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The Human Factor
in Innovation

Why innovation succeeds or fails is less about ideas and more about people.

Based on research with 100+ innovation professionals, founders, and practitioners, this study explores the skills, teaming dynamics, and organizational conditions that drive innovation success and create value.

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100+ Innovation practitioners

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25 Expert Interviews

133 Skills analysed

At first, we only see the brightest stars. Looking closer reveals the hidden structures that shape the whole system.

A question worth asking.

Billions are invested in innovation every year.

Yet many organizations still struggle to consistently turn ideas into value.

Why?

But our research suggests that a critical piece is often overlooked.

Human Capability.

The skills people bring, how teams collaborate, and how capabilities align across the innovation journey.

Human Capability

The questions we explored

To understand innovation, we set out to explore four questions.

Why do some innovation initiatives create value while others struggle despite similar resources and investments?

Which are the key skills that truly enable innovation and value creation?

How do individuals, teams and organizations combine these skills to turn ideas into meaningful outcomes?

How can organizations systematically develop and support innovation capability?

These questions became the foundation of our research and continue to shape our work.

Our research at a glance

Skills analysed

Expert Interviews

Innovation practitioners

Insights from different industries, roles and organizations around the world.

About the researchers

Sabine Simon

Focused on the human factor in innovation: how people collaborate, grow, and navigate change together, and how these capabilities can be developed to turn ideas into meaningful outcomes. As a co-founder of 2nxtlvl Consulting, she helps teams and organisations to create the conditions necessary for successful innovation and sustainable development.

Andreas Penzel

Focused on innovation excellence, go-to- market, and the human factor in innovation, with the ambition to better understand and develop the capabilities that turn ideas into value.

Jack Sanderson

Jack has worked with dozens of businesses to design, build and embed innovation programs. He has focussed on creating new value by connecting ecosystems, capturing diverse perspectives and uncovering unexpected solutions. He is the Comericial Director at Wazoku and Innocentive and leads on Innovation delivery Services.

The Human Factor
in Innovation

Get the full research report featuring insights, data and recommendations for action from the perspectives of over 100 innovation experts, founders and practitioners.

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133 innovation-related skills analysed

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Insights into individual and team-based innovation capabilities

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Practical ideas for businesses and those responsible for innovation

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Research-based recommendations for developing innovation capabilities

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