Strategies for Sustaining Innovation Momentum

Execs: "Our teams are experimenting, why aren't we finding new growth?" Me: "Well, you started out strong by organizing teams around ideas, giving them access to customers, providing them with tools and had them start running experiments. The teams are only relying on interviews and surveys and don't know how to find stronger evidence on their own." Execs: "So let's teach them more experiments." Me: "That will certainly help and the teams could use a customized playbook based on your industry. This isn't only a skill issue though, it is a system issue. Even your best trained teams will fail if they don't have the time and support to apply what they've learned. They need coaching help for their experimentation if you are to find new growth. Instead of squeezing this into a few hours a week, they more dedicated time. Think of this like a portfolio, not a series of one off teams or projects experimenting with a few customers." Execs: "OK, we'll make sure all of these systems are in place." Me: "That's a good step, and we'll need to go beyond giving this lip service, because you aren't simply setting up a process, you are building a culture of experimentation. This requires communicating the vision of why you are undertaking this challenge. You'll need sponsors who can make decisions on these ideas based on evidence and alignment to your narrative. You'll need metered funding to invest in the ideas that show promise and retire the ones that don't. You'll need to scout for opportunities to drive new growth. And with all of that, this initiative will stall without an incentive system that rewards teams for working this way." Execs: "This sounds like an overwhelming amount of work." Me: "This is a shift. We don't need to build all of this at once. We just have to start, based on where you are today, and build the support system that will allow innovation to stick."

How Do You Avoid POC Purgatory and Prioritize Innovations with Big Returns? This is a question that comes up in every industry panel—and probably from your finance leaders too. But it’s not a new dilemma. Every time there’s a leap in technology—whether it was Big Data or now with Agentic AI—this question resurfaces. While true innovation can’t be fully predicted, I believe it can be programmed for a higher chance of commercial success. Here are three strategies that have worked for me: 1. Run Purposeful Hackathons Hackathons are everywhere, but too often, the energy fizzles out post-event. Instead, create theme-based tracks that align with your business strategy. Build cross-functional teams (data, domain, design) to ensure ideas are robust and actionable. 2. Commercial Innovation Process As an outcome of hackathon, review all ideas and advance the best ones into a structured innovation process. Allocate seed resources to test these ideas in the market—including willingness to pay. Only after real-world validation should you build business cases and incubate ideas with clear stage gates 3. Celebrate and Scale Success Recognize and celebrate wins across the organization—commercial successes, but also the creation of reusable capabilities and Intellectual Property. This inspires future innovation and encourages ongoing investment. Bottom line: Don’t treat innovation as a one-off event. Make it an ongoing, integrated process. When innovation is embedded into your company’s DNA, you’ll see bigger returns and avoid getting stuck in POC purgatory. How do you keep innovation moving in your organization? Share your thoughts below! 👇