Bruce Vojak — The Hourglass Model of Breakthrough Innovation
About this episode
Bruce Vojak discusses the Hourglass Innovation Model and insights from his research on serial innovators.
Most companies think innovation is a straight line. Bruce Vojak spent years studying the people who prove otherwise. Bruce Vojak is co-author of Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms (Oxford University Press). In this bonus episode of The Innovation Show, he joins Aidan McCullen for a focused look at the Hourglass Innovation Model — the descriptive framework that maps how serial innovators actually move from an interesting problem to a flawless product launch. In this conversation, Bruce reveals: Why the Hourglass Model is descriptive, not prescriptive — and why that matters How serial innovators often redefine the problem before they solve it The Tom Osborne story — how reframing a feminine hygiene brief from diaper to garment changed everything Why serial innovators can appear completely unproductive for months — and why that is actually the work How they were practising customer empathy and design thinking before those ideas had names Why Execute — the stage most firms obsess over — is just one of five tasks How to use the model as an honest self-diagnostic: am I doing these things, or is it really the organisation…
People in this episode
Host: Aidan McCullen
Guest: Bruce Vojak
Topics covered
- Hourglass Innovation Model
- breakthrough innovation
- serial innovators
- customer empathy
- design thinking
- problem redefining
- product launch
Keywords
- innovation
- Hourglass Model
- serial innovators
- product launch
- customer empathy
- design thinking
- problem solving
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Oxford University Press
Books & works: Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms
More episodes of The Innovation Show
- Geoffrey Cain — Steve Jobs in Exile: NeXT, Failure, Revenge and the Remaking of a Visionary
- AI Is Rewiring Organizations — McGrath, Osterwalder, Amla & Sheikh
- Eric Ries — How to Build an Incorruptible Organisation
- Bruce Vojak — Identifying, Developing and Managing Serial Innovators (Part 3 of 3)
- Bruce Vojak — Navigating the Politics of Breakthrough Innovation (Part 2 of 3)
- Bruce Vojak — Serial Innovators: The Hidden Power Inside Mature Firms (Part 1)
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