Effective Innovation Begins With Strategic Direction

Identify the forms of innovation that best support your strategy.

B. Tom Hunsaker and Jonathan Knowles

October 05, 2021

When speaking with global executives, we often ask them, “What’s one thing your company needs to improve?” Their word choice varies by region, but their response is usually the same: the ability to derive more value from their companies' investments in innovation.

More often than not, the underlying problem is that innovation is assumed to be an end in itself rather than the mechanism for achieving a specific form of change. The impetus to innovate is independent from a strategic analysis of where and how innovation can improve the organization’s fit to purpose ...