Innovation is difficult to get right, even without having to deal with the internal challenges confronted in the form of organizational politics. Yet, organizational politics often determine the fate of what otherwise might be promising ideas.

In this presentation, we begin by discussing the kind of internal challenge confronting most companies, a lack of alignment resulting in politics, turf wars, and cultural issues. Next, we consider the reality that such a lack of alignment leads companies to fail in a multitude of ways. Working within this context, we systematically consider the three ways one can seek alignment in the face of both strategic (addressing the question, “Should we invest in innovation?”) and tactical (addressing the question, “Should we pursue this innovative insight?”) resistance: win them over, bypass them, remove them, or exit. We will explore the path of influence (“win them over”) in some detail.

About the Speaker:
A leading authority on innovation, Bruce Vojak is founder and Managing Director of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors, LLC. He is the co-author of two highly-regarded books on innovation (No-Excuses Innovation: Strategies for Small- and Medium-Sized Mature Enterprises and Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms (both published by Stanford University Press)), has served on the boards of Midtronics, Inc., JVA Partners, and Micron Industries Corporation, and is a Senior Fellow with The Conference Board. He consults variously on the topic of innovation, presenting to, leading workshops for, and advising mature and maturing companies in such industries.

Previously, Bruce served as Associate Dean and Adjunct Professor in the top-ranked Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. Earlier, he was Director of Advanced Technology for Motorola’s non-semiconductor components business, held research and business development positions of increasing responsibility at Amoco Corporation, and served on the research staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Professional credentials
Bruce Vojak holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical EnginREGEeering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

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