In early November, we brought together 16 innovation and R&D leaders from large organizations at MasterCard Labs in New York City for a roundtable co-hosted with our friends at Deloitte. The pre-read for participants was Deloitte principal Geoff Tuff’s piece, “We Should Still ♥ Humans — And Why It’s Critical in the Digital Age.”
These “Underground” gatherings are off-the-record, primarily because they’re designed to enable a group of peers to openly discuss issues they’re grappling with. Among the topics we discussed: focusing on human behaviors and needs, rather than just chasing shiny new technologies; what creates lasting customer loyalty in 2017; how to work with (or acquire) startup companies without “killing the butterfly”; measuring cultural change in the company; creating incentives for middle management to be involved with — rather than block — innovation; and relationships between innovation groups and the business units.
If you’re a corporate innovation, strategy, or R&D leader and you’d like to participate in a future Underground gathering, you can request an invite here.
