How leaders can recast innovation's toughest trade-offs-efficiency vs. flexibility consistency
vs. change product vs purpose-as productive tensions. Why is leading innovation in today's
dynamic business environment so distressingly hit-or-miss? More than 90 percent of
high-potential ventures don't reach their projected targets. Surveys show that 80 percent of
executives consider innovation crucial to their growth strategy but only 6 percent are
satisfied with their innovation performance. Should leaders aim for Steve Jobs-level genius
shower their projects with resources or lean in to luck and embrace uncertainty? None of the
above say Christopher Bingham and Rory McDonald. Drawing on cutting-edge research and probing
interviews with hundreds of leaders across three continents in Productive Tensions Bingham and
McDonald find that the most effective leaders and successful innovators embrace the tensions
that arise from competing aims: efficiency or flexibility? consistency or change? product or
purpose? Bingham and McDonald spotlight eight critical tensions that every innovator must
master and they spell out with dozens of detailed examples of both success and failure how
to navigate them. How do you excite customers about a product they've never imagined? When is
it wise to accept what the data is telling you and when should you ignore the data and plow
forward anyway? How can you maintain stakeholders' trust and support during radical unforeseen
course corrections? Bingham and McDonald guide readers through innovation's thorniest tensions
using examples drawn from the experience of organizations as varied as P&G Instagram the US
military Honda In-N-Out Burger Slack Under Armour and the snowboarding company Burton.
