Innovation in fast food is often measured by the sizzle of a new product launch or the sleekness of a digital ordering kiosk. Yet Southpaw, a fast-growing operator of franchised Taco Bell and Dunkin’ locations, is proving that true innovation can lie elsewhere: in how companies treat their people. This overlooked ingredient has propelled Southpaw to turn underperforming franchises into thriving businesses. In doing so, it has grown in its 14 years to own 190...
I believe a good life is like a good sentence – we craft it in the active voice, not the passive. Act on the world, rather than have it act on you. As we consider 2025, here are 3 questions for doing that in a company context:
Nolan Bushnell knew he had a hit when he heard about the trouble at Andy Capp’s Tavern. Atari’s founder had created only one prototype of its first video game, Pong, and it had stopped working after just two weeks – the can for collecting coins kept getting overstuffed.
There’s one, single component of a company’s culture that has more impact than any other on innovation: truthfulness. Truth-telling is foundational for cultures that prize speed, creativity, decisiveness, and risk-taking. But it’s often missing. Here’s why:
In an era of disruptive change, managers who rely on old playbooks risk rapid obsolescence. The need for quick responses to hard-to-predict events calls for agility and creativity – in short, for innovative leaders.
