Fostering Innovation: Practical Takeaways for Business Leaders in Mature Industries - Ep. 225

At the midpoint of 2025, the chemical industry is navigating a turbulent landscape marked by geopolitical conflicts, trade uncertainties, and shifting supply-demand dynamics. Host Victoria Meyer examines how leaders are driving innovation during times of economic uncertainty, sharing recent insights from established and emerging companies including Hexion, Lummus Technology, Pilot Chemical, Lanzatech, and others. She explores how companies can break out of the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset, overcome barriers to change, and embrace both incremental and disruptive innovation. 

Victoria highlights practical strategies for fostering an innovation mindset—ranging from creating psychological safety for risk-taking to encouraging diverse internal and external partnerships. She underscores the importance of balancing operational excellence with a willingness to experiment, empowering teams to learn from failures, and aligning incentives to support new ideas. With a focus on actionable practices, this episode provides chemical industry professionals with a roadmap for building resilient, future-ready organizations. 

 

Victoria breaks down these topics in this week's episode: 

• How chemical industry leaders stay resilient and innovative amid uncertainty. 
• Building change-embracing cultures over traditional approaches 
• Creating safe spaces for innovation. 
• Accelerating innovation through strategic partnerships 
• Strategies for embedding small and large improvements into daily operations. 

 

Killer Quote: "Just because this is how we’ve always done it doesn’t make it the right answer for today."  — Victoria Meyer, The Chemical Show 

 

Additional Links:  

"This is how we do it" 

00:00 Balancing Innovation and Stability 

05:56 Breaking the "We've Always Done It" Mindset 

09:17 Embrace Change and Innovate 

13:21 "Driving Innovation through Diverse Partnerships" 

18:15 "Prioritizing Communication in Innovation" 

19:42 Innovation and Human Collaboration 

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