The Frictionless Experience Why Innovation Labs Fail and How to Fix Them with Leslie Grandy (Ex-Amazon, T-Mobile, & Best Buy)
Apr 21, 2025
Leslie Grandy, a digital innovation expert who has worked with giants like Amazon and T-Mobile, argues that innovation labs often fail by isolating creativity from operations. She shares insights on democratizing innovation, emphasizing that everyone can contribute creatively, regardless of their role. Leslie also discusses how reframing failure as a learning opportunity fosters a culture of innovation. With her upcoming book, "Creative Velocity," she highlights the potential of generative AI as a partner in creative problem-solving, suggesting that collaborative efforts can lead to breakthrough ideas.
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Innovation Labs Create Silos
- Innovation labs often alienate operational teams, creating two classes of employees: innovators inside the lab and others outside.
- This division hinders operationalizing innovations because the full business expertise isn't integrated early on.
T-Mobile Picture Frame Failure
- At T-Mobile, an innovation lab created a wireless picture frame but failed to sell it widely due to lacking a suitable billing model.
- This showed the disconnect when innovation labs exclude operational teams early in product development.
Rebrand Failure as Learning
- Embrace negativity as a positive by identifying how ideas could fail and addressing those points upfront.
- Don't kill ideas early; solve failure points to unlock innovative potential.