The HB seat at your innovation table

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 26/09/2022

Who sits at your innovation table? OK, I acknowledge that the answer may vary according to your business sector and size. Hopefully, at least some of the executive team are there, helping to set strategy and vision and sponsor innovation-led transformation. I’m sure you will have one or more innovation leaders or champions sitting in, […]

Managers drive innovation from the heart.

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 15/09/2022

This is a piece about and for managers. They could be line managers, middle managers, or team leaders; in a way, the title is immaterial. But in any organisation, these individuals sit at its heart, interpreting the vision, delivering the strategy, and ensuring that the engine runs smoothly, and the business stays on track. You […]

Five ways to drive innovation from the centre

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 27/07/2022

Innovation has the potential to thrive in every organisation, no matter how large or small. So why are 55% of businesses not seen as active in innovation? The answer may lie with your middle managers, says Cris Beswick, author and co-founder of OUTCOME. Here’s how you can create the right conditions to enable your people […]

If innovation was human…

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 11/01/2021

If innovation was human, how would it feel? Would it be frustrated and angry at seeing its potential wasted? Would it be full of hope and joy at the positive changes it could deliver to people’s lives and livelihoods? Or would it be like the rest of us; working through a mix of emotions as […]

What kind of VUCA leader are you?

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 08/12/2020

Don’t panic! From Corporal Jones’ immortal catchphrase in Dad’s Army to being written on the front of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s funny how often that instruction ‘Don’t panic’ reoccurs in books and films. A simple phrase, yet one which is almost as meaningless as it is helpful. The same potential for panic […]

Leadership development is broken – so, how do we fix it?

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 01/12/2020

Leadership development is broken! How does that statement make you feel? Do you see it as a personal attack and demand proof, or do you nod sadly and agree? And who do you blame; the system, leadership schools, your predecessors, your employer; or perhaps you accept some of the criticism yourself? Now whilst psychologists may […]

Leading FOR Innovation; It’s a numbers game!

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 25/11/2020

Let me make you a promise; nowhere in this article am I going to ask you where you see your leadership style sitting on a scale of 1-10. Nor am I going to set out to tell you that what you are doing is wrong. After all, every organisation is different, and every organisation may […]

If you want innovation, start with the right breakfast!

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 10/11/2020

Does culture still eat strategy for breakfast? That’s the question which I posted in a webinar which I was invited to present by ‘We are lean and agile’, a company whose vision statement is ‘making improvement easier for you.’ Through a mix of coaching and the deployment of Engage Process software they help organisations to […]

Are you tackling your innovation blockers?

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 03/11/2020

What is the number one innovation blocker in your organisation? That’s the question which the team at Solverboard, the all-in-one innovation platform, recently set out to answer. Building on the success of their 2019 report which looked at five key innovation challenges including measuring innovation and employee buy-in, the 2020 report [1] identified five areas […]

Owning the Innovation Agenda

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 05/10/2020

When the going gets tough, where are you to be found? Or is that an unfair question? You might even see it as a knee-jerk reaction to current circumstances, born out of the twin challenges of COVID and the ever-looming end of the Brexit transition period. Indeed, we can all acknowledge that over the past […]