All Categories - thinkstuff.media | Better words and stories

All

Editorial strategy

In the media

Words for brands

KPMG US ◦ Context for Change

A six-part series designed to challenge CEOs and the broader C-suite to confront their comfort with change, uncertainty, and unknowns. A project for KPMG Ignition, the expert innovation arm of KPMG US. Published early 2024.

Sifted ◦ Under new threat, law firms learn to innovate

Despite being perceived as staid, conservative and risk-averse, the legal sector isn’t immune from disruption — a look at how one global firm is responding. Interview with Ben Allgrove, partner and chief innovation officer at Baker McKenzie, a worldwide top-five law firm.

The Times ✗ Raconteur ◦ Buy now, pray later

Proponents of BNPL schemes argue they offer consumers a lower-risk and lower-cost form of credit; others contend that it's the next debt or mis-selling time-bomb. One thing's for sure — this “alternative” payment method has undoubtedly entered the mainstream. Interviews with Alex Marsh, head of BNPL lender Klarna UK; Peter Tutton, head of policy at debt charity Stepchange; and Gemma Butler, author and co-host of the Can marketing save the planet? podcast.

KPMG International ◦ Me, My Life, My Wallet Ed. 2

Second edition of a thought-leadership report for KPMG International, introducing a new way of navigating the evolving customer. Editorialises a survey of more than 25,000 consumers in Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, the UAE, the UK and the US. Analyses six macro themes: trust; data; wealth and retirement; generational surfing; the customer of the future; and the B2B customer.

Sifted ◦ Six lessons Aviva learned about working with startups

The 325-year old insurer started with a digital transformation and ended up with a venture builder and an investment arm — what did they learn in the process? An interview with Ben Luckett, group chief innovation officer at Aviva.

Sifted ◦ Why Telefónica's Wayra is looking beyond accelerators

10 years since the birth of its well-known Wayra accelerator programme, Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica is trying to keep "fresh", moving into venture building, direct investing and the “anti-portfolio”. Interview with Irene Gomez, Open Innovation Director at Telefónica.

Sifted ◦ Stop obsessing about 10x — 10% innovation is important too

Global consulting, technology and outsourcing organisation Capgemini has been on a journey to revamp its innovation function. Interview with Pascal Brier, group chief innovation officer at Capgemini, to discuss what's changed and why, what's working and what's yet to come.

Sifted ◦ Seven myths and missteps of innovation culture

While innovation and culture aren’t new bedfellows, they’re still not exactly comfortable ones either. Interviews with Tendayi Viki, author and associate partner at Strategyzer; Yossi Feinberg, professor of management at Stanford University; and Catherine Wallwork, head of innovation engagement and mindset at Deloitte Ventures.

Sifted ◦ How to get people to say yes to innovation

Why is it that people say no to what are clearly good ideas? Interview with David Schonthal, professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, about his and fellow prof Loran Nordgren's Wall Street Journal bestselling book — The Human Element.

Sifted ◦ Innovation culture has a dark side you need to embrace

Driving sustained innovation, rather than one-hit wonders, necessitates change. Interview on the realities of rewiring culture with Gary Pisano, the Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean of faculty development at Harvard Business School.

Sifted ◦ Culture change: Sometimes you've got to rattle a few cages

Innovation leaders need to get organisations, starting with the executive committee, on the same page — and they can’t assume that plain old common sense will do the job for them. Interview with Matt Atkinson, an experienced CEO, chief customer officer and NED.

Sifted ◦ How BT aims to move beyond telecoms

A new incubation unit and a startup mindset are central planks in the corporation’s efforts to be seen as a tech-firm, not just a telco. Interview with Tom Guy, MD of Incubation at BT Group; Ash Roots, former chief digital officer for BT Consumer; Neal Herman, director of healthtech incubation; Jingru Yang, product incubation director; and Meg Blight, startup growth director.

Sifted ◦ 'On the edge but close enough': Creating cultural conditions for CVC success

"In the past, big ate small. Today, fast and innovative eats big... you need to embrace the outside." Interview with Heriberto Diarte, CEO of SE Ventures, the corporate venture fund of the French power management company Schneider Electric.

Sifted ◦ How Société Générale is fighting back against the fintechs

Interview with Claire Calmejane, SocGen's group chief innovation officer since 2018, on how she created a focused innovation strategy from 116 scattered projects at the French bank.

Sifted ◦ The questions every corporate innovation leader asks about culture, answered

Creating an innovation culture is a complex task of orchestrating people, teams and mindsets, and no matter how many management books you read it is always unpredictable. Interview with Herminia Ibarra, the Charles Handy Chair in Organisational Behaviour at London Business School.

Sifted ◦ How Roche is scaling innovation culture across the multinational

Making change happen in large, complex organisations is not easy — but Swiss pharma giant Roche has been trying to overhaul its approach to innovation. Exploring what they've learned in trying to scale the results of a small-scale pilot across the wider enterprise. An interview with Anne Nijs, Rare Conditions Transformation Lead at Roche Pharmaceuticals.

KPMG International ◦ Me, My Life, My Wallet Ed. 1

A bespoke thought-leadership report for KPMG International, introducing a new way of navigating the evolving customer. 'Me, My Life, My Wallet' draws on an in-depth body of research, combining trends analysis of social, technological, economic and geopolitical data; ethnographic interviews with consumers on four continents; and a proprietary quantitative survey of 10,000 consumers in China, India, the UK and the — all through the filter of experts in KPMG's Innovation Lab and its Partners around the world.

Sifted ◦ Seven steps to sustain change

A change programme is easy to start — but difficult to maintain. How do you keep things going when the initial enthusiasm has faded? A discussion on the importance of building a proper framework for innovation, drawing on interviews with Stefano Brusoni, professor of technology and innovation management at ETH Zurich, and Ben Bensaou, INSEAD’s professor of technology management.

Sifted ◦ How the MoD overhauled its health service in a matter of weeks

The military, in general, don’t like to be surprised. But when Covid hit in 2020, a pilot project exploring the introduction of remote consultation to the armed forces' medical service, suddenly had to be scaled up. Interview with Wing Commander Marcus Stow OBE, a 20-year nursing veteran in the UK’s Royal Air Force, and Dr Murray Ellender, practicing GP and CEO of remote healthcare start-up eConsult.

Sifted ◦ How Boots plans to take innovation to the next level

A stalwart of the British high street, like most retailers Boots recognises the need for change as it adjusts to the post-pandemic era — with seed funding for external startups, tapping employees for ideas and test stores on the agenda. Interview with Rich Corbridge, VP and chief information officer at Boots UK.

Show more