The Uncommonly
Pragmatic Blog
leadership
Excelling during extraordinary times: 12 tips for catalysts and change makers
2023 is already shaping up to be another year of the unexpected, and pressure to anticipate and adapt. Economic uncertainty, a redefined talent marketplace, political and social instability, extreme weather events and other circumstances are among the changes creating the possibility that leaders will ride roller coasters on top of earthquakes – or at least…
How to enlist the CFO as an innovation advocate
“[The] Internet ‘may be just a passing fad as millions give up on it.” While this headline appeared in a December 2000 issue of the UK-based tabloid The Daily Mail, it is nonetheless a reminder of how easy it is to discount a future that seems unimaginable. Disruptive innovations and smaller but still meaningful business model shifts are…
Eight Tactics to Make Questioning a Superpower
Are you getting ready for whatever comes next as we move forward and enter the world’s post-pandemic reality? No matter the path you choose, what I hear in conversations with friends, family and colleagues is a lot of reexamination and exploration, and of old assumptions being challenged, disproven, reshaped or even cast aside. New opportunities…
Step One to Your After COVID Future
None of us knows what the future holds. But at least prior to March, we had logical bases from which to de-risk decisions. In the space of a few months, the logic behind our assumptions no longer feels solid. We’ve ripped up our plans. What will happen, when things will happen, and how long things…
How Innovation Failure Creates Success
As you pursue your own next big thing in 2020, my wish is that you will be ready to fail in pursuit of your innovation vision. That’s right: be ready to fail. And then accept and learn from your failures. The last few weeks of 2019 were a time to reflect upon the past year’s…
Is the Chief Innovation Officer a Symptom or a Cure?
As 2019 comes to a close, and with 2020 just days away I’m excited and grateful to reflect upon a year of enriching relationships and experiences, anticipating what’s next on the journey. Reality is that the pace and intensity of change for most of the year encourage a lot of “doing.” These few weeks offer us respite – and time for…
Four Lessons Startups Can Find In Big Companies
It is not hard to beat up on big companies when it comes to innovation — and I’ve got plenty of proof, after two decades as one of those people delivering change from the inside of tough, conservative, regulated businesses. Big companies are bureaucratic. They are slow and complex. They get bogged down in how-things-have-always-been-…
How Corporate Managers Smother New Tech Adoption
One of the most fun and inspiring endeavors I’ve undertaken in my post-corporate life has been to advise select early-stage companies, portfolio managers and accelerators. Startups need lots of marketing advice, especially early on when there may not be a CMO on board. As a result, my work often involves defining audience targeting strategy and…
Is Your Next Innovation Underfunded?
One afternoon on the eve of the Great Recession, I was a panelist at an innovation and design event in New York City. The timing was ironic, to say the least. I can still remember the climate of doom that day and throughout Fall 2007. There was lots of whispering in the hallways of Corporate…
Purpose Is Your Innovation Catapult
Innovators who embrace the role of purpose in their work stand a greater shot at success. Having a belief stemming from a real problem that you passionately want to solve says, “I see something that needs to change, and I am going to change it.” Aligning your core belief to a real problem sets the…
About Amy Radin
Amy Radin is an adviser, speaker and author, working with executives and senior leaders to deliver growth through meaningful innovation. She offers an uncommonly pragmatic and disciplined approach that begins with pinpointing high-potential unmet market needs, and from there provides a proven framework for “what to do next” and how to lead through the inevitable, daily challenges any organization will face in pursuit of innovation.
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Amy is a leader who is demanding and relentless in the pursuit of the great.
In The Change Maker’s Playbook she shares her philosophy and methods to transform ‘out-there’ ideas into new real world business models that can change businesses’ growth trajectories and how brands engage with their customers.
Kahina Van Dyke
Global Head, Digital Channels & Client Data Analytics; Standard Chartered Bank Board Member, Progressive Insurance