What I learned as a cofounder of the MIT Innovation Lab, and in decades of entrepreneurial leadership at the forefront of digital innovation, is reflected in my book, which “elevates the thinking on this crucial subject to the highest level” according to Roger Lacey, former Chief Strategy Officer at 3M. “Dave Richards brings a unique perspective to the ongoing saga of human enterprise. In our competitive world of innovate, adapt, or die, falling one step behind is too often the kiss of death. When mediocrity creeps into the gestalt of an organization, the chance for success becomes bleak. Dave’s insights and focus on the ‘seven sins’ provides an astute framework for action" – John Tyson, former VP, Design, Discovery & Imagination, Nortel Networks.

The ‘seven sins’ explain how “culture eats strategy for breakfast” (Drucker), and why innovation success rates are, on average, well below 10% across all areas of human enterprise. My framework and methodology for consciously leading strategic innovation has enabled highly innovative enterprises across a range of industries to measurably increase their returns on investments in innovation, people, transformation, and competitive leadership. Of course, for every sin there’s a corresponding virtue. Strengthening these virtues in an organization is analogous to building virtuous muscles or capabilities for sustainable, high impact innovation.

Typical (or ‘average’) organizations average about 65% across the seven (sin-virtue) elements of the model, which is multiplicative, and therefore results in the <5% success rates seen in the real world. An organization achieving 90% across all elements enjoys 10x gain, to a success rate of almost 50%. Whether a particular enterprise is an innovation leader or laggard, an honest appraisal yields actionable insights on how to improve innovation flow.