Research & Tools | Innovator Interviews

Innovator Interviews

Take a quick peek inside the minds of some of today's most inspiring entrepreneurs and innovators. Hear how real people have made innovation work in their organizations, from leaders such as Tony Tomazic of Humana, Anne Carullo of Estee Lauder, Sue Brush of Westin Hotels & Resorts, and 12 more.

What?

Fifteen free downloadable PDF interviews below.

Why?

  • Find out how leading innovators drive innovation in their organization
  • Get an inside look at the challenges they've faced and the solutions they developed to overcome
  • Learn how these leaders measure and report on innovation, and see how you can apply their techniques to your organization

Who?

  • Organizational Leaders, High Performers, and Individual Contributors

Innovator Interview: General Mills

Jeff Bellairs, Senior Director of Connected Innovation for General Mills, shares his insights on building a successful open innovation program and turning the idea of "connecting the dots" into a profitable business model.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Innovation Network, Open Innovation, Partners, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Police Futurists International

John Jackson, President of Police Futurists International, offers his insights on handling innovation challenges, foresight techniques, and the importance of innovation in the public sector.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Future Planning, Strategy, Trend-Watching

Innovator Interview: Humana

Tony Tomazic, Director of Consumer Innovations for Humana Inc., shares his insights on building a successful innovation program and finding opportunities in adjacent and open innovation.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Innovation Program, Open Innovation, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Thomson Reuters

Amanda West, Chief Innovation Officer of Thomson Reuters, discusses her thoughts on what makes innovation tick at this prestigious information company.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Defining Innovation, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Estee Lauder

Anne Carullo, SVP of Corporate Product Innovation at Estee Lauder, provides an inside look at how the cosmetic giant innovates.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Culture, Strategy

Innovator Interview: General Electric

Barbara Daniele, SVP and General Counsel for GE Capital, Americas, sheds light on how innovation happens within the legal world.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Culture, Innovation in Regulated Industries, Legal

Innovator Interview: Wachovia Bank

Craig Libby, SVP of Innovation at Wachovia Bank, is a seasoned innovator. See what makes him tick in this thought-provoking interview.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Leadership, Practical Side of Innovation, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Procter & Gamble

Gain insight into the innovation process at a CPG giant in this exclusive interview with Mark Hausfeld, the Innovation Manager for Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Climate, Leading Innovation

Innovator Interview: Reed Elsevier

Daryl Dunbar, SVP of Innovation at Reed Elsevier, provides an exclusive look at innovation inside this information and publishing company.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Breaking Down Silos, Climate, Culture

Innovator Interview: Unilever

Hear what works and what doesn't in this exclusive interview with Mehmood Khan, Unilever’s Global Leader of Innovation Process Development.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Scorecard Approach, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Whirlpool

Learn what Randy Voss, the Senior Manager of Global Strategy and Business Development at Whirlpool, has to share when it comes to balancing innovation in a large organization.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Balancing Innovation, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Pfizer

Rob Spencer, Senior Research Fellow in Idea Management & Innovation at Pfizer, shares valuable perspective on the way Pfizer approaches innovation.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Ideas, Problem-Solving

Innovator Interview: NESTA

Gain valuable insight in this exclusive interview with Roland Harwood, the Director of Open Innovation at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts—an independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Culture, Strategy

Innovator Interview: Sandia National Laboratories

Sandy Sanzero, Manager of Robotics, Intelligent Systems, & Cybernetics at Sandia National Laboratories, shares his thoughts on innovation in a laboratory environment.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Culture, Risk

Innovator Interview: Westin Hotels & Resorts

Learn about critical elements of the innovation program at Westin in this exclusive interview with Sue Brush, the SVP of Global Brand Management at Westin Hotels & Resorts.

Audience:
Organizational Leaders, High Performers, Individual Contributors
Tags:
Climate, Idea Sharing

Client Quotes

  • “The futurethink team did an outstanding job in designing and facilitating an innovation event for our senior leaders, many of who regarded this as the best innovation workshop that they had ever been a part of. I would recommend futurethink to any organization that is looking for clear and actionable pathways to Innovation.”
    Wayne Pethrick, Director, Marketing and Consumer Insights, Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes
  • “Innovation is deliberate, if done well. There is a science and process to it. futurethink has done their homework to provide a wealth of practical knowledge to their customers.”
    Senior Vice President of Innovation, Wells Fargo Wells Fargo
  • “futurethink made my leadership team think in new ways and helped us develop winning business ideas right in the room. My team now embraces innovation rather than fearing it.”
    Mary Fennoglio, Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank Citigroup
  • “futurethink made the topic of innovation, which means different things to different people, real, meaningful, and actionable.”
    Steven Rubinow, Chief Information Officer, NYSE Euronext NYSE Euronext Logo
  • “futurethink is enabling us to build critical innovation skills and share best practices across our global organization.”
    Jeff Honious, Vice President of Innovation, Reed Elsevier Reed Elsevier
  • “futurethink is the innovation expert. They fine-tune their training to our clients' needs. I'm constantly looking for new opportunities to engage them in our work.”
    Brian Weberg, Director, National Conference of State Legislatures
  • “The futurethink workshop not only provided an incredible jolt of energy to our collective innovation efforts and established the common understanding of innovation concepts, but it was also a wonderful team-building event. I don’t think it could have been organized and conducted any better.”
    Michael Ripa, Manager, FRI Infomatics
  • “futurethink's research and 'how-to' tools have been essential to building our innovation program.”
    Cindy Morgan, Innovation Manager, New England Federal Credit Union New England Federal Credit Union
  • “futurethink's proven methodology, research, and tools help ensure we're always ready to meet the evolving public service challenges of tomorrow.”
    Sandy Stosz, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard
  • “futurethink's sessions included excellent examples and energizing exercises that brought innovation to life. They got us to look at our business with new eyes.”
    Joan P. Lawrence-Ross, Chief Learning Officer, AXA
  • “Working with futurethink was a very rewarding experience for our team. They brought a great combination of provocative outside ideas, market perspective and a program design that challenged us to think of our own business in more innovative ways.”
    Jim Daly, Vice President of Human Resources, Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's
  • “futurethink is always thinking ahead about learning and 'innovate' it before we ask! Their programs have been a huge success with our teams.”
    Director of Learning & Development, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Sonovian Pharmaceuticals
  • “If you don't make innovation a strategic part of your business plan and you don't drive that into the culture, I don't think you'll have a strong innovation pipeline.”
    Mark Hausfeld, Innovation Manager, Global Business Services, Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble
  • “Any innovative company must develop processes for understanding and responding to consumer needs in a very focused way. Otherwise, they're just inventors, they're not necessarily innovators.”
    Tony Tomazic, Director of Consumer Innovations, Humana Humana
  • “If you don't innovate, be creative and look to the future and the possibilities of what will evolve over time, you will cease to be relevant.”
    Randy Voss, Senior Manager, Global Strategy & Business Development, Whirlpool Whirlpool
  • “We need to look beyond our organization's walls to innovate.”
    Mehmoon Khan, Global Leader, Innovation Process Development, Unilever Unilever