How to Navigate Technology and Innovation

As an innovation educator, I've seen countless entrepreneurs struggle with changing environments as they grow and that's why I invested over a decade in trying to understand why. In our upcoming book "Nail it, Scale it, Sail it - The Innovator's Odyssey" we explore the unique challenges and strategies for each stage of the innovation journey. 1. Nail It: Surviving the Jungle The Nail It stage is like entering a dense, unfamiliar jungle. It's hot, stuffy, and filled with strange sounds and smells. The environment is unpredictable and resource-constrained, requiring extreme agility from the small team. In this stage, innovators must embrace a culture of frugality and customer intimacy. They need to know all their customers, learn what they need, and react fast to errors. Speed typically overrides quality, as a minimum viable product tested early in the marketplace will do more good than waiting for perfection. 2. Scale It: Conquering the Mountain Scaling is like embarking on a daring expedition up a long, steep mountain. The environment becomes clearer, with visible paths and a sense of direction. However, it's a paradoxical adventure that demands both expansion and refinement. As Bob Sutton of Stanford School of Engineering points out, "Scaling is a problem of less. There are lots of things that used to work that don't work anymore, so you have to get rid of them." In this stage, innovators must shift from "what" to "how," balancing growth with structure. They need to streamline processes while expanding, cultivating resilience and discipline. Like Dan Gilbert said, "Ideas are rewarded. Execution is worshiped." This stage is where your ability to execute efficiently at scale becomes paramount, all while maintaining the innovative spirit that got you here. 3. Sail It: Navigating the Open Seas The Sail It stage is like navigating open waters. Growth has decelerated, and the focus shifts to sustainability and continuous improvement. The environment is more stable but still competitive, requiring vigilance and swift adaptation to market dynamics. In this stage, innovators must leverage data for decision-making and manage complex resources effectively. They should embrace a culture of continuous improvement, optimizing processes and refining operations. As the company's visibility expands, maintaining a strong brand reputation becomes crucial. It's about staying innovative while optimizing operations, ensuring the company can weather any storm while still charting new territories. Remember, what works in one stage may hinder you in the next. The key is adapting your mindset and strategies as you progress through these distinct environments. Curious about the 'why' behind these stages? Stay tuned for my next post, where we'll explore the fundamental reasons driving this innovation journey.

I spent years navigating the complexities of digital transformation. Here’s the shortcut to save you countless hours! Digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new technology. It’s about changing how we think and operate as an organization. I remember back when I was at Microsoft, leading a team to drive significant change in our sales approach. We faced numerous challenges:   Resistance from teams stuck in their old ways. Difficulty aligning technology with business goals. The ever‑looming pressure of competition driving innovation faster than we could keep up!  But here’s what I learned through trial and error—and a few sleepless nights:   Start with culture: Technology won’t solve your problems if your teams aren’t on board. Embrace a culture that values learning and adaptability. Get everyone involved early in the process!   Set clear objectives: Identify what success looks like for your organization. Are you looking for efficiency? Increased revenue? Improved customer satisfaction? Define it clearly, so everyone is aligned!   Leverage data: Don’t just collect data—use it! Analyze where you stand, identify gaps, and make informed decisions based on real insights rather than gut feelings alone!   Pilot small initiatives: Before rolling out changes company‑wide, test them out on a smaller scale first! This allows you to gather feedback and make adjustments without disrupting everything at once!   Engage stakeholders continuously: Keep communication lines open with all stakeholders throughout the journey—this builds trust and mitigates resistance down the line!   Iterate constantly: Digital transformation is not a one‑time project; it’s an ongoing journey that requires continual assessment and iteration of processes to stay relevant in today’s fast‑paced market environment! By following these steps, I managed to turn initial skepticism into excitement around our digital initiatives. The result? A much more agile team ready to tackle future challenges head‑on! If you're serious about transforming your organization, embrace these principles—you'll thank yourself later!

A few weeks ago, while meeting with a team, I shared the concept of an "Axis of Curiosity" as a framework for how to think about early-stage exploration. The concept is starting to be used at South Park Commons, so I figured I'd share it more broadly too. ☸️ What’s an Axis of Curiosity ☸️ It's not yet a mission, idea, or product. It's the precursor to all of that - simply a core question you're pondering. An Axis of Curiosity can be rooted in a growing belief about how the world will change. That belief might have you asking yourself, "What's something we'll look back on and think was crazy?" It might also stem from a technical or societal inflection you're observing. You might ask, "What will X look like in the future because of Y?" Here are a few examples of Axes of Curiosity that I’m kicking around personally… → “What will the creative process look like when we're no longer limited by having to master lower-level skills first?” → "What new services and marketplaces will emerge when the 'APIs' between humans and computers become high-throughput and low-latency?” → "What new behaviors and experiences will emerge when web frontends are hyper personalized and malleable?” → "Will we look back on how we network and connect today (connection requests and manually curated contact lists) and think that was crazy?” ✨ Why an Axis of Curiosity ✨ 1/ It's forgiving. Curiosity invites tinkering and can be abandoned if it doesn't yield insights. You can pull on a thread without the pressure of a predetermined destination. 2/ It’s multi-dimensional. An axis suggests rotation and allows you to explore it from different angles and altitudes. It's through examining this core curiosity from multiple directions that you begin to discover insights and build conviction in emerging ideas. 🧭 How to navigate your Axis of Curiosity 🧭 1/ Pursue Where Curiosity Deepens and Compounds: You’re making progress when insights and ideas multiply and deepen as you explore. Rather than moving linearly through a maze, the maze begins to fractal out with multiple compelling threads to pursue. 2/ Distinguish Between Small and Big Pivots: When exploring your axis of curiosity, be clear about whether you're rotating around the same axis (small pivot) or deliberately choosing to explore a different axis (big pivot). Doing both simultaneously can be confusing and unproductive. 3/ Change Your Altitude and Angle When Stuck: When you hit a wall, try shifting your perspective along your axis. If you're stuck at the solution level, zoom out and rotate to examine the broader context. If you're too abstract, zoom in to specific implementation details. Each altitude offers new attack vectors and possibilities. Go forth and be curious.

In a fast-moving digital landscape, I’ve found that staying hands-on with emerging technologies is key—not to master every tool, but to understand how they can drive meaningful value across the organization. It’s about connecting innovation to strategy and making sure the right technologies are in place to support teams, streamline operations, and deliver better outcomes. This past weekend, I spent time exploring how these tools can be applied in practical ways. I used CursorAI for some vibecoding—building API-driven dashboards to transform financial and system data into meaningful, actionable reports. I then designed agentic agent workflows in N8N to automate repetitive tasks and enhance operational efficiency. To build on that, I created logic in Azure Logic Apps and integrated it with Microsoft Sentinel to monitor security alerts. Those alerts were sent to ChatGPT for contextual analysis, with the results published back into Sentinel—helping surface insights faster and enabling more informed responses. It’s not about becoming an expert in every platform. It’s about staying close enough to the technology to guide strategy, ask better questions, and empower teams to apply innovation where it matters most. What are you exploring, building, or learning to stay sharp and future-ready? #TechLeadership #AI #Automation #CursorAI #N8N #LogicApps #MicrosoftSentinel #DigitalStrategy #Innovation #ContinuousLearning

Adopting new technology requires what I call “foundational”work. Here are three such key tasks: 1) Conduct a Thorough Needs Assessment -Evaluate existing tools and workflows: Are they meeting your needs, or are inefficiencies and manual tasks slowing you down? -Pinpoint pain points: Identify recurring challenges such as data silos, integration issues, or compliance gaps. -Engage your team: Host discussions or surveys to uncover their everyday challenges and gain insights from those closest to the work. 2) Map and Analyze Workflows -Document end-to-end processes: Map each step of key workflows, from intake to output. -Spot inefficiencies: Look for bottlenecks, redundant steps, and high-risk areas where errors commonly occur. -Visualize opportunities: Use these insights to identify areas ripe for automation or enhancement. 3) Set Clear, Data-Driven Goals -Tie goals to business outcomes: Define objectives that align with broader organizational priorities—e.g., "Reduce contract review time by 30%" or "Achieve a 15% increase in team productivity." -Define metrics of success: Establish KPIs that will help you track progress and assess ROI over time. 4) Build Cross-Functional Buy-In -Engage early with stakeholders: Collaborate with legal, IT, finance, and operations teams to ensure the chosen solution addresses both tactical needs and strategic objectives. -Promote transparency: Share the rationale behind adopting new technology and the benefits for each stakeholder group to build trust. #legaltech #innovation #law #business #learning

Innovation—and making change in general—isn’t about blindly jumping into the unknown. It’s about mixing boldness with a plan. It’s not just having an idea and running with it. Before you step into the open air, you take your wild idea, pack it, check it, test it, and bring that reserve - because you may need to pivot mid-jump. Here's the basic framework my teams use: 💡 IDEATE - take in an idea or brainstorm ones within the team to get after problems or inefficiencies you see in your system, and turn it into a problem statement. ✈ DESIGN - design a portfolio of solutions against that problem statement that you can take and test, along with the process you'll use to define and measure success. Start thinking about who will own it, and how you'll resource it. 🏗 PROTOTYPE - build test solutions and MVPs, and run experiments as needed to test their efficacy. Figure out what works, what doesn't, and what you want to scale. Co-build that refined solution with the champion who will own it. 📈 SCALE - time to build out your solution! Communicate, build your change management plan, and roll it out! 🤝 INTEGRATE - execute that change management plan and make sure your solution works in your ecosystem. 📊 ASSESS - keep checking on things. Is your solution working the way it's supposed to? Is it fixing the problem in your ecosystem? What else needs to be changed? And that's usually what leads you to a new idea. Even with a good plan, the leap is still risky and requires you to be bold. But the effort is (or should be!) grounded in preparation, strategy, and the willingness to adapt mid-air as needed. Happy Friday, team! #ArmyInnovation #LetsGo

Leaders: To combine the power of technology and human innovation, you need to empower your team to move quickly and learn fast. Here’s how I’ve seen this done well: 🤝Two-pizza teams Change happens faster when small teams with diverse skills work and iterate together. Think of Amazon’s two-pizza team rule: No team should be so big that you can’t feed everyone with just two pizzas. This model works because teams are small and it unites a diverse skill set (like a designer, an analyst, a product person, and an engineer). Together, they move quickly in iterative cycles. ⏪Use an outcome work-back orientation The agile approach to software development isn’t just for building products. I’ve used agile across workflows throughout my career, including for legal queues. Encourage your team to start with the outcome they want to achieve and work backward, then adopt an agile mindset to pursue those outcomes. You might not get it right the first time. But the more you experiment and make mistakes, the more you’ll learn. Which leads to… ♻️Create a culture where it’s okay to fail This mindset requires courage and patience. You likely won’t get to a lightning-strike moment all at once. Instead, you allow your team to experiment and find better ways forward. It takes time for these small differences and small benefits to compound. In the long run, you build trust with your team and unlock success. This is why I’m so passionate about what #AI will unlock for marketing. With AI, marketers are empowered to move from hypothesis to campaign to outcome very quickly. Compounding growth loops will become the norm. If you want to combine the potential of technology and human innovation, you need to start by asking how you can bring about the change and set your team free to fail, learn, and get better 1% every week. What’s been the difference maker for your organization in bringing together game-changing technology and courageous team members? #Leadership #TeamCulture #Innovation

How to Lead Through Innovation – And Actually Make It Work Innovation is no longer optional; it’s essential. But how do you lead through innovation and ensure it becomes a sustainable part of your leadership strategy? Here’s how: → Define Innovation Clearly – Make sure everyone understands what innovation means for your organization and align it with your goals. → Set Specific Goals – Break down big innovation objectives into actionable steps for your teams to tackle effectively. → Assemble Diverse Teams – Bring together different perspectives to foster creativity and broaden the scope of ideas. → Foster Collaboration – Encourage an environment where team members feel safe sharing their ideas and collaborating. → Implement Structured Processes – Use a step-by-step approach to generate, refine, and implement ideas, ensuring consistent progress. → Encourage Experimentation – Create room for testing and refining new ideas in a controlled space, building confidence in your team. → Leverage External Insights – Stay updated on industry trends and insights that can inform your innovation strategies. → Measure Success and Iterate – Continuously assess the impact of innovations and refine your strategy based on results. Innovation is a journey, not a destination. By focusing on these steps, you can make it a sustainable, impactful part of your leadership strategy. What steps do you take to lead innovation in your organization? Let’s discuss! 👇

𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 As we stand at the forefront of the AI revolution, leaders face a dual challenge: driving innovation while upholding ethical standards. Here’s how to navigate this dynamic landscape: 𝟏. 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ▪Foster creativity within your teams. ▪Implement a robust risk evaluation framework. ▪Balance innovative pursuits with practical considerations. ▪Global spending on AI systems is expected to reach $𝟓𝟎𝟎 billion in 2024, up from $𝟑𝟐𝟕 billion in 2021. 𝟐. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 ▪Establish clear ethical guidelines for AI projects. ▪Ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability. ▪Integrate ethical considerations into every stage of development. ▪ 𝟖𝟎% of business leaders believe ethical AI practices are crucial to gaining consumer trust. 𝟑. 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ▪Stay updated on the latest AI advancements and ethical debates. ▪Encourage ongoing education and training for your team. ▪Promote dialogue on the evolving ethical implications of AI. ▪ 𝟓𝟒% of AI practitioners acknowledge that their AI models contain biases. 𝟒. 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 ▪Build diverse teams with a range of backgrounds and experiences. ▪Identify and address potential biases in AI solutions. ▪Create more equitable technologies through inclusive perspectives. ▪ 𝟔𝟑% of the global population feels that AI ethics should be a top priority for policymakers. 𝟓. 𝐁𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 ▪Communicate openly about AI initiatives and ethical frameworks. ▪Share steps taken to address potential concerns and mitigate risks. ▪Build trust by being clear about your ethical commitments. ▪ 𝟕𝟔% of organizations using AI report improved decision-making processes. Navigating the AI revolution involves leading with both innovation and integrity. By balancing these aspects, leaders can drive meaningful progress and ensure that technology benefits all. #AI #DigitalTransformation #GenerativeAI #GenAI #Innovation  #ArtificialIntelligence #ML #ThoughtLeadership #NiteshRastogiInsights  ---------------------------------------------------------------------- • Please 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 https://lnkd.in/gcy76JgE