This week we participated in the Innovation Roundtable’s workshop in “Creating a Culture for Intrapreneurship & Experimentation”, hosted by Allstate in Chicago, where we facilitated two discussion workshops. We enjoyed hearing from some great speakers and engaging with fellow innovation leaders from a broad range of industries. This post provides a brief summary of each of the workshops.
Session #1: Avoiding Corporate Innovation Antibodies with Company Fit using the RPP Framework
We facilitated a powerful discussion on why promising innovations often stall or fail within established organizations. What emerged from the conversation was a clear pattern: the same resources, processes, and priorities (RPP) that make companies successful at sustaining their core business often become the very barriers that block disruptive innovation.
During our session, participants shared candid stories about innovation roadblocks they'd encountered—from resource constraints and bureaucratic processes to misaligned priorities that consistently deprioritized breakthrough ideas. Through guided discussion, we helped the group recognize these weren't isolated incidents but systematic organizational challenges. We then introduced our RPP framework, showing how understanding and strategically realigning these three elements can both help identify “company fit” risks early and how to leverage those insights to filter transform innovation blockers into enablers.
The breakthrough moment came when participants began connecting their personal experiences to the framework, realizing they could proactively restructure teams, adjust processes, and shift priorities to support innovation. Several leaders left with immediate action plans to apply RPP analysis to their current projects. If your organization struggles with innovation execution despite having great ideas and talented people, we'd welcome the opportunity to discuss how to use the RPP framework to evaluate “Company Fit” to unlock your innovation potential. Contact Us!
Session # 2: Mastering Uncertainty to Drive Innovation Success
Our second session at the Innovation Roundtable tackled one of the most critical yet overlooked aspects of corporate innovation: how organizations can systematically manage uncertainty rather than let it paralyze decision-making. Through structured discussion, we explored how different types of uncertainty—from market fit questions to competitive threats—require different management approaches, and why traditional risk assessment often falls short in innovation contexts.
What became clear from the conversation is that many organizations lack systematic frameworks for capturing, evaluating, and prioritizing uncertainties in their innovation portfolio. We guided participants through strategy modeling techniques that help teams differentiate between controllable strategy choices and external market uncertainties, while introducing quantitative approaches that embrace ranges and supporting evidence rather than demanding false precision. The discussion revealed how shifting from “expectations to know everything" to "permission to learn systematically" can accelerate innovation cycles.
Just as importantly, we touched on how organizational culture and reward systems either support or undermine uncertainty management. The consensus was powerful: instead of celebrating successful outcomes or punishing failures, leading innovation organizations celebrate “efficient learning” and the ability to pivot quickly based on new evidence. If your leadership team struggles with innovation investment decisions or feels paralyzed by uncertainty, let's discuss how structured uncertainty management could transform your innovation approach. Contact Us!
