Thought Piece: how we survived losing 75% of revenue

Hi there,

In 2023, a brutal market shift almost destroyed my company. We lost 75% of our business in months, facing a budget gap larger than any annual profit we'd ever made.

Yet within a year, we bounced back stronger. Doubling revenue and multiplying profit tenfold. The key wasn't a dramatic pivot or a stroke of genius. It was embracing a simple quarterly rhythm for innovation.

This wasn't just luck. Through helping build over 100 startups and working with companies like Apple, Google, and JLL, I've discovered that sustainable innovation follows a beat. Not the traditional five-year plans that become obsolete before implementation. Not sporadic bursts of activity that fizzle out. But a steady, deliberate quarterly pulse that transforms how organizations think and operate.

The power of small steps

The LEAP framework, which emerged from these experiences, shows that meaningful innovation doesn't require massive budgets or disruption. It starts with just five people spending one hour per week. Each quarter, these small teams identify opportunities, evaluate them systematically, plan actions, and create tangible prototypes.

— The magic happens when these cycles compound.

Building your innovation engine in just 1hr a week

Last Friday, I introduced the concept of building an innovation engine in just one hour per week. Let me expand on that here. At JLL, we witnessed this approach transform a small weekly meeting into a company-wide movement.

The process is beautifully simple: a team of five meets weekly to:

• Scout emerging opportunities

• Select promising initiatives

• Design practical experiments

• Build rapid prototypes

What makes this approach powerful is its multiplier effect - each successful quarter spawns new teams, creating a self-sustaining cycle of innovation across the organization.

Consider Nextracker, a multi-billion dollar solar technology company we worked with. Rather than attempting a complete digital transformation at once, we broke it down into quarterly experiments. Each cycle produced clear deliverables while building toward larger goals. This approach allowed them to validate ideas quickly, learn continuously, and maintain momentum without overwhelming their teams.

The rhythm that drives culture change

What makes quarterly cycles particularly powerful is their ability to shift organizational mindsets. When Microsoft transformed under Satya Nadella's leadership, they didn't just change their strategy - they changed how they thought about change itself. Their shift from a "know it all" to a "learn it all" culture was driven by regular, manageable innovation cycles that gradually reshaped their DNA.

This is where many organizations go wrong. They treat innovation as an event, like a workshop, a hackathon, a transformation project. But true innovation is a habit. It’s built through consistent practice. The quarterly rhythm creates this habit naturally. It allows teams to develop their "innovation muscles" through regular exercise.

JPMorgan Chase & Co demonstrates this approach. Despite being a 240,000-person organization, they consistently outcompete fintech startups in innovation. Their secret? A decentralized innovation practice synchronized through quarterly demo days that celebrate progress, share learnings, and maintain momentum.

These aren't isolated examples. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, I've seen how quarterly innovation cycles create what I call an "Innovation Supercycle.” It’s a self-reinforcing system where each cycle generates more opportunities, more learning, and momentum. One team becomes two, then four, then eight, with each group running its own quarterly experiments while staying synchronized with the larger organization.

In the Age of AI, this rhythm becomes even more crucial. Technology cycles are accelerating. But human adaptation takes time. The quarterly cadence provides a framework for balancing rapid technological change with sustainable cultural evolution. It allows organizations to experiment with new technologies like AI while maintaining the human elements that drive lasting innovation.

The journey starts small; just five people, one hour per week, for one quarter. But like compound interest, these small investments accumulate into transformative change. Each cycle builds upon the last, creating a momentum that can carry an organization through market shifts, technological disruptions, and competitive challenges.

This is the heartbeat of modern innovation. It’s not dramatic transformations or isolated experiments, but steady, purposeful cycles that gradually reshape how organizations think, learn, and grow. In an era of unprecedented change, it might be the most reliable path to sustainable innovation we have.

Ready to build your Innovation Machine?

Start small: gather 5 people and block one hour next week. That's all it takes to plant the first seed. 🌱

Much Love,
Matt

At Lighthouse, we love featuring fresh perspectives from our community of AI, tech, and innovation leaders. Got insights to share? Email us at [email protected]—we’d love to hear from you!