Three Reasons to keep Investing in Ideas not Aligned with Strategy

Posted by Dan Toma
On 12/11/2025

Smart leaders know that strategy and innovation must align—but sometimes growth demands exceptions. Learn when to invest beyond the plan.

Making Metered Funding Work in a World of Annual Budgets

Posted by Dan Toma
On 22/08/2025

Startups thrive on metered funding—capital released in stages, tied to evidence, not the calendar. Corporations, by contrast, remain bound to annual budgeting cycles that can stall even the most promising ideas. Unless companies reimagine how funding and innovation intersect, they risk losing not just speed, but the very market opportunities innovation is meant to capture.

The M&A Checklist for Sustainable Growth

Posted by Dan Toma
On 21/07/2025

In an era where growth is harder to come by and disruption is the norm, boards face a critical question: where should capital and leadership focus go next? This article outlines the three strategic levers companies can pull—operational optimization, innovation-led growth, and M&A—and offers a clear, actionable checklist to increase the odds of success in any acquisition. For executives serious about sustainable, value-creating growth, this is a blueprint for making smarter, strategy-aligned decisions.

The Minimum Viable Innovation Accounting System

Posted by Dan Toma
On 18/07/2025

For years, executives have cited one consistent barrier to investing in innovation: the inability to measure it. Without clear metrics, innovation is often relegated to the sidelines—seen as a discretionary activity rather than a disciplined driver of growth. The consequences are real: careers in innovation become cul-de-sacs, and companies underinvest in what should be a […]

Growing out of a crisis: five strategy lessons from Garmin

Posted by Dan Toma
On 13/06/2025

When disruption hit, Garmin didn’t try to outmuscle its competitors—it outlearned them. By turning R&D into a tool for exploration rather than just execution, Garmin used innovation to test new markets, understand shifting customer behaviors, and validate its next growth curve. Its pivot to wearables wasn’t a gamble; it was a strategic evolution rooted in experimentation, learning, and focus.

What Is The Role Of Strategy?

Posted by Dan Toma
On 06/05/2025

It took the telephone 75 years to reach 1 million users. Television did it in about 13 years. Netflix reached the same milestone in just 3.5 years—and ChatGPT did it in only 5 days. We are living in a world where the pace of change and the speed at which information spreads are accelerating exponentially. […]

Why Disruptive Innovation Is A Bad Business Idea. And What Can You Do Instead

Posted by Dan Toma
On 28/03/2025

Selling a company on the need for disruptive or transformative innovation has always been a challenge. Some businesses simply don’t need it, others can’t afford it, and most struggle to justify investing in something inherently high-risk. The instinct to protect the core business—its efficiencies, margins, and financial predictability—often overrides the desire to explore bold new […]

Want to innovate? Start with a business case

Posted by Dan Toma
On 22/02/2023

Asking intrapreneurs for a business case or a financial forecast early on is useless. Or at least this is what the innovation community has been trying to convince corporate leaders for the past years. Countless articles were written on the topic and an endless flow of social media posts went out to convince leaders that […]

Three Organizational Designs for Innovation

Posted by Dan Toma
On 30/01/2023

The design/structure of an organization can help or hinder its progress toward its goals. Independent of size and industry, organizations can achieve their goals by properly matching their needs with the structure they use to operate. Here are three ways in which innovation can be organized.

Five Innovation Accounting Indicators that are Telling you if your Middle Managers are Stifling Innovation

Posted by Dan Toma
On 21/11/2022

It is a well established fact that middle management plays a crucial role in driving innovation. But in the absence of clear indicators for innovation performance it is difficult to say if middle management is actually driving innovation or stifling it.