Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups At The Innovation Game

Despite the belief that radical innovation is impossible for large corporations, some managers have successfully built new ventures within their organizations. Research shows that corporate explorers have leveraged core assets to beat startups at their own game. These insiders work through ideation, incubation, and scaling to bring the outside in and get the pace of change inside an organization. The rewards are rich, but corporate explorers also face the “silent killers of exploration” such as risk aversion, optimizing for the short term, and dealing with established routines and practices. However, despite the challenges, corporate explorers build social support for change and create more connections. They leverage their strong social capital, challenge themselves, and are willing to work through unpopularity to achieve success.