Innovating Innovation

Doing innovation is a peculiarly human activity, and one that distinguishes us from other species. There is a huge industry around ‘innovation’ but as Michael Nichols shares in his article here, it is often more about creating the theatre of innovation (hackathons, pitch events etc) than the substance of it – and that lies in developing an innovation culture and curious mindsets.

In this issue we bring together a rich collection of pieces from hugely experienced practitioners, thinkers and researchers on the topic. The team at super-accelerator,  UnternehmerTUM, describe their special approach that has transformed the European scene. Agustin Couto shares his experiences at Facebook/Meta and how they involved their clients in the innovation journey; Fernanda Carapinha dissects the start-up and scale-up worlds and questions if they are really structured effectively; Andy Binns describes the differences between entrepreneurial founders and corporate explorers and how to nurture the latter in your organization.

Beyond innovation we are thrilled to have Colin Mayer, the former Dean of Saïd Business School and world authority on the role of firms, discuss how we should reframe corporations to resolve our biggest global issues; Bernie Jaworski and Victoria Cheung on the thinking of Confucius and Peter Drucker; Alexander Mackenzie on mandalas and Big Picture leadership… and lots more – dive in…