Alex Goryachev - Fearless Innovation: Going Beyond the Buzzword to Continuously Drive Growth, Improve the Bottom Line, and Enact Change

GOING BEYOND THE BUZZWORD
TO CONTINUOUSLY DRIVE GROWTH,
IMPROVE THE BOTTOM LINE,
AND ENACT CHANGE

Copyright 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Goryachev, Alex, 1975- author.
Title: Fearless innovation : going beyond the buzzword to continuously drive growth, improve the bottom line, and enact change / Alex Goryachev.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2020. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019036622 (print) | LCCN 2019036623 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119579526 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119579618 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119579588 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Disruptive technologies. | Success in business.
Classification: LCC HD45 .G59 2020 (print) | LCC HD45 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/063dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036622
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036623

Cover design: Wiley

To my son Matthew.
I hope youll always be as fearless and innovative as you are today.
I love you with all my heart.

Many people helped make Fearless Innovation a reality. I could never have made it on my own this far without the support of my mentors and co-conspirators who pushed me to accomplish more than I have ever imagined.

Throughout my career, Ive worked for truly unique leaders, such as Gerald T. Halpin, Chris Thompson, Paul Stark, Ronald Acra, Hina Patel, Brent Wahl, Venkat Narayanan, David Ward, and Gene Hall. I want to thank all of them for supporting my aspirations, and helping me discover and develop my true potential. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Maciej Kranz for encouraging me to pursue whats possible, including writing this book.

When it comes to changing culture, most of my work would be impossible without the courage, leadership, and perseverance of Mathilde Durvy, who partnered with me to take employee innovation programs to new levels and to then establish them as the best in the industry. I am also fortunate to be surrounded by fearless trailblazers who always inspire me to change the status quo. I am indebted to Jenn Loftin, who always proved that innovation can indeed blossom when supported by the right structure, discipline, and governance. My special gratitude goes to Anna Gnatyuk and Jenny Agustin for believing in me and joining me on this innovation adventure. I am lucky to have amazing friends and co-workers who have supported me through my journey-thank you Olga Beregovaya, Lindy Bartell, Miroslav Sarbaev, John Parello, Michael Maltese, Wayne Cuervo, Andrey Kozlov, Gulia Trombini, Marc Musgrove, Simon Gladin, Masha Finkelstein, Dave Maslana, Chris Melching, Mikhail Pakhomov, Roman Kostin, Alex Hills, Irina Kosinovsky, Zhenya Kurts, Flora Freitas, Tatyana Rudchenko, Yuri Naumov, Guillaume De Saint Marc, Marina Velednitsky, Tom Kneen, Elena Ropaeva, Nick Chrissos, Yelena Denisova, Peter Shearman, Vadim Stepanchenko, Boris Fomitchev, Oseas Ramirez Assad and Cayla Young.

Wendy Khentigan and Marla Flores Reves deserve special recognition for helping me focus on whats important in my life, which made writing this book much more joyful and rewarding.

Finally, none of this would have possible without the help of my family, most importantly my wife, Maria, and my son, Matthew. Words cannot express how much I appreciate Marias and Matthews encouragement, understanding, support, and pure unconditional love. I am also grateful to my parents, Yuri and Tamara, and my sister, Julia, who has always inspired me to seek change and adventure over safety and comfort.

The task of turning this book into reality is shared by so many people, which includes tremendous support from Mark Nelson, Mat Miller, and Zachary Schisgal, Vicki Adang, Amy Handy, Jocelyn Kwiatkowski, and Jenny Douglas. Scott Kirsner, cofounder and editor of Innovation Leader magazine, graciously provided invaluable guidance and archival resources that were essential in researching this book.

And last, but not least, I am grateful to Zach Gajewski, the most amazing editor in the world, who spent countless hours with me bringing this book to life.

Innovation is a horrible word.

The term has become so buzzy, it seems to have lost all practical meaning. Ask a hundred people to define it and youll receive just as many different answers. And, you know what? All of these answers might be rightor they might be wrong.

This is, in part, due to the fact that discussions about the topic are everywhere today. If you actually google What is innovation? you will receive nearly half a million results, and according to Google Trends, the number of search requests for news related to innovation tripled between 2014 and 2019. Not a day goes by without another dozen articles, blog posts, or think pieces on the concept, highlighting how we all need to be more innovative and showcasing the latest process and methodology that should be immediately adopted. We read, listen, and try to keep up, looking for clarity and some type of real-world application of what is seen as a squishy subject with no end.