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Innovation Isn't Magic: Six Strategies for Growth — In Business and In Life

Most companies say they want to innovate. Few can tell you which kind — or why AI alone won't fix the wrong choice.

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Every leadership team has innovation on the agenda. Most of them are doing it wrong.

Not because they lack talent, budget, or — increasingly — AI tools.

Because they're applying the right tools to the wrong problem — running incremental innovation when the market demands a breakthrough, or chasing disruption when what the business actually needs is a process fix.

The result is wasted investment, frustrated teams, and a strategy deck that looks bold but delivers nothing.

This guide — based on research with large companies across industries, and field-tested across executive programmes at Oxford, London Business School, and Chicago Booth — gives you a practical framework for diagnosing which innovation path is right for your organisation, and why.

You will finish this guide knowing:

  • 01 The six distinct types of innovation — and the specific conditions under which each creates or destroys value
  • 02 Why AI makes the quality of your thinking more important, not less — and what to do about it
  • 03 Why your innovation hire, budget, and metrics should all depend on which path you've chosen
  • 04 How to tell the difference between innovation that builds long-term competitive advantage and innovation theatre
  • 05 The one question most leadership teams never ask before launching an innovation initiative — and what happens when they don't

This is genuinely a fun and enjoyable read, not another boring corporate guidebook.

My aim is for you to learn and to enjoy doing it, because life is too short.

Sophia Matveeva
About the author

Sophia Matveeva advises governments and global organisations on innovation strategy, and is a guest lecturer at Oxford, London Business School, and Chicago Booth.

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FREE Guide

Innovation Isn't Magic: Six Strategies for Growth — In Business and In Life

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