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

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