Innovation is radical by nature :: Stefan F. Dieffenbacher

What is Innovation?

Innovation isn’t just new. It’s radical — and when we treat it like a minor update or a clever tweak, we undermine its potential. In this episode, Jared Simmons speaks with Stefan F. Dieffenbacher, founder of Digital Leadership AG and author of How to Create Innovation, to challenge the status quo around innovation strategy and execution.

With experience leading major transformation projects for companies like Amazon, BMW, and Google, Stefan outlines how most organizations fail by mislabeling incremental improvements as innovation — and by applying the same tools and processes across all types of change. He explains why innovation requires its own distinct mindset, resource model, and methodology, and how most companies neglect the “accelerator” side of innovation, leading to promising ideas being crushed by their own systems.

This episode explores topics like the Three Horizons of Growth, how to structure incubators and accelerators, and how applying engineering principles to innovation can drastically reduce the failure rate. Stefan also shares insights from his global community of 60+ contributors, whose work has culminated in the most comprehensive innovation framework currently available.

If you’re looking to better understand what makes innovation succeed — and why so many companies get it wrong — this conversation offers clear, actionable insights rooted in years of hands-on experience and research.

Chapters:

• 00:00 — Introduction to Stefan F. Dieffenbacher

• 01:00 — Innovation, transformation, and radical change

• 02:13 — Why “new to us” is not innovation

• 04:13 — Aligning methods with the type of innovation

• 06:45 — Incubators vs. accelerators

• 09:59 — The danger of putting $1M ideas in $1B portfolios

• 11:28 — When a business is ready to integrate innovation

• 12:29 — What happens when we mislabel change as innovation

• 13:22 — Why most innovations fail — and how to change that

• 16:10 — Innovation as an engineering discipline

• 18:49 — Underinvestment and innovation’s ROI potential

• 22:05 — Integration > excellence in individual domains

• 25:14 — Is innovation an industry or a project type?

• 27:04 — Focus innovation where you differentiate

• 29:54 — Why finance probably isn’t the place to innovate

• 31:45 — Advice for innovators and free access to tools

Resources Mentioned:
➤ How to Create Innovation (book + open source toolkit)

About the Guest:
Stefan F. Dieffenbacher is the founder of Digital Leadership AG and lead author of How to Create Innovation. With more than 20 large-scale innovation and transformation projects under his belt, Stefan helps global organizations mature their innovation capabilities and drive strategic growth. His open-source innovation platform has reached over 100,000 users worldwide.

About the Host:
Jared Simmons is the Founder and Principal of OUTLAST Consulting, a boutique firm helping organizations unlock innovation through intentional action. With leadership experience at Procter & Gamble, McKinsey & Company, and Coca-Cola, Jared blends corporate strategy with entrepreneurial thinking to help clients innovate on their own terms.