InsightsScale Innovation with Speed: The ABCs of Leading InnovationShruti PatelAugust 21, 2025JamesBrey/iStockIn brief:Innovation is not just the domain of R&D, but a collective, organization-wide capability requiring leaders who can foster collaboration, experimentation, and execution at scale.Effective leaders act as Architects (designing systems and culture), Bridgers (connecting silos and fostering diverse perspectives), and Catalysts (mobilizing action on bold ideas). Scaling innovation demands leaders who can fluidly move between these roles.Organizations should stop treating innovation as one-off events and instead embed it as an ongoing capability.In an era of constant disruption and complexity, innovation isnt just a competitive edge, its a leadership imperative. That was the core message from Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, during her powerful keynote at the Harvard Business Impacts 2025 Partners Meeting.Drawing from her upcoming book Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation, Professor Hill challenged traditional notions of innovation as the responsibility of Research and Development (R&D) or a handful of creative thinkers. Instead, she framed innovation as a collective, organization-wide capability. One that can only thrive when leaders are equipped to foster collaboration, experimentation, and bold execution at scale.Why Innovation Fails to ScaleMany organizations generate great ideas but struggle to implement them broadly. Professor Hill identified a critical gap: the ability to scale innovation with speed.Whether its digital transformation or operational reinvention, scaling requires more than strategy, it demands leadership behaviors that mobilize cross-functional momentum.The ABCs of Leading InnovationProfessor Hill introduced a powerful framework from her research: the three leadership roles required to innovate at scale.1Architects Design the conditions, systems, and values that enable innovation across the enterprise.Bridgers Connect silos, build internal and external partnerships, and foster diverse perspectives.Catalysts Mobilize people to act on bold ideas and co-create solutions at speed.Organizations that succeed in embedding innovation, Professor Hill explained, are those that develop leaders who can move fluidly across these roles, not just at the top, but at every level of the organization.From Collective Genius to Genius at ScaleProfessor Hills earlier book, Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation explored how great leaders cultivate environments where innovation thrives. And Genius at Scale builds on that foundation, focusing on how to operationalize and embed innovation across large, complex organizations navigating transformation.Her call to action: stop treating innovation as episodic. Instead, make it a continuous, scalable capability, supported by leaders who know how to design culture, connect systems, and ignite progress.Final Reflection: Are You Building Bridgers?Professor Hill shared a candid insight from a recent executive conversation: We dont have enough leaders who can bridge. The immediate reaction? Replace them. Her response? Not so fast. If we arent rewarding collaboration, partnership, and ecosystem thinking, were not enabling leaders to bridge, were discouraging it.Instead of replacing talent, we should be developing leaders with the mindsets and behaviors needed to lead across functions, markets, and sectors. Because in todays environment, real transformation doesnt just require innovation, it requires integration.Hill, L.A., Tedards, E., Wild, J. and Weber, K., 2022. What makes a great leader? Mastering the ABCs of innovation at scale. Harvard Business Review, 19 September. Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/09/what-makes-a-great-leader Strategic AlignmentTalent ManagementTransformationShare this resourceShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on XShare on WhatsAppEmail this PageConnect with usChange isnt easy, but we can help. 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