Building Innovation Hubs: Lessons From Chicago

It was a great pleasure speaking at the Chicagoland Food & Beverage NetworkBreakfast Series. Yes, I said breakfast, for those of you who know me I amNOTa morning person so this was a huge feat for me.

Building an Innovation Center of Excellenceis multifaceted. It takes hiring a team, building the team and organization capabilities, building a pipeline, and sometimes even building the office itself. And of course, this all needs to happen at the same time, with no pressure.

I was asked to speak on some of my favorite pages from myInnovation Playbook, including what I have learned building two innovation centers in Chicago. I found no matter what company I have worked for we all have similar pain points when it comes to innovation.

I chose three areas:

1. People– what you should look for in hiring and what you can expect.
2. Capabilities– I shared the importance of the role of the consumer in innovation.
3. Greatest Surpriseor as I like to say WTF moments. I shared some of the issues and challenges on driving change in an organization. From changing behaviors or routines to driving change across an organization which…