Dr. Dave Richards speaking on stage

DR. DAVE RICHARDS · ADVISOR. AUTHOR. SPEAKER.

Innovation starts
with human nature.

Your strategy can be brilliant.
Your people make it happen.

Build the leadership, culture and capabilities that turn your next big ambition into meaningful growth.

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THE HUMAN SIDE OF INNOVATIONExplore the thinking
Dr. Dave RichardsCo-founder, MIT Innovation Lab

A perspective
built in practice.

MIT Innovation LabCo-founder · 1993
Nortel NetworksGlobal strategy & growth
Psychology & neurosciencePhD · The science of human behavior
The Seven Sins of InnovationAuthor · Palgrave Macmillan
01 / A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVEHear the thinking. Meet the person.

Good ideas aren’t
the hard part.

The real challenge is creating the conditions in which people can turn those ideas into progress.

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Leadership. Culture. The psychology of making progress.Open video on YouTube
02 / CLOSE THE HUMAN GAPThe plan is only part of the picture.

Strategy is logical.
Culture is psychological.
Psychology wins.

Your organization’s habits, beliefs and relationships shape what happens long after the strategy meeting ends.

Build the capabilities to move forward
01
THE AMBITION

Strategy

What your organization intends to achieve.

02
THE EVERYDAY REALITY

Culture

How people actually think, decide and act.

03
THE WORK WE DO TOGETHER

Capability

The human muscles that connect the two.

03 / WORK WITH DAVEFor your next decision, your team, or your audience.

Move the thinking.
Move the organization.

Practical support at the intersection of enterprise strategy and human behavior.

01
FOR CEOs & SENIOR LEADERS

Strategic
advisory.

Make the connection between your growth ambitions and the leadership capabilities needed to deliver them.

  • Innovation strategy & business models
  • Leadership & organizational capability
  • A thinking partner for complex decisions
Discuss your
challenge
02
FOR LEADERSHIP TEAMS

Executive
workshops.

Surface the patterns slowing your team down. Create a shared language and a clearer way forward.

  • Culture & capability exploration
  • Team alignment & engagement
  • The Seven Sins in your own context
Explore a
workshop
03
FOR EVENTS & ORGANIZATIONS

Keynotes that
challenge.

Give your audience a different way to see innovation, grounded in psychology and real leadership experience.

  • The human nature of innovation
  • Leadership, culture & change
  • Ideas that start better conversations
Talk about
your event
04 / THE SEVEN SINS OF INNOVATIONThe science behind what gets in the way.
The Seven Sins of Innovation by Dave RichardsDAVE RICHARDS
FOREWORD BY ERIC VON HIPPEL
Discover the book

THE FRAMEWORK BEHIND THE WORK

Recognize the pattern.
Change the possibility.

Seven ways human nature can quietly undermine innovation. Explore the one that feels familiar.

01

Pointless Purpose

A purpose that doesn’t connect with people.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

Does our purpose mean something in the decisions we make every day?

02

Impaired Vision

A future people can’t clearly see.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

Can we describe the future we are working toward in the same way?

03

Apathetic Miscommunication

Messages that fail to create shared understanding.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

Where are our assumptions replacing an honest conversation?

04

Ambivalent Disengagement

People participating without real commitment.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

What would make this ambition matter personally to our people?

05

Frightfully Disempowered Followership

People waiting for permission to act.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

Where could we give people more confidence and ownership?

06

Painfully Boring Uncreativity

Familiar thinking crowding out fresh possibilities.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

When did we last make room for a genuinely different approach?

07

Comfortable Complacency

Comfort with today weakening the drive to improve.

A QUESTION FOR YOUR TEAM

What are we accepting today that could hold us back tomorrow?

Chapter names from Dave’s book. Reflection questions are prompts for exploring the ideas with your team.

05 / THE PERSON BEHIND THE PERSPECTIVEMeet Dr. Dave Richards.

An unconventional path.
A deeper understanding.

From high school dropout to a PhD in mathematical psychology and neuroscience, Dave has always looked beyond the obvious explanation.

At Nortel Networks, he helped lead the Data business from a money-losing start-up to multi-billion-dollar growth during the commercialization of the internet.

In 1993, he co-founded the MIT Innovation Lab with Professor Eric von Hippel. Today, he brings that combination of research and real-world leadership to CEOs and senior teams through Dr Dave Innovation.

More about Dave on LinkedIn
Portrait of Dr. Dave Richards
THE PHILOSOPHY

“I don’t sell ideas.
I build muscles.”

In this book, he conveys a lifetime of important innovation management insights to fellow practitioners.

Eric von HippelProfessor of Innovation Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

On The Seven Sins of Innovation ↗
06 / LET’S GET TO THE REAL CHALLENGEA better conversation starts here.

What’s holding back
your next breakthrough?

Bring the ambition. Bring the friction.
Let’s explore what your organization needs to move forward.

Find your starting point.

What would you like to explore?

Start a conversation with Dave
dave@drdaveinnovation.comOr connect on LinkedIn ↗