect-the-dots everyone else misses, making them a disruption to these standardized team processes. But are they wild ducks who risk wasting time and resources or golden geese who can disproportionately leverage a company's innovation investment? Case studies of breakthrough innovation across multiple consumer packaged goods categories (including snack foods and skin care illustrated by cases involving P&G's Pringles and Olay), combined with extensive research presented in "Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough in Mature Firms" (Stanford University Press, 2012), reveal critical insights into Serial Innovators' value and approach to breakthrough innovation. So, instead of ignoring or removing these unique individuals, learn to identify and unleash them to step-change your company's innovation potential. Attendees will hear from both a Serial Innovator and a lead researcher.

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