Innovation Answered

Dewayne Hankins, the Chief Commercial Officer of the Portland Trail Blazers, shares how the basketball team shifted the fan experience in response to challenges created by COVID-19. During the conversation, he covers how the team kept fans connected to players in the NBA’s 2020 bubble, how the team is approaching empty seats this season, and storytelling tips. He also shares his past experiences at Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at the organization.

How can AI and machine learning provide patients with personal, preemptive healthcare? Rajeev Ronanki, the Chief Digital Officer of Anthem, shares his experience. He also discusses how his team works with large data sets, the skills he looks for in employees, and how AI can improve telehealth.  

How can organizations build a culture of innovation and effectively create buy-in for change? Sarah Chavarria, the Chief People Officer of Delta Dental, explains. Chavarria also shares how the dental insurance company developed its core values, the importance of gathering feedback from employees, and how the company responded to challenges caused by COVID-19.

Innovation Answered, the podcast for corporate innovators, is back for its fifth season. And this season of our podcast is very special: We’re going to take you inside of the C-Suite of some very well-known, well-established organizations. In each episode, we’ll interview a different C-level leader to talk about their innovation priorities. That includes how to secure their support and how to push projects across the finish line. Subscribe for updates. New episodes debut starting February 23. 

COVID-19 has changed the way people get around. Instead of public transportation, cycling has become a preferred mode of mobility, as well as a way to safely exercise outdoors. A spike in demand might seem like a clear win for bike makers. But, more sales means greater stress on supply chains and longer wait times. To find out how the bike sector is dealing with the unexpected surge of interest, we talked to Chad Manuell, Director of Engineering at Trek Bicycle. Manuell also discusses how his team approaches early innovation and R&D project.

2020 has been a year of racial reckoning — with discussions about police brutality and systematic racism stretching from the streets to the dinner table to the virtual conference room. To take a deeper dive, we gathered a panel to discuss how to make DEI initiatives at big companies more effective. Our panelists include: Irina Kozlovskaya, a Director of Industrial Design at Fitbit; Alfred Jones, Head of Mechanical Engineering at Lyft Level Five; Jessica Hansen, Executive Director of the Alliance for Smiles; and Simone Hadley Wilson, a marketing strategist, formerly of Lyft.

In so many ways, 2020 has been defined by sudden, dramatic change — from the shift to remote work, to redesigning brick and mortar locations, to changing buying habits, to the national dialogue around racial reckoning, to the aftermath of the presidential election. To find out how big companies have been responding to it all, Innovation Leader’s Editorial Team released four research reports this fall. This episode of Innovation Answered explores the most important data points from that research that can help teams finish the year strong. Scott Kirsner, CEO and Co-founder of Innovation Leader, and Alex Slawsby, a Senior Researcher at IL, join for the conversation.

Yellow boxes with CD-ROMs made Rosetta Stone an iconic brand in the 2000s. Since then, the company has transformed itself into an educational technology powerhouse. Matthew Hulett, President of Language at the company, discusses how Rosetta Stone pivoted from a physical product to a subscription service. He also discusses the company’s approach to digital innovation and how his team is working through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While demand for shipping to office spaces is down, the team at UPS has seen an increased in customers shipping purchases to their homes. In this installment of Innovation Answered: Essentials, David Lee shares how his team has adapted to these new needs. He also discusses how his team has changed their approach to storage and gives best practices for innovators in 2020. After the conversation, Lee reads “The Biggest Barriers to Innovation”, an article he contributed to Innovation Leader’s magazine, aloud. Our Essentials segment is designed for busy innovators in big organizations. In each episode, we discuss a recent article from our site or magazine, and read a portion aloud. Want to read along? See the full article.  

After planning for hybrid classes all summer, this month the team at Barnard College pivoted suddenly to another semester of online learning. What goes into making these decisions? And how will today’s pivots affect the future of higher education?  We gathered an online panel of higher education experts to share. This episode features Barnard President Sian Beliock, Len Schlesinger of Harvard Business School, and the co-CEO of edX, Adam Medros.