Thought Piece: This will fix your innovation problem

Hi there,

Organizations that desperately need innovation are often the least equipped to do it. I call this the innovation paradox. After working with hundreds of companies, I've seen it play out time and time again.

— And 90% of innovation initiatives fail.

The deadly innovation trap

Think about your typical manufacturing giant or regulated financial institution. Their success has been built on stability, consistency, and risk management. Today, these same qualities are becoming their biggest barriers to change. The challenge isn't unique to any sector. I've seen it in everything from real estate titans to global shipping empires.

Break free by starting small

Look away from the flashy transformation programs and million-dollar consulting engagements for now. The real magic happens with just five people, dedicating one hour per week to innovation. It sounds too simple, right? That's exactly why it works.

5 People, 1 framework

Practice the LEAP Framework with your team by...

• Locating opportunities where others see obstacles

• Evaluating potential with real-world metrics

• Coming up with an action plan (because strategy without execution is hallucination)

• Progressive implementation that builds momentum

The power of compound innovation

Think of it like compound interest for your organization's innovation capability. Each 13-week cycle spawns two new cycles. This will create an exponential growth in innovation capacity. This multiplication effect, combined with the framework's lightweight nature, allows organizations to scale their innovation efforts naturally without overwhelming existing systems.

Need proof? Take TPC, a century-old shipping conglomerate with 10,000 employees. By embracing cyclical innovation, they've successfully integrated AI and advanced analytics into their operations while maintaining their core stability. Their success didn't come from dramatic transformation but from persistent, systematic evolution.

The double exponential opportunity

Why is now a critical moment? Today, we're not just seeing exponential growth in computing power. We're also seeing an exponential drop in the cost to access it. This creates unprecedented opportunities for traditional industries. But it will only work in their favor if they can build the organizational capacity to capture them.

Ready to seize the day?

The future belongs not to the fastest or the most agile, but to those who can build and maintain effective innovation cycles. In an era where technology evolves at the speed of thought, the challenge isn't about matching that pace. It's about creating sustainable systems for continuous adaptation.

Do you want to thrive in this new reality? Start small. Stay persistent. Let compound growth do the heavy lifting. Innovation thrives through systematic evolution, not dramatic transformation.

Your organization will innovate or fade away. The real question centers on building systems that make innovation inevitable.

What's your first small step toward systematic innovation? The clock is ticking. ⏰

Much Love,
Matt

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