Resources

Insights about how Nike pursues innovation, from a December 2025 member meeting with Jordan Rice, COO of Nike Innovation.

This Innovation Progress Report template is designed for heads of innovation or R&D to track and manage innovation programs, R&D, digital initiatives, and emerging technology projects specifically in the context of supply-chain fragility.

PowerPoint presentation delivered in 2022 by Alexandru Darie, a veteran of Schneider Electric, Signify, Sensata, and Phillips Lighting. Provides insights and best practices for digital transformation; lean startup; discovery-based planning; agile; and scrum teams.

Good PDF overview of the product pipeline at the publicly-held pharma company Alnylam, including an agenda for R&D Day; overview of current partnerships; and emphasis on future growth drivers for the company.

This 2024 “Innovation Day” presentation focuses on Minerals Technologies Inc., a $2.2 billion specialty minerals company, and how its technologies and product lines drive growth.

This 2024 deck explains how Nestlé is focusing on a “fewer, bigger, better” approach to innovation and marketing, prioritizing impactful projects, strategic investments, and consumer-centric value propositions.

Includes great content on making the case for open innovation; dealing with intellectual property concerns; and examples of challenges NASA has conducted and solutions/technologies it has found.

This research report dives into enterprise AI adoption trends, detailing how corporate leaders evaluate tools, allocate budgets, navigate purchasing hurdles, and select vendors based on a survey of nearly 100 executives.

This Innovation Progress Report template is designed for heads of innovation or R&D to track and manage innovation programs, R&D, digital initiatives, and emerging technology projects specifically in the context of supply-chain fragility.

This Innovation Progress Report template is designed for heads of innovation and R&D to track innovation, R&D, digital initiatives, and emerging technology programs under current inflationary and macroeconomic pressures.

This 2023 report details Nike’s commitment to accelerating the development and adoption of sustainable materials, integrating advanced manufacturing technologies, and leveraging digital transformation to drive efficiency and environmental impact.

How do you effectively communicate innovations to an employee base that spans 170,000 employees in 65 countries around the world? At Boeing, the answer lies in an internal innovation newsletter called “Innovation Quarterly.”

This five-page document released in 2023 provides an overview of the company’s strategic innovation framework, including priorities, methods and values.

This one-page document provides a simple snapshot of the company’s focus areas, academic partnerships, and the national lab relationships driving R&D strategy.

Overview of a mobility innovation contest was by Ford in collaboration with the City of Austin to crowdsource innovative solutions that improve mobility — especially access to health services, food, education, and essential amenities.

The $92 billion food and beverage giant PepsiCo created this fantastic, clear, concise format for describing specific areas of opportunity for innovation.

2025 PDF on the PepsiCo Labs model for delivering End-to-End Program Pilots.

Enterprise Design Thinking is IBM’s approach to applying design thinking at the speed and scale the modern enterprise demands. It’s a framework for teaming and action. It helps teams not only form intent, but deliver outcomes.

This Excel spreadsheet provides a sample of large enterprises working with the top 25 AI “unicorn” startups, including ChatGPT, X.ai, Harvey, Hugging Face, and more.

In this PDF download created in June 2025, Curtis Michelson takes a deep dive into how people are using generative AI coding tools; the risks and potential return on investment; some of the most popular and powerful platforms; and a few of the open questions about where this all goes.

This 13-page PDF presents the outcomes of a session led by David Crean, Chief Innovation Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, at the 2024 Impact conference. It explores key success metrics that business leaders focus on; how those are different from the metrics innovation leaders focus on; attitudes of different roles like CEO, CFO, CIO, and business unit leader toward innovation; and how participants allocate resources across three types of innovation.

40 slides on the trajectory of AI, strategic questions companies should be asking in 2025, and case studies of deployments at companies like J.P. Morgan and Nissan.

Highlights from a February 2025 InnoLead members’ meeting on career paths, featuring veterans of Clorox, Fidelity Investments, Allstate, Whirlpool, HSBC, PA Consulting, and GM.

If corporate innovation can sometimes feel like a game, it’s one set to hard mode. Success requires relationship-building, resource-gathering, and constant learning to make it past the traps and pitfalls you’ll inevitably encounter. Download the large-format discussion document…

This 33-slide PPT and related video tackle the question of innovating over the long-term, with lots of concrete examples, and references to the approaches of Thomas Edison, Clayton Christensen, and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, among others.

This 33-slide PPT and related video tackle the question of innovating over the long-term, with lots of concrete examples, and references to the approaches of Thomas Edison, Clayton Christensen, and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, among others.

Developed for use at a high-profile media company, this 29-page PDF playbook is “a reference to guide you through a repeatable end to end innovation approach.”

Eighteen helpful resources to keep you on the cutting edge of generative AI developments, recommended by other members of the InnoLead community.

The InnoLead team compiled this deck, available in PowerPoint and PDF form, as a resource for professionals helping to shape AI strategy and deployments.

We surveyed InnoLead corporate members, as well as vendor, advisory, and academic members, about the issues at the top for their agenda for 2025.

This deck, assembled by InnoLead, highlights the 14 most essential concepts in corporate innovation to help organizations foster creativity, agility, and leadership. We define each concept, provide a visual or framework that helps make it concrete, and recommend books, articles, or online resources to learn more.

This research report dives into the strategies large companies use to transform innovation into an enduring, high-impact capability rather than a short-lived annual initiative.

Ten key pieces of advice from a December 2024 InnoLead members’ meeting on “Sustainability, Social Impact + Innovation: Delivering Results,” with Jennifer Gootman, Global Head of Sustainability and ESG Strategy at the luxury lifestyle brand Tory Burch.

What are the best courses for someone looking to build their generative AI skills in 2025? We did the research for you, highlighting 20 courses that range from free to $25,000. Download the spreadsheet.

This 15-slide PowerPoint deck offers an overview of the venture incubator’s reason for existence; its areas of focus; and some of the projects it worked on during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

AI is going to become the default setting for 90 percent of professionals… and 10 more predictions about AI’s impact on innovation management.

This research report covers how established organizations benchmark their value creation strategies, navigate evolving C-suite roles, and leverage insights from leaders at companies such as CarMax, Ralph Lauren, and Microsoft.

This short slide deck summarizes an August 2024 discussion about the new ISO 56000 set of standards for innovation management.

Presented at an InnoLead event in May 2023, this short PDF preso puts AI into context, and looks at how it will transform layers of civilization, from fashion to culture to nature.

This research report covers emerging trends in corporate innovation management, drawing on survey data and executive interviews to detail changing team budgets, performance metrics, AI adoption, and strategic pressures.

Created in June 2024, here’s our curated list of software-as-a-service tools for innovation, insights, design, startup scouting, and other tasks.

Slides from a June 2024 LinkedIn Live discussion about the top 10 priorities for corporate innovators and changemakers, with representatives of InnoLead, Innosabi, Peer Insight, and Territory.

Short but specific slide deck from a June 2024 InnoLead members meeting. Covers what must be in place to build capability for strategic innovation, as well as key lessons from trying to ensure the capability survives and thrives over time.

Highlights and audio from a May 2024 InnoLead members’ meeting on the future of consulting in the innovation arena, featuring veterans Dan Ostrower, John Edson, and Abby Godee.

From May 2024: A look at the WINS framework, the law of computability, and the three phases of generative AI adoption: understanding, leverage, and transformation.

From May 2024: a look at AI software vendors targeting the enterprise; the enterprise AI development stack; emerging GenAI use cases; eight key GenAI capabilities enterprises are investing in; and more.

AT&T’s AI policy, created in 2021 and updated in 2023, applies to both employees and third-parties that might be involved in creating or using AI solutions. The document explains specific requirements for using GenAI, and outlines a number of principles to which the parties must adhere.

Customer relationship management firm Salesforce has deployed AI throughout its product set, and has codified a set of five “Trusted AI Principles” that are embedded in the business.

This 26-page PDF is a fascinating document, as it outlines the United States’ Department of Defense approach to improving organizational readiness to deploy AI. It explains the intended outcomes of using AI, the DoD’s approach to agile, and then explains what capabilities are needed for what purposes.

The $57 billion technology company has published more than most companies related to AI. First, it published a document outlining its six principles for responsible AI. Then, the company unveiled a more detailed AI framework that is intended to be applied to the development and use of AI by Cisco. Get access to both PDFs…

The $47 billion British telecom Vodafone published an excellent seven-page AI framework in 2019 that explained how the company intended to develop and employ AI technologies.

$58 billion pharma company Pfizer published a two-page “policy paper” that provided some greater detail than the three “Responsible AI Principles” that is has communicated publicly. The policy paper outlines the company’s position on AI development, use, regulation, governance, transparency, privacy, training, and other matters.

While not a policy, per se, InnoLead members might be interested in seeing Cigna’s publicly-posted “approach” to ethical AI. The brief statement from the $195 billion healthcare insurer disclosed that is has an AI Center of Enablement that governs AI “guardrails, systemic controls and processes” and ensures the responsible use of AI. The cross-functional Center includes individuals from technology, security, legal, compliance, marketing, and other departments.

This three-page document explains how employees are supposed to categorize the risk of particular AI solutions, and offers a list of 11 sample questions on topics from cyber security to health and safety (i.e., “Is there a risk to the health or safety of individuals, posed by use of the AI?”)

The $371 billion healthcare giant UHG included a new “responsible AI” policy in its 2022 sustainability report. The AI policy, while just a simple one-pager, includes details on governance, an internal ML Review Board, and outlined key components, and referenced an internal “Responsible Use of AI” program that was established with an external advisory board.

Weighing in at 27-pages, the Microsoft AI Standard explains the operationalization of six AI principles related to accountability, transparency, fairness, and other topics.

Like Adobe and other software firms that have incorporated GenAI into their core products, digital design tool Canva has unveiled special Terms of Use that govern their AI products.

As GenAI makes its way into product offerings, companies are providing addendums to their Terms of Use that coverage GenAI user guidelines. $19 billion software company Adobe, for example, has published a bulleted list of new guidelines that govern the use of Adobe’s GenAI features.

From the description: “Engage with business leadership and stakeholders to promote the AI vision, facilitate the design of processes for AI integration, champion AI initiatives across the organization, secure support, and drive adoption and change management.”

“We are seeking an innovative and experienced Chief AI Officer to join our corporate team in Los Angeles. In this role, you will be responsible for spearheading the development and implementation of AI solutions to elevate guest experiences, optimize operational efficiency and unlock new revenue streams across our hotels.”

From the description: “. In this role, you will join a highly innovative and entrepreneurial group with a focus on accelerating AI Use Cases in the US. With a deep expertise in AI, large language models (LLM), and natural language processing (NLP) you will help shape our AI Innovation Strategy and lead the experimentation of innovative AI-driven products and services aligned to Novartis US objectives.”

From the description: “As a Gen AI Analyst, you will be at the forefront of developing and implementing innovative artificial intelligence solutions for our organization.”

From the description: “This position will play a critical role in unlocking the next chapter of transformational growth for this over $60-billion-dollar global tech company.”

From the description: “We are seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Director of AI to spearhead the development and implementation of artificial intelligence strategies within our marketing area to gain increased productivity and overall effectiveness of our organization.”

From the description: “Capital One is searching for an enterprising Director of Generative AI capable of directing the development of the company’s generative AI platform. If selected, the chosen candidate will lead a team of AI experts focused on optimizing training pipelines, deploying large ML models, and building scalable infrastructure using advanced cloud technologies.”

The Chief Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) Officer will be a key partner with the Vice Chairs, Chief Digital Officer, and other key leaders in setting the strategy and related performance outcomes for the AI/ML portfolio of U.S. Bank. As a report to the Chief Digital Officer of U.S. Bank, this role will also be key part of the executive leadership of the digital organization, setting its strategic direction in partnership with the executive leadership team.

UCLA’s Chief Data & Artificial Intelligence Officer will be responsible for discovering opportunities to leverage advanced data, analytics, and artificial intelligence across the campus community, collaborating and enabling the organization to pursue innovations in data and AI, and advancing the university’s capabilities through internal and external partnerships.

Orbit is a platform being developed by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship to support new venture development, and they’re interested in giving early access to corporate leaders from the InnoLead community, to test it out and provide feedback.

This research report covers corporate survey data on innovation management software, highlighting generative AI adoption, tool satisfaction compared to mainstream software, purchasing barriers, and funding strategies.

Five Gen AI workouts to boost your productivity and understanding. Each takes no more than twenty minutes.

This research report covers how corporate innovation teams are integrating AI tools, shifting their strategic priorities, and managing emerging risks, drawing from survey data and leadership interviews.

InnoLead created this AI vision map with our friends at School of the Possible in January 2024 to help you and your colleagues think through where you are, and what destination you’re heading toward. Available in PPT and PDF format.

Notes from a January 2024 InnoLead Executive Group meeting, featuring guest speaker Richard Entrup, a KPMG Managing Director. The meeting covered four topics: Generative AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and the metaverse.

Notes from a January 2024 InnoLead members’ meeting on innovation in pharma. Includes data from surveys conducted during the meeting.

Presented at an InnoLead event in May 2023, this short PPT preso serves up an overview of how AI will impact healthcare over the coming five years, specifically focused on wellness/healthcare/aging at home, but also touching on drug discovery and the work of clinicians.

This spreadsheet lays out the strengths and weakesses of different approaches to driving innovation. It’s excerpted from our 2024 report, “Driving Growth Through New Ventures and Corporate VC.”

This research report investigates how over 25 major companies structure, resource, and execute corporate venture capital and venture building initiatives to identify new growth drivers and mitigate innovation risks.

The construction and engineering firm Black & Veatch launched an internal tournament in 2023 to spur employees to explore potential ways they might employ generative AI. This slightly-genericized PowerPoint deck provides and overview of the tournament’s objectives; rules; and judging process.

This short PPT deck looks at the state of generative AI in 2023 and poses the questions of whether it might help facilitate better knowledge management across silos of a large organization, or change the way user interfaces are designed.

Is your organization moving beyond talk toward action when it comes to generative AI tools and use cases? This 10-question assessment will give you an instant readiness readout — from minimal to moderate to complete readiness.

This research report investigates how corporate leaders build effective academic partnerships, offering practical advice on managing cultural differences, setting expectations, and improving communication based on insights from over 100 organizations.

This research report covers emerging practices in corporate technology scouting, detailing how enterprise teams target AI solutions and cultivate internal relationships with business units to ensure successful implementation.

These are challenging times for teams focused on the future, long-term R&D, and culture change within big organizations. Are there risk factors appearing in your organization that your team and your program could be under scrutiny — or getting the axe? Try this assessment.

This research report investigates how ten global CPG companies structure innovation, measure progress, build new ventures, and integrate Generative AI beyond standard brand line extensions.

This research report explores how corporate strategy leaders maximize innovation returns, featuring survey data from 75 practitioners and executive interviews on overcoming organizational obstacles to deliver concrete business outcomes.

Generative AI is a big buzzword right now. But what are the tools you and your team should be exploring? Download our new spreadsheet, which lists a number of tools and resources to help you get started with generative AI.

This research report covers global salary and bonus benchmarks for corporate innovation, strategy, and digital leaders, featuring comparative data from 2019 to help executives evaluate competitive compensation packages.

This research report covers corporate innovation team structures, budgets, metrics, and key enablers based on survey data and executive interviews to help organizations drive quantifiable business impact.

Our latest PDF download offers help defining innovation spaces; understanding the pros and cons of virtual and physical spaces; and gives experts’ advice about setting up an innovation space.

This 18-question assessment was designed to help leaders understand how effectively their organization collects, assesses, and manages ideas from the employee base. You’ll get an instant score at the end.

This research report investigates how corporations scout, partner with, and invest in startups, drawing on survey data and executive interviews to help leaders shape their venture strategies.

No one would deny there’s a lot happening in the world of startups. But how can large companies tap into it, in a way that aligns with their objectives and creates real value? In this large-format illustration, we’ve laid out seven of the most common approaches to plugging in to the startup ecosystem — along with the key questions to ask about each.

Notes from a January 2024 InnoLead Executive Group meeting, featuring guest speaker Richard Entrup, a KPMG Managing Director. The meeting covered four topics: Generative AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and the metaverse.

This research report covers presentation slides from veteran R&D leaders detailing practical frameworks for managing innovation pipelines, scouting technologies, driving corporate transformation, and overcoming internal organizational resistance.

This spreadsheet, created with input from a group of a dozen corporate innovators at a recent event, encourages you to focus in on the areas of measurement that matter most to your executive sponsors, and will help you assign a score to each of those areas. The spreadsheet also gives you a single, unified score in the 0-10 range that you can track over time to show how you’re moving the needle. 

How are companies setting, communicating, and pursuing goals related to sustainability and sustainable development? Here’s survey data from mid-2022. 

This research report covers enterprise Web3 and metaverse adoption, using 20 corporate case studies, survey data from 265 respondents, and executive interviews to help companies build and test new offerings.

Created inside publicly-traded companies, this short PowerPoint deck collects worksheets, templates, and “cheat sheets” related to evaluating opportunities, fleshing out concepts, and conducting customer research.

Created inside publicly-traded companies, this PowerPoint deck lays out various options for setting up innovation organizations; defining roles; creating processes and pipelines for moving projects forward; and measuring outcomes.

Created inside a publicly-traded insurance firm, this PowerPoint deck makes the case for committing resources to the startup ecosystem, venture funds, accelerators, and universities. 

Are you ready to engage with the startup ecosystem? How comprehensive is your startup strategy? Answer these 15 questions to find out.

Here’s our list of 65+ small innovation consulting practices that do everything from facilitate design sprints to train innovation catalysts to assess innovation maturity. They have experience working at firms like UnitedHealthCare, Clorox, Nike, the Gap, Transmerica, Starbucks, Merck, Pepsico, Lululemon, and Pfizer. And they’re based in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, the Netherlands, […]

Single PowerPoint slide detailing the technology integrator SAIC’s process for determining whether new ventures deserve additional resources.

In February 2022, we convened an InnoLead members’ meeting on Zoom to talk about how companies were using their physical innovation spaces, or experimenting with virtual ones.

How often do companies source ideas externally — from customers, entrepreneurs, inventors, and academics? Explore this data visualization to find out.

This data visualization shows the outcomes that senior leaders expect from R&D groups, sortable by industry.

This data visualization shows the reasons why innovative organizations sometimes want to abandon new technology opportunities. 

This data visualization shows the methods in which innovative organizations look for and identify new emerging tech. 

This comic book lays out how augmented reality may be used in the workplace — both on tablets and on glasses. Shows how future visions can be communicated, outside the realm of PowerPoint.

This data visualization shows how much support R&D and innovation-oriented groups receive from other parts of the company, and from specific executives. 

This short PowerPoint deck, developed inside a publicly-traded manufacturing company, was created to make sure that everyone is on the same page with the “What, Where, When, Why, How” of innovation. It includes explainer slides with annotations, followed by slides that can be easily adapted for use with your company.

Adapted from the Business Model Canvas to better fit the needs of the corporate world, this Idea Canvas allows you to follow a high-level scientific process when evaluating ideas and then use the criteria from the Idea Canvas when testing or validating that idea. Developed by a Senior Director working in the retail industry.

This research report investigates how Global 1000 R&D teams navigate talent shortages, customer isolation, and resource constraints while balancing immediate operational fixes with long-term innovation strategy.

An exercise to do with colleagues: If you were given 100 pennies to invest in different open innovation partners, like small suppliers, universities, startups, etc., where are you investing resources and time today? Where is innovation actually coming from? What should you do differently? 

Five-page PowerPoint document created to help an innovation group define roles related to design, including UX (user experience), and assess the skill sets of individuals. 

This research report covers practical strategies from over 200 corporate leaders on evaluating emerging technologies to solve specific business problems, improve customer experiences, and drive measurable growth.

Submitted anonymously in 2021, this slide looks at how one organization thinks about important and not (yet) important emerging technologies. How would you fill out this matrix for your organization today? Does everyone agree?

What resources do other corporates have in place for interacting with the startup ecosystem? What do they find most challenging? Explore the answers in these five data visualizations.

This research report explores how Global 1000 companies build startup partnerships, detailing the resources allocated, common pilot and scaling roadblocks, and insights gathered from corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.

PowerPoint deck of charts and qualitative comments from our 2021 survey on the role that design plays in large organizations.

What tactics do corporate innovators feel create and support a culture of innovation? We asked that question in a recent survey, and here’s the data, sortable by industry.

What are the blockers that stand in the way of innovation progress — or the things that enable it? Here’s data to answer those two questions…

How do you create measurements to gauge innovation progress? Answering that question was a key focus of a 2021 report. This resource presents the data from that report in a series of visualizations that you can sort by industry.

This research report investigates how organizations can integrate design earlier into product development, improve cross-functional collaboration, and leverage customer insights to create distinct market value.

This research report covers survey data and executive interviews on how large companies are balancing short-term operational challenges with long-term growth strategies following pandemic-related disruptions.

This research report investigates how large organizations design effective innovation metrics and reporting systems to demonstrate business impact and secure long-term support from leadership.

Deck from 2019 providing a thorough overview of the lean startup methodology, along with many helpful templates. Used inside a manufacturing company to help guide the development of mobile apps, as well as hardware, IoT connected products, and research initiatives.

Welcome to InnoLead’s Innovation Maturity Model assessment. This diagnostic is designed to help innovation, R&D, strategy, and new product development leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of their innovation programs, and provide an instant score. This assessment is designed for current corporate professionals and should only take about 5 minutes to complete. There are three […]

Short PowerPoint deck collecting graphics related to determining what job the organization expects innovators to do, and how they can get aligned with overarching strategy.

Created by Ravi Kanniganti of Target Corp. to accompany an article on metrics, this PDF lays out ways to track the health of an innovation portfolio; pilot tests run with startups; intrapreneurial projects; and more. 

This research report covers benchmarking data from 15 financial services firms, detailing how their innovation groups approach staffing, mandates, incubation activities, and performance metrics.

This research report covers how corporate innovation and R&D leaders adopt digital tools, evaluating survey data on software ROI, implementation challenges, and best practices for remote collaboration.

This research report investigates how corporate innovation roles are evolving to prioritize clear revenue generation, cost reduction, and brand value to ensure program survival.

This research report covers how shifting corporate priorities are reshaping innovation roles, forcing leaders to demonstrate concrete returns through revenue generation, cost reduction, or brand elevation.

This research report explores how corporate innovators and futurists predict post-pandemic shifts, highlighting permanent operational changes and updated organizational approaches to long-term scenario planning.

This research report dives into how corporate innovation teams navigated early COVID-19 challenges, from budget cuts and hiring freezes to virtual work and shifting focus toward core business support.

This PowerPoint deck, created by a former Director of Innovation in the aerospace industry, argues that scenario planning is crucial right now, and presents a simple approach to it.

What metrics matter most right now? On a recent videoconference, InnoLead members shared a few…

This downloadable Word document assumes that your senior executive team’s innovation priorities may be shifting. It lays out two pathways for addressing that: Capitalize & Grow, or Protect & Defend.

This research report covers insights from 270 corporate leaders on building agile cultures that foster innovation, offering data, case studies, and actionable guidance for large organizations.

InnoLead publishes in-depth quarterly special reports on a variety of topics, from startup engagement, to working with risk and compliance, to executing on quick wins, and more. This presentation collects charts and graphs from InnoLead’s recent research reports for your use.

An innovation hub is a distinct environment strategically designed and actively nurtured to promote a way of working that is fundamentally different from an organization’s norm. (Some call them labs, centers, accelerators, or incubators.) But not all innovation hubs are created equal. InnoLead and Gensler, the design and architecture firm, teamed up to create an illustrated guide to innovation hubs — the good and the bad. 

Details how the investment management firm is applying design thinking.

Lots of definitions and templates related to the project management process at WD-40.

Why do you need to move fast? This graphic lays out all of the things that happen on the Internet every minute, from Amazon sales to Netflix movies viewed.

Explores how the collaboration software companies thinks about horizons; lean startup; training; and scaling projects that work.

Job description for a Singapore-based position at Citi Ventures — a D10X Startup Coach and Entrepreneur-in-Residence who will play “a critical role in the D10X program by helping the D10X startup teams keep their ‘eye on the prize’, providing an outside-in perspective, staying true to the D10X process and generally contributing to the cultivation of the ‘new skills […]

Job description for a role at Disney that will “be responsible for establishing this new function through the development of strategies for the Emerging Technologies portfolio, and facilitating the delivery of innovative projects from ideation through implementation.”

Created by the Google for Work Innovation Lab, which helps to train Google employees, this 19-slide deck lays out a set of principles that guide innovation at the company, including “be prototype-driven” and “focus on the user — and all else follows.”

Submitted anonymously in 2018, this slide looks at technology trends that apply to a company’s core business — or could be relevant to adjacent or white space projects. Includes blockchain, quantum computing, AI, and drones as examples.

Short overview of how the medical device maker defines “meaningful innovation,” along with some examples of successful projects. Breaks innovation down into “therapy innovation,” “system innovation,” and “procedural innovation.”

Form for submitting ideas for projects to the innovation team at the student loan company ECMC. Includes definition of an “ideal project” — as well as what is less than ideal.

Overview of trends and digital transformation strategy at the $33.5 billion energy company — as well as the challenges of pursuing innovation in the nuclear power industry.

A bit hard to follow without notes or a presenter, but covers the ART process (Audience, Reframe, Translate) and getting to a real understanding of customer problems.

Slide deck outlining the growth accelerator at Black & Veatch, a $3.2 billion engineering firm based in Kansas City, Mo. The accelerator “works both outside our core business and with our core businesses. In either case, we seek to discover new opportunities for clients and the global communities in which we work.” Offers info on innovation challenges, bootcamp, […]

Five steps to creating an innovation strategy. Just one slide, but captures the key questions to ask.

Hackathon overview, definition, and agenda, from a technology solutions company.

This research report investigates how corporate innovation leaders deliver fast-tracked projects, analyzing survey data and enterprise case studies on execution timeframes, risk management, metrics, and internal communication strategies.

A succinct one-page guide to creating metrics for various aspects of a corporate innovation program, from process to people to customer development to decision-making.

In this one-page guide, former Pfizer Head of Worldwide Innovation Dan Seewald details three stages of collective problem solving with colleagues in the regulatory and compliance departments.

In this PDF graphic, former BNY Mellon exec Rob Erman defines four stages that he has seen successful projects go through on their way to the market…

Presentation from the German engineering and tech company Robert Bosch GmbH on some of the dynamics that make innovation challenging in established companies, and how the company created an accelerator program that enables employees to form teams and validate opportunities. The accelerator “enables evidence-based investment decisions” and has significantly reduced product development costs while increasing […]

This research report covers compensation levels and package structures for corporate innovation, R&D, and strategy leaders based on a survey of 175 global professionals.

This worksheet shows some of the common activities that executives responsible for innovation engage in, as well as the benefits and possible risks of each activity. 

This research report dives into data and insights from over 200 corporate leaders, contrasting standard innovation practices against high-performing role model companies to help executives drive tangible business impact.

How much urgency is there surrounding innovation in your organization? You may not win fabulous prizes playing the game we call “Urgency Bingo,” but it can help you understand some of the dynamics at play when it comes to getting sufficient resources, allies, and momentum behind an innovation effort. It can be useful when you’re […]

This research report investigates how top-performing enterprises design effective startup engagement strategies, drawing on survey data from 115 large organizations and in-depth corporate interviews.

This research report investigates how corporate leaders build external partnerships, drawing on data from 257 innovation professionals to highlight the value, key players, and best practices of ecosystem strategies.

This research report investigates how corporate innovation teams effectively collaborate with legal, compliance, and security departments to manage risk, drawing on survey data from 150 leaders and enterprise case studies.

Single page form used by Clorox employees who need to request help from the open innovation team.

The Design Sprint framework is a problem-solving methodology used to identify, understand, and validate business opportunities. Download this short presentation on Home Depot practices design thinking. 

This worksheet highlights the six steps of creating productive working relationships with your legal, compliance, and information security departments, and invites you to evaluate and continually update your status. Where do you stand on each step?

Presentation given by Pano Anthos of XRC Labs at Impact 2018 on the right and wrong ways for corporates to engage with accelerator programs. Includes a slide outlining the signs or hallmarks that a corporate culture has set up the proper structure for working with startup companies.

There are two ways to set up and structure innovation teams, and both approaches have benefits and drawbacks. In this two-page PDF resource, a former VP of Product Management and Innovation outlines the pros and cons of each scenario.

This research report covers practical tools, templates, and expert advice designed to help corporate innovation, strategy, and R&D leaders build, manage, and scale their internal programs.

Six-page presentation covering the creation of an Enterprise Investing Group within the healthcare firm, lessons learned, and remaining challenges.

This research report investigates how over 270 global companies manage innovation funding, staffing, and performance metrics while balancing incremental improvements against transformational growth.

These slides were presented as part of an April 2018 webcast on sourcing, piloting, and scaling new ideas that is also available on InnoLead. You can register for upcoming InnoLead live calls here.

This research report covers how major healthcare organizations overcome bureaucratic barriers, accelerate pilot projects, and structure innovation initiatives to drive measurable outcomes.

A single slide that provides a template for explaining to startups, venture capitalists, accelerators, etc. how your company wants to work with them and who the key point of contact is.

Here’s Innovation Leader’s look at how you can design an effective “Mission Control” for your innovation work, along with questions to discuss with your team and senior leadership.

A model for thinking about how new technologies and therpies can be applied to health disorders — yielding new business for the medical device maker ResMed.

What do the different groups think when the CEO announces the company will be more innovative? This resource can help different groups understand a definition of innovation which is accessible.

Excel spreadsheet that provides a visual and quantitative way to evaluate the applicability and potential impacts of emerging technologies on the insurance company.

The goal of this editable worksheet is to help you think through some of the key questions, participants, risks, and indicators of success when you are setting up or seeking to improve a scouting operation. This worksheet is a component of our 2017 research report, “Scouting Trends & Emerging Tech,” available in the Reports area […]

Trends and customer dynamics driving the need for breakthrough packaging ideas at the Chicago-based candy company.

How the Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer is seeking value “through expanded relationships with innovators” outside the company.

Survey data from 2017 on how large organizations structure their scouting activities, and some of the challenges they encounter. These slides were presented as part of a February 2018 webcast on scouting that is also available on InnoLead.

A spreadsheet describing 25 startup accelerators either run by corporations or with substantial corporate involvement, across industries like aerospace, retail, and tech. Includes a shorter list of corporate accelerators that are defunct or on hiatus.

Overview of how Home Depot is approaching artificial intelligence, given the complexity of many home improvement projects. Includes three lessons learned so far.

The goal of this worksheet, a component of InnoLead’s 2017 research report on scouting trends and emerging tech, is to help you think through some of the key questions, participants, risks, and indicators of success when you are setting up or seeking to improve a scouting operation.

This research report covers how large enterprises identify emerging technologies and trends, socialize findings, run pilot experiments, and scale successful concepts based on survey data and advice from corporate innovation leaders.

Building a successful and enduring innovation program requires that you identify the barriers that may inhibit progress — ideally, before you smash into them at full speed. Working to predict and mitigate the key barriers can make the business more accepting of new ideas. Below are eleven of the most common barriers we’ve seen in […]

From the Fall 2017 issue of InnoLead’s magazine, this one-pager captures the different kinds of CEO personalities when it comes to innovation, including the Visionary, the Cheerleader, and the Advocate. 

This offers a complete system for logging, screening, classifying, and scoring ideas that an innovation group might devote resources to. Developed by Aaron Proietti, former SVP of Innovation at Transamerica, it’s an Excel spreadsheet that can be easily adapted for your own use.

Two slides lay out a great way to think about various initiatives, or “flavors of innovation,” that a company might pursue, from a cultural initiative to a workshop series to a venture fund to a spin-out company.

What does progress look like when you’re the team tasked with doing the new stuff? It’s a question that comes up at most of our in-person gatherings. What are the characteristics of each stage of innovation, the things you ought to be focusing on, and the risks that you may not make it to the […]

Here is a maturity model showing choices, activities, and risks to consider, based on InnoLead research and interviews with executives at Global 1000 companies.

This one-page PDF lays out the six primary types of innovation labs we’ve seen, as well as the pros and cons of each and examples of companies that have launched them.

This research report explores how large companies streamline innovation oversight, eliminate bloated approval committees, improve visibility for executive leadership, and communicate R&D initiatives across the enterprise.

Short overview of BNY Mellon’s network of innovation centers, their approach, and focus.

Annotated presentation to help you define the vision for innovation; create a financial justification for investment; detail the benefits; discuss the competitive landscape; set up success milestones; and more. Developed for InnoLead by Aaron Proietti, former SVP/Innovation at Transamerica.

This “straw man” report is designed to provide holistic, near-continuous feedback to stakeholders so that the organization can ensure that the best innovation investment decisions are being made. You can use this template to fit various types of work, from experiments to bigger projects to cultural work to business unit-specific launches that require innovative thinking.

An overview of Anthem’s innovation approach, team and process. Anthem, based in Indiana, is is the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

A short description outlining the responsibilities of the director of innovation at ECMC Group, one of 35 Federal Family Education Loan Program Guarantors.

A one-slide document mapping out Armstrong’s processes around front-end and new product development. Armstrong is a manufacturer of flooring products.

A slide deck template for participants in Boeing’s Innovation Day competition.

A one-page overview of the company’s innovation framework, from “Needs Definition / Idea Submission” through to “Transfer to Program Development.”

A short presentation identifying how the publicly-traded tobacco products company uses its insights to imagine, identify, and capitalize on business opportunities.

A well-designed and informative presentation outlining the company’s innovation efforts. Chamberlain manufactures residential garage door openers and gate entry systems

A general overview of the medical device company’s innovation efforts entitled “Meaningful Innovation for the 21st Century.”

A template used by Cancer Treatment Centers of America to collect information about an idea and to capture the key value and potential opportunity of ideas.

A one-page flowchart describing how the company identifies, defines, and prioritizes problems & opportunities. ODL manufactures door glass, skylights, screen doors, and blind.

A guide to Harris Computer’s “Innovator’s Voice Competition,” which enables individuals and teams to spend some of their time innovating and creating new, novel products and services for customers. Harris develops mission critical software applications for the public sector, healthcare, utilities and private sector verticals.

An overview of the insurance company’s enterprise-wide process to identify, execute and oversee strategic growth projects.

Official job description for the company’s R&D Innovation Manager.

A presentation that reviews the company’s cultural values and behaviors as discovered at a recent “DevDiv” (Developer Division) event.

An overview of the company’s structured exercise to stimulate discussion and surface assumptions around topics like the strategic rationale, the business opportunity, or the development approach. Crown makes forklifts and other material handling equipment.

An article on client-centered service design written by the law firm’s chairman.

How the aerospace and defense company bridges the gap between what senior leadership wants and how the company executes grassroots innovation.

A flow-chart of the insurance company’s innovation organization.

The medical device company’s reasoning behind customer-centered design, which it says allows teams to understand and deliver solutions to address unmet needs, hidden opportunities, and difficult problems.

One-page chart focused on answering the question “What’s a Win?” for various groups at the hospital operator that touch innovation.

An open framework for executing innovation and measuring success at the social networking company.

An interesting one-page chart for assessing innovation potential in an employee or potential new hire. Submitted anonymously.

A slide deck describing the innovation platform and processes of the tire and auto parts manufacturer.

An overview and photos of Bayer’s Life Science iHub center and team, focused on digital technologies. The iHub’s competencies include sensors, machine learning, app development, and business model innovation.

A detailed job description for the company’s Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program. Optum is part UnitedHealth Group.

A full overview of the Optum Garage training program, which helps teams build new products, establish new businesses and expand customer value through an immersion training program. Optum is a provider of healthcare services that is part of UnitedHealth Group.

We partnered with XPLANE, the renowned “visual thinking” firm, to create a map of the corporate innovation ecosystem, along with discussion questions.

Illustrated map laying out the key players inside the company, and outside it, who can contribute to (or sometimes inhibit) corporate innovation. Includes discussion questions useful in laying out innovation strategy and timeframe, and defusing some of the tensions that can occur. Useful guide for a management team discussing how to approach innovation with key […]

A RASCI matrix is a tool that can be used to build consistent support for innovation, while mitigating against common failure modes like role ambiguity, when people aren’t sure what exactly they’re supposed to do — or want to weigh in more than you’d like. This downloadable Excel spreadsheet is a sample RASCI matrix for […]

The best organizations in the world will experience failure — they expect it. And they are ready to learn from it. Here’s some advice from Julia Austin, CTO of DigitalOcean and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, about dealing with failure.

Document that offers a way of thinking about how to innovate with (and within) a well-established brand. “As we seek more transformative opportunities that can scale to fill financial gaps created by industry change, how do we remain authentic to who we are as a brand? And how do we innovate for the future when our personnel, […]

A look at the company’s approach to working with startups, told with a humorous “pac-man”-style narrative. Optum is a healthcare services company that is part of UnitedHealth Group.

A structured framework of the retailer’s Applied Innovation program, guided by senior leaders.

Are you looking for a way to understand whether your company’s innovation culture is improving, staying the same, or getting worse? R&D and innovation executives share with us the questions they’ve used as part of quarterly or annual surveys to “take the temperature” of the organization.

Overview of the innovation programs at the $43 billion Indian conglomerate. Includes seven innovation habits, and a slide about the company’s “innovation DNA.”

Getting consensus to launch a new innovation initiative can require tremendous time and energy. We put together this two-page roadmap/worksheet to help you think through some of the elements you’ll need to put in place to ensure that projects make it to the finish line, and that you can build your team, momentum, and reputation […]

This research report investigates how corporate innovation teams and operational business units can align goals, resolve friction, and build productive working relationships using executive insights and survey data.

Survey data from 2017 on the relationship between innovation/R&D groups and the business units, including who supplies funding, who sets the agenda, and how well the hand-off works.

Ideal for someone just getting started in an innovation role, making the case for sufficient resources, or working to get a program off the ground. This presentation collects some of the best advice we’ve heard on getting an initiative going; some of the choices that you’ll face; some of our survey data about average maturity […]

Highlights from our 2015 Benchmarking Report, produced in collaboration with Innosight. Includes data on program focus, maturity stage, team size, tools being used, why projects get killed, and more.

Presentation from Front End of Innovation 2015 covering some of the ways companies do (and should) track innovation — and where metrics are headed.

Highlights from our 2016 Connected Products Survey, emphasizing investment levels, challenges, and success factors. Produced in collaboration with Altitude.

48-page slide deck covering the seven elements of innovation; the innovation process at 3M; and strategy and areas of interest at 3M’s Corporate Research Materials Laboratory. From 2010. 

This research report investigates compensation benchmarks for nearly 250 corporate innovation and R&D leaders, detailing how titles, seniority levels, and reporting lines affect base salaries and bonuses.

Overview of the innovation program at the British telecommunications company, with a special focus on how they created a global network of innovation champions; the impact so far; and best practices in setting up a similar champion network. Includes a chart summarizing comments from the employees who have participated.

This research report investigates how companies develop connected products, highlighting adoption rates, market performance, common organizational roadblocks, and opportunities for innovation leaders to drive strategy.

How Honda’s Silicon Valley Lab is engaging with startups, including providing test vehicles, funding, mentorship, and collaborative workspace.

How the open innovation team at Sherwin-Williams, the paint and coatings giant, scouts new technologies in academia and the startup world; evaluates promising technologies; and forges partnerships.

This research report covers how large enterprises apply lean startup methodologies, highlighting practical benefits, operational hurdles, and real-world case studies from corporate innovation leaders.

Overview of the results from our May 2016 survey on how the lean startup methodology is being used in large companies, including benefits and challenges; software being used and training programs being run; key allies and supporters to cultivate; and general advice. 

Overview of the challenges facing the $3 billion Indian telecom firm, and the “Shape the Future” program that Tata runs to solicit and cultivate employee ideas. Program includes an “immersion week” in Silicon Valley.

A one-page outlining the competencies required for innovation — including technical knowledge, disciplined execution, and others. From the Delaware-based materials company W.L. Gore & Associates.

A document outlining how the Indian media company company implemented an idea management system, including vendor selection, promotion to employees, outcomes, and future challenges.

A questionnaire given to employees who have been nominated by their peers for an innovator’s award.

A four-page form for employees at the international law firm to submit ideas to the innovation committee.

A document outlining NRG’s idea challenge, called Idea Dash, including a 10-week timeline, key activities, and idea submission form.

A newsletter designed to inform the company’s workforce of innovation efforts, including how to work with the team and soliciting people to participate in innovation workshops. Mercer is a human resources consulting firm.

A one-page outline of the goals, challenges, and guiding principles for the chipmaker’s Work Practices Innovation Team.

An overview of the company’s “InnovationLink,” a web site open to all full-time employees that allows them to post, search, find and collaborate on projects and ideas that address their problems. HCA operates hospitals, clinics, and surgical centers and is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

A one-page flowchart showing the systems and process for the Ohio-based utility’s product development and innovation teams.

A one-page outline of the roles on the energy company’s “#innovation” team, including roles geared to strategy, catalysts, and franchisees.

How the California-based insurer CSAA measures its innovation efforts, including a scorecard, key drivers, and a maturity model.

A nicely-illustrated document outlining the company’s efforts to build a disruptive capability — including flow-charts and graphs.

A 41-page PDF document outlining the California-based insurance company’s thoughts on the defining characterstics of an innovative culture, and how they hope to achieve that goal.

A job description for the insurance company CSAA’s chief strategy and innovation officer, including a position summary, key duties and responsibilities, and the impact the position is expected to have on the organization.

An outline of the CPG company’s migration to a more agile innovation process, from a long, five-gate process to a new, shorter, three-gate process with “hard stops.”

A guiding innovation model for Aon Health & Benefits, including guiding principles, flowcharts, and an illustrated R&D process.

A graphical overview of an anonymous company’s innovation lab efforts, including an “Innovation Ambition Matrix” and models of corporate entrepreneurship.

Overview of how the Spanish telecommunications company has been deploying the lean startup approach with consumers and business customers.

Short overview of the innovation lab at Hearst Health, including its mission and some of the methodologies it uses to develop new offerings.

Overview of how Houston-based ExxonMobil created an online “virtual café” where company IT employees can share ideas for improvements and cost-savings, and get funding and mentoring to move them forward.

MasterCard Labs is MasterCard’s global Research and Development division, focused on the evolution of technological and consumer trends and the implication of these evolutions on the payments and commerce industries. This document offers an overview of their programs (as of Oct. 2015).

Presentation focuses on how Intel Labs is seeking to create technology that is relevant to society by working with four outside constituencies: government, academia, citizens, and other companies. Includes slide on how company works toward making innovation “predictable, probable and profitable,” rather than occasional and project-based.

Developed by InnoLead’s Editorial team, with input from corporate innovation executives, this assessment will help you evaluate the current maturity of your organization’s innovation strategy.

An overview of how the home goods manufacturer and retailer collects consumer insights, runs hackathons, and uses an innovation space in Copenhagen to explore future living trends. Includes video.

Overview of how the Spanish bank runs its “Open Talent” competition for startups focused on the financial services industry, which generated 653 applications in 2015.

Presentation on how United has created an “intrapreneur-friendly” environment; the scorecard it uses to evaluate ideas; and how the innovation program is structured

A twenty-six slide overview of Chief Innovation Officer Ben Brenton’s approach, with a special focus on “driving innovation through customer connection” at the publicly-traded tool manufacturer.

An overview of the media company’s frameworks, including an innovation landscape map and a “sustained innovation capability maturity model.”

A manifesto outlining the packaging company’s culture of innovation.

The company’s “Advanced Concept Ideation Template,” outlining its brainstorming process and idea development. MTD is a manufacturer of outdoor power equipment.

A one-page view of the insurance firm’s innovation organization within its personal insurance division.

A guide to the insurance company’s 90-minute brainstorming session, including rules and exercises.

Outlines the tax giant’s search for an entrepreneur to lead its Americas Tax Services Incubator.

A look at the school system’s innovation initiative, with the task of transforming learning and public education systems.

An overview of the insurance provider’s competitive landscape and strategy to thrive in the face of uncertainty, as well as the role that the foresight function plays.

Presentation from MetLife Chief Innovation Officer John Geyer that offers an overview of the insurer’s innovation program, process, tools, and five keys to surviving the “innovation danger zone,” when projects have gotten underway but haven’t yet delivered results.

This 15-page PDF overview of how GE used its FirstBuild community makerspace in Louisville, Ky. to develop a countertop icemaker that was successfully launched on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

This research report investigates how corporate innovation units overcome insider homogeneity by securing budgets, working with HR, and onboarding external talent, featuring real job descriptions and enterprise case studies.

Overview of the new Lab of Forward Thinking (LOFT) at the insurance firm Manulife/John Hancock, and agenda for the group’s launch event and employee hackathon.

The job description for Target’s entrepreneur-in-residence position, including principal responsibilities and requirements.

A well-illustrated guide to the Swedish networking and telecommunications company’s innovation philosophy.

A 27-page PDF detailing the company’s approach to innovation and its goals. Garlock is a manufacturer of seals and gaskets, and is a subsidiary of EnPro Industries.

A flow document outlining the diversified manufacturer’s innovation processes.

The nine behaviors that drive the media and entertainment company’s innovation efforts, from bravery to greenhousing to intuition.

A one-page overview of the data and analytics company’s approach to the “5-Ps Framework for Innovation.”

An incredible document presenting the company’s flexible product design framework. Constant Contact sells marketing software to businesses.

Flowchart and accompanying slide describing how the biopharma company creates a channel for innovation in IT.

A really well-written treatise on the company’s approach to innovation, centered around telling stories. American Greetings, based in Ohio, makes greeting cards, party supplies, gifts, and operates a chain of retail outlets.

Flowchart for organizing an innovation team around insights and standards. From the international operator of grocery stores based in the Netherlands.

Overview of a training program Dell runs for account executives, sales engineers, and support staff who work in the company’s services organization. Titled “Making Innovation a Way of Life.”

Overview of the innovation workshop program at Tokyo-based NTT Data, an IT services firm with 76,000 employees. Includes slides on the benefits of running workshops.

An outline of the insurance company’s Innovation Ambassador program, which “help create, model, and nurture a positive, self-motivated” innovation culture.

A 12-page document outlining the tech company’s work and strategy in the growing field of wearable tech.

A job description for the insurance company’s manager of special projects — innovation, based in Seattle. Includes responsibilities, qualifications, and benefits.

A framework for fostering productive discussions in order to make prototyping and project decisions. Includes a ranking system designed to “take groupthink out of the system.”

An article reviewing the first annual meeting of the company’s Strategic Technology Investments Group, including an update on the group’s efforts to introduce new technologies.

A brief job description for the Boston-based insurance firm’s Director of Innovation Commercialization position.

An outline of the CPG company’s “What If?” pilot program for internal crowdsourcing of innovation ideas.

A 13-page overview outlining the company’s innovation approach, including focus areas, business drivers, and illustrated examples.

A template for new project ideas, including funding requests, milestones, risk assessment, and strategy. HCA Healthcare is an operator of hospitals and surgery centers based in Nashville, Tenn.

Job description for the hospital and clinic operator’s strategic innovation director, including a summary, responsibilities, and qualifications.

An overview of the IT services firm’s innovation contest process, including timelines, judging criteria, and challenges.

A map of the company’s process for running internal idea crowdsourcing challenges. Autoliv is a publicly-held Swedish company that supplies safety systems and components to automakers.

A 12-page technical document outlining the news organization’s “Proteus” CD (continuous development) process.

A brief and informative overview of the company’s product development process, including support functions and relationships, provided by the customer innovation R&D team.

Two-page overview of the Cambia Grove, a collaborative space that insurer Cambia Health Solutions is opening in Seattle in 2015 with a vision to “catalyze the development of a vibrant local health care innovation cluster.”

Short presentation from CVS Health Chief Digital Officer Brian Tilzer on how the company is working to “empower a connected health experience.”

Printable process graphic that shows the process that Vodafone and Thomson Reuters went through, from discovery to executive commitment to validation, on a recent co-creation project.

Short presentation from December 2014 about the team behind Eastern Bank’s new Eastern Labs initiative, and what they’re focusing on. Eastern is the oldest and largest mutually-owned bank in the US.

Collected from 15+ innovation execs in early 2015, this captures what innovation leaders are doing when they are setting strategy; trying to change company culture; building capabilities for cultivating and testing new ideas; and investing in promising startups.

Deborah Arcoleo has spent more than a decade as a senior innovation executive at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Campbell Soup, and now The Hershey Company. These slides share her “credo” on the six elements that must be in place to make true innovation happen inside a big company.

Overview of how the Governance Council that oversees the company’s innovation group works. Also slides on creating an innovation culture — traits and practices. Kennametal is a manufacturer of tools and industrial materials.

Short PowerPoint presentation that covers Owens Corning’s market intelligence and brainstorming tool; capabilities mapping; measuring the return on innovation; and the company’s various awards for innovative and high-performing teams.

Booklet that includes an agenda from Catalyst, a day-long innovation event held at Intuit; an overview of the innovation mechanisms in place at the company, like 10 percent unstructured time and idea jams; and a section on tools and methods like “customer safaris,” storyboarding, and empathy maps.

A draft outlining the responsibilities, requirements, and even potential job titles for the top innovation job at Thomson Reuters.

The “4 Pillars” of the company’s approach to doing business in Africa.

The organizational flowchart of the coffee chain’s innovation teams, including the flexible headcount, and an outline of the competencies common to all team members.

The agenda for the educational publishing company’s “Demo Days,” which highlights pitches from startups and how they propose to work within Pearson.

Slide deck from a fun internal Nike event called “Attack from Left Field,” which includes disruption exercises for a number of the company’s industries as well as an agenda. Key question: “Could a competitor attack from left field and take ownership of the athlete in the future?”

The agenda for a one-and-a-half day innovation workshop at the medical device maker, including sessions on journey mapping, problem statements, and concept refinements.

A worksheet that evaluates an innovation team member on concepts such as project work, “outside-in perspective,” idea generation, and more. From the New York-based company that operates businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investment advisory, and management consulting.

A single slide that covers the online media company’s framework for Key Performance Indicators in taking ideas from concept to market.

A fun, one-page “menu” of questions, activities, and thought-provoking ideas to inspire innovation at the company.

This unique employee handbook for the semiconductor giant is called “Freelance Nation,” and discusses the company’s culture around the concepts of freedom and flexibility.

A one-page look at the processes and skill sets required to spur innovation at the tire manufacturer.

A one-page chart showing the process for business model innovation at the venerable tire and rubber company.

A colorful and action-oriented step-by-step look at The Gap’s innovation “brand,” called Mindspark. From the presentation: “Mindspark is a force for change; moving global brands and their strategic partners on the road from fuzzy to fruition to breakthroughs in innovation strategy, business process improvement and culture transformation.”

A detailed progress update on the energy company’s innovation strategy for its “#innovation team” within the company’s technology and architecture group. Includes info on tools, metrics, and how ideas proceed through the development pipeline.

A two-page overview of the educational testing firm’s Design Thinking approach and a look at the goals of the company in developing new products and services.

A short update outlining the processes and goals behind the professional services firm’s innovation movement.

An overview and timeline of the audio company’s products and a review of their innovation process and “agile methodology.”

A five-page document outlining the evolution of the design thinking framework at Clorox, along with questions to ask during the process and the concept of “connective thinking.”

A job description for a director position on Citi Ventures’ Innovation Network team, which is charged with supporting and accelerating the work at Citi’s innovation labs.

An overview of the digital classified business and innovation strategies of the German company Axel Springer, one of the largest digital publishing firms in Europe.

A very detailed framework from the news organizatio for determining whether a solution is suitable for the cloud, and then a step-by-step overview of migrating to the cloud.

Examples of idea submission templates and crowdsourcing processes from a large global company with 30,000 employees.

Scorecard for ideas proposed as part of Adobe’s internal Kickbox Innovation Workshops. Considers factors like customer value, company fit, and risk level. Good, clear definitions of things like “addressable market size” and “fit with brand.”

A look at the co-creation strategy known as 1B or “firstbuild” at GE Appliances. Includes idea-filtering processes, product innovation strategies, compensation rewards, and more.

The $11 billion agricultural equipment company AGCO shares its codified strategy for working with academic research institutions.

Overview of the “Emerging Technology & Innovation” program at Heathrow, including mission, goals, and several recent project examples.

Looks at objectives, mission, guiding principles, organization, and even talent profiles for certain positions at the Minneapolis-based retailer.

An overview of the company’s “total innovation” approach, with current processes and best practices. Focuses on participation, culture, and showcasing innovation.

Guiding principles of the financial services firm’s Real Estate Innovation Forum.

Very interesting map of innovation, focused on ideas that generate revenue, as opposed to operational or efficiency innovations. Colt is a UK-based multinational telecommunications company.

This 29-page presentation includes a history lesson on the chain’s roots in the ice retailing business, and four lessons of innovation. Includes a 7-Eleven “Digital Strategy Map” and more.

Detailed 20-pager covers the private bank’s mission, long-term goals, approach, hiring, new products, elements to success, primary activities, and even “What We Do Not Do.”

This two-page document from the pharma company outlines three steps to testing novel approaches, including things that will accelerate clinical trials.

Discusses some of the advantages of an in-house incubator, including the ability to rapidly create and test novel software solutions.

Quick two-page agenda and list of innovations featured in a 2014 Innovator’s Showcase at the hospital.

Provides a view of the goals, processes, and areas of focus of Vodafone’s “xone” innovation initiative.

Explains how the sustainable innovation group at apparel retailer Gap Inc. is focused on “new concepts and models that raise the bar for social and environmental performance.”

A 23-page presentation from VP Global Innovation Gerry Myers that emphasizes collaboration and social innovation; discusses the property and casualty insurer’s internal social business platform, CONNX.

Short document that looks at the “next generation” of open innovation at the CPG company, contrasting it with prior models and showing a case study.

If you’re looking for a generic investment template, this one was submitted by an InnoLead member. At 12 pages, it walks you through description, team, milestones, risks, financials, and more.

Very interesting schedule that details the onboarding process for new innovation professionals at the $12.3 billion risk and insurance firm.

Details on the innovation team’s graffiti art project that visually represents significant innovations that have been implemented by the Innovation Team.

Explanation of Dell EMC’s international idea contest and innovation pipeline. Includes their roadmap, “incubation readiness levels,” ROI metrics, and more.

Excellent, short, two-page document that outlines both guiding principles and operating principles related to innovation at Capital One’s commercial real-estate group.

A visual representation of Whirlpool’s now-famous dashboard (from 2013), which provides a snapshot view of initiatives, projected revenue, pipeline, and more.

Explanation of how and why Dell integrated corporate venture investing activity into its innovation system, expanding upon existing systems and procedures.

A review of the Boston-based hospital’s experience with an employee hackathon, raising questions of metrics and “what’s next?”

Nice, short internal guide that was created by the Chief Innovation Officer to brief executives at the private bank on how they can best manage and support the innovation team.

A look at innovation that must be open and collaborative, social and decentralized (with a “light-touch” approach), and focused on a portfolio approach. From the New Jersey-based insurance provider.

Detailed presentation from the medical device maker on culture that includes a framework with four quadrants that comprise the major culture types, and how some companies need to “migrate” to succeed.

Looks at the company’s strategic approach to innovation, and focuses on the concept of “competencies.” Provides examples and lots of helpful illustrations.

This 35-page presentation outlines innovation challenges and solutions, with plenty of examples and lessons.

A quick look at the financial services firm’s planning, testing, and reporting methodology around innovation project management.

An outstanding example of an innovation progress report from one of the world’s top hospitals, this 24-pager covers programs in place, their approach, and status.

An overview of innovation inside the “Diversified Business Group” at BCBS of MA. Explains goals, process, sourcing, measurement, and more.

Key position at the Boston-based private bank will evaluate and analyze business ideas, recommend a course of action, present analysis to leadership, execute recommendations, and more.

This 19-page presentation looks at continuous Improvement, innovation, and the organizational capacity to innovate; includes innovation roadmap, an exploration of how innovation fits in the company’s drug development pipeline, and more.

Covers innovation at the hotel company, with many examples and success stories. 62-page deck. Highly recommended.

The Chief Innovation Officer at the hospital discusses how to close the “operational gap” and other innovation challenges.

A nice, concise job description for an Innovation Analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, who would be responsible for sourcing investment opportunities to strengthen the company’s core business.

Delivered by the Chief Innovation Officer at the financial services firm, the document covers mission, current approach, training, and ongoing engagement.

Includes “the nine principles of agile innovation,” and visually explains EY’s “innovation flight map.” Partially a sales pitch, but includes nice research data and more.

Great 26-page overview of General Mills’ “Connected Innovation” program, which focuses on collaboration through its Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN).

Job description for a Global Marketing Senior Manager in the biopharma industry, who would report to a Customer Experience Leader and participate in the development and execution of multiple and highly cross-functional initiatives.

Featured in an InnoLead article with General Motors R&D executive Clay Phillips, this one-pager highlights skills and methods needed for incremental vs. disruptive innovation.

Excellent document prompts you to think about your approach to innovation with key steps on objectives, tools, personnel, culture, and more. Includes examples.

Explores key stages in innovation, from Initiate and Ideate, to Pilot and Operationalize (to name a few).

Overview of the program that allows the insurer MassMutual to invest in disruptive innovations emerging out of the early- and mid-stage private company markets.

This 26-page presentation from the Silicon Valley software company (maker of Quicken and TurboTax) outlines how to do rapid experimentation, and even includes an exercise to try.

One-page visual representation of IBM’s Mobile Innovation Lab, with a focus on the processes of Discover, Select, Plan and Build.

The two-day innovation workshop agenda at MMC, the global professional services firm. Includes objectives, desired outcomes, assignments, and complete agenda.

Detailed 42-page presentation highlight’s the company’s “Toolbox Structure” to innovation, all centered around customer engagement. Colt is a multinational telecommunications company based in the UK.

Excellent 32-page update on Humana’s innovation initiatives, including a first-generation innovation center that developed good ideas but lost its relevance to the organization over time. Includes project case studies, hypotheses, pipeline, and more.

Job description for a “highly visible” position responsible for creating and supporting a culture of innovation at the Boston-based hospital.

Very simple and innovative (can we say that?) rating system for scoring elements of the innovation program at Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle. Uses simple red, yellow and green for ten key questions.

Three page output looks at the three steps in business process innovation at Kelly, the office staffing firm: Discovery, Incubation, and Acceleration. Includes roles and oversight for each step.

Includes a nice visual process framework, their four-stage planning process, and the development concept of Tribes, Squads and Guilds. Dyn is a tech services company that is owned by Oracle.

Nice overview of the innovation methodology in place at the Hearst Health Innovation Lab, with examples of committee reports, challenges, lessons and more. Includes sample pitches. Hearst Health is part of the global media company Hearst.

Well-organized job description covers the responsibilities and skills needed for an Innovation & Product Development Director. Marsh & McLennan has businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investment advisory, and management consulting.

Job description for a Growth Initiatives Team Leader, which is “responsible for defining and driving disruptive innovation efforts against an identified strategic opportunity.”

Illustrates how innovation isn’t a “function” at the Atlanta-based beverage maker, but is rather embedded across the system; discusses their “three tiers” to guide innovation efforts.

Succinct: Outlines the innovation framework’s goals in one sentence, and provides three bullets on strategy.

Detailed agenda from Marriott’s week-long “Innovation Days” program, held at headquarters. Includes day-by-day sessions, descriptions, and more. The theme: “Advancing the INNOVATION Blueprint and Unlocking the Future.”

Excellent view of innovation at the email marketing company, starting with buidling MVP or “Minimum Viable Products,” progressing through Pilot, Scaling, and Integration phases. Worth a look.

Job description for Executive Director of the Boston-based hospital’s Innovation Hub, reporting to the Chief Quality Officer and SVP of Research.