When Innovation (and Profit!) Can Save the World

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What if your business’ success could save the world?

That’s the underlying theme in our podcast episode with Borealis Foods CEO Reza Soltanzadeh. As a young doctor working with Doctors Without Borders, he saw first-hand the effects of poverty on health…and determined to do something about it. With Borealis Foods (NASDAQ: BRLS), he has…in the form of a humble noodle that just may be the catalyst to end malnutrition.

The key to his solution: relentless innovation!

With the pace of change in today’s business climate accelerating quickly, innovation remains vital to any work culture’s success. Reza took the standard broad strokes for innovating, then added several tweaks to help your team innovate successfully, too.

1. Reframe the question.

Often, the problem you’re facing has been defined by others—and seems intractable. Switching perspectives can make the solution suddenly obvious. While working in impoverished areas of India, the impact of poverty on health hit him hard. That sparked an epiphany: everyone defined the issue as “poverty creates hunger.” Reza realized there was another angle: poverty creates malnutrition…specifically, a lack of macronutrients and exceptionally affordable protein. That seemed more straightforward to solve.

2. Make sure you’re not the smartest person in the room.

The days of leaders having all the answers are long gone. Great leaders surround themselves with knowledgeable people. Reza recognized (to paraphrase Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy), “I’m a doctor, not a food scientist!” So, he assembled a team of experts, including food researchers, seasoned business execs, and even chef Gordon Ramsey! Their task is to develop high-protein food with efficient manufacturing so it’s super affordable and the business will thrive. That combined brain trust accomplished the mission.

3. Remember that failure must be an option.

The mission wasn’t accomplished without stumbles. No major innovation rolls to reality perfectly! It is critical to remember that. Failure is inevitable whenever you’re creating something truly new, unique, or out-of-the-box. Getting upset at failure makes your team risk-averse, and they grow less and less willing to innovate. Adopt the mind of a scientist instead: failure provides the knowledge and new data that feed your ultimate success.

4. It’s better when you’re not the center of the universe.

This is an extension of Point 2 above. In the same way you check your ego at the door when you work with your team, accept that your company can’t do it all. For example, a specialty manufacturer may have the best equipment and economies of scale to optimize your production. You may also get higher quality by sourcing raw materials from local providers as you expand to new regions. Or bring in a logistics firm to handle distribution more efficiently than you could imagine. You don’t have to reinvent every wheel: partner with other organizations to benefit from their expertise.

5. “We can figure this out.”

Attitude makes all the difference, mainly the attitude of leadership. Humans are remarkably creative creatures—“There is magic in human ingenuity,” Reza says. No problem is truly intractable. Assemble your team, forge your partnerships, and tell them you trust them. It will take time and failures, but always remind them you have every confidence that (to quote Borealis Foods’ mantra): “We can figure this out.”

Following these enhancements to the standard innovation steps, Reza and his team created the humble noodle we referenced at the beginning of this article. It’s a ramen noodle packed with 20 grams of complete protein and at a price point that makes it more affordable. Branded as Chef Woo, it can go a long way in helping the roughly 10% of the world’s population suffering from malnutrition.

What innovations will you bring to the world?

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Dan Mushalko adapted this article from our podcast episode, Noodling Solutions for Food Insecurity.

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Dispensing Wellness: Walgreens’ Rx for Healthcare

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Whether it is visiting a doctor, understanding and paying a medical bill, or picking out the right health insurance plan, we can probably all agree that our regular interactions with the healthcare system are not as seamless or as easy to access as they should be. Healthcare is too hard to navigate, costs too much, and ultimately does not work well for the people it’s meant to serve — all of us.

 John Driscoll, executive vice president and president of U.S. Healthcare at Walgreens Boots Alliance, shared this article as a companion to his podcast Dispensing Wellness: Walgreens’ Rx for Healthcare.

Check out past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One. 

Too often, this lapses into pessimism, a belief that we can’t improve US healthcare. At nearly one-fifth of the economy, healthcare is too big to fail — and to fix. But the truth is that there is a lot that people can change in healthcare if they are motivated to take on these seemingly insurmountable problems.

The trick is to think like a basketball team, not a track team. In the latter, runners are out for themselves, and points are awarded for individual performance. In basketball, nearly every point scored relies on the skills and effort of the whole team. Assists are as important as goals scored, and strong defense makes offensive success possible.

Creating this collaborative environment takes embracing three principles: servant leadership, connectedness through authenticity, and innovating with transparency.

 

Servant Leadership

First, at the heart of everything is servant leadership. Servant leadership is all about keeping the people that you serve at the core of what you do. At Walgreens, our boots-on-the-ground leaders are our pharmacists. Walgreens pharmacists are in nearly 9,000 stores across the country, and especially in rural communities, pharmacists are the cornerstone of people’s perceptions of the healthcare system.

Our pharmacists embody servant leadership. Often, they are providing expert counsel while integrating kindness and compassion into every interaction they have with their community. Their servant leadership perspective prompts our pharmacists to truly go above and beyond for patients. Our pharmacists serve as the healthcare system’s air traffic control by coordinating care, knitting together patient needs, and following up to make sure those needs are taken care of. Walgreens pharmacists also help with minor injuries or illnesses and deliver care through vaccination, testing, and, in some cases, prescribing.

Our pharmacists are truly connected to their communities, and they find ways where they can really help and make a difference. Their servant leadership mentality motivates them to do so, and that culture feeds up into the entire Walgreens organization.

 

Connectedness Through Authenticity

While servant leadership can create connections to the community, it’s also important to make internal connections that strengthen teams. Authentic leadership is hard to crystalize and almost impossible to rehearse, but when it’s not there, teams fall apart. Team members have to know that their leader has passion and has their back. More importantly, team members have to believe that their leader has heart and kindness in an authentic way. If the passion isn’t genuine, it’s obvious. But when authentic leadership is there, it’s a key differentiator.

When I was in military training, I was interacting with people who had graduated from military schools and places like West Point — they were much better equipped to take on the technical and logistical tasks of our training. I wasn’t the best at many of the military skills themselves, like loading weapons or excelling on drills, but in a leadership position, I was awarded for showing heart and passion, conveying that to my organization, and taking care of my team. That created connectivity and trust among all of us.

To me, that kind of magic happens when leaders and teams find a collective purpose and trust each other to achieve that purpose. This trust facilitates what General Stanley McChrystal calls in his book, Team of Teams, “shared consciousness,” or thinking and acting as a team rather than as individuals.

In healthcare, for example, we have a collective purpose, but we don’t always have trust between stakeholders or from our patients. To be better leaders in our teams and across the industry, we have to get back to basics — show authenticity, connect to our common purpose, and trust our teammates as we all work towards our goal of serving patients and improving quality of life.

 

Innovating with Transparency

The best leaders cultivate servant leadership and create authentic connections to tie their team together, but they also keep innovating. Many leaders and organizations focus on innovation, but what takes innovation from a buzzword to the next level is changing paradigms with clear goals and transparent communication.

No team or organization stays stagnant forever — nor should we want it to. Particularly in healthcare, change happens quickly, and organizations that don’t adapt technology effectively are often left behind. At the same time, change can feel scary and uncertain for teams, especially today when conversations about new technologies like artificial intelligence are also accompanied by discussions of how many jobs AI will replace.

During times of change, transparency in leadership takes precedence. That’s why, at Walgreens, we’re being thoughtful about where our existing strengths are — our servant leaders, our people — and how AI can complement what they do. Instead of spending time counting pills and doing paperwork, AI can help our pharmacists facilitate human connection by freeing time to really listen to people, understanding their health concerns so we can treat them better. Without transparent leadership about new technology, teams fall into fear. Strategic application of technology and open communication can help teams thrive.

 

Thank you for reading the Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week. We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Right Honourable Kim Campbell Discusses the Climate Overshoot Commission Report

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One of the most challenging aspects of leadership is inheriting the problems of your predecessors. Great leaders, though, always look at the bigger picture – so they take responsibility for these problems they didn’t create and forge solutions for the organization’s greater good. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun embodies this: he wasn’t at the company when the 737 went into production, but he takes accountability to fix its very public and dangerous issues, like a door popping off in flight.

This same leadership trait is even more important with climate change. Oil company C-suites learned of fossil fuel impacts on global warming as far back as the 1950s. Seven decades later, today’s C-suites must live with the consequences. And those economic consequences are billions of dollars worth of harshness that will drain bottom lines more and more.

Dan Mushalko, Executive Producer at the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to the podcast with the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, 19th Prime Minister of Canada,  Climate Change: Leaders in the Hot Seat. This episode was produced in partnership with the International Leadership Association as part of their 25th Annual Global Conference held in October 2023. 

 

Check out past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One. 

So, what’s a business leader to do? Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell shared some actions in this week’s podcast:

1. Watch insurance companies.

“Insurance is the lubricant of business,” Kim says. Their actuaries don’t mess around, making decisions on cold, hard facts and stats. When you see them pulling out of certain geographic areas or particular types of business lines, you’ll know they see long-term climate impacts. Steer your organization clear of those, too!

2. Dig underneath the headlines to see the more profound impacts on your company…and its people.

Media reporting on climate change spills the spectacular. Blazing forest fires and pop-up category-five hurricanes make the headlines, but your work team suffers from subtler effects that don’t hit the news. For example, our new record-setting summer heatwaves impair cognitive capacities, leading to more workplace accidents. In one study, that led to over $1 billion in extra costs in California alone. Excess heat exposure can also exacerbate heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and other health issues.

3. Help your company be the example instead of the victim.

Unless you work for a very small business, your organization consumes a lot more energy and resources than your home. Spearheading climate-healing initiatives – whether it’s as simple as switching to all LED lighting or as large as powering the building with solar panels – sets an example for the community, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and (after the upfront investment costs) decreases your long-term operating expenses. Several of us at the Innovative Leadership Institute recently saw directly the green initiatives Amazon is implementing…initiatives that, because of Amazon’s scale, will have definite environmental impacts while also creating long-term savings. But you don’t have to be a giant operation to see these benefits; Andrew Lessman’s Procaps Laboratories has been all-solar for decades.

4. Help your board see their role.

Boards have an outsize ability to move the needle for both for- and non-profit organizations, yet many just rubber-stamp one or two C-level executives’ desires. (How that leads to many recent CEO controversies is the subject of another article!) As a stakeholder, urge your board to ask tough questions about the company’s strategic plans in general and energy use and sources in particular. For example, switching to renewable energy sources is a true investment: there may be up-front costs, but they result in long-term savings. In the bigger picture, reducing climate change means less risk to company property, infrastructure, and thus profitability.

5. Take the moral high ground.

While the bulk of this article focuses on the business side, climate inaction has a moral aspect that we can’t responsibly ignore. We mentioned the health effects above; Kim Campbell points out we’re beginning to see these real-world climate impacts in our healthcare systems. Less obvious is the growing number of climate refugees: people forced to leave homes and jobs due to rising sea levels, droughts, floods, and more. And we’ve long known of the correlation between heat and boosts in violence. Your company’s decisions impact your community!

Directly and indirectly, extreme heat has chilling business consequences. But take hope: you can alter the course of climate change’s impact on your company. Just step up and take the lead.

 

Thank you for reading the Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week. The Innovative Leadership Institute strives to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. 

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Weather Chanel CEO discusses Strengthening Your Business Strategy and Boost Revenue with Weather Data

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As a leader, when someone asks you, ‘How’s the weather?’ that’s only half the question. It’s really ‘How’s the weather hitting my revenue this quarter?’ Weather impacts almost every business’s financials in some way…yet very few leaders even consider it in their plans!

Sheri Bachstein, CEO of The Weather Company, discusses how weather data strengthens business results on the podcast, Over the Weather: Leadership at the Weather Channel. Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shares this article as a companion to her podcast.

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

From supply chain disruptions to changes in consumer behavior, the economic toll exceeds a staggering $500 billion annually. With weather patterns becoming more unpredictable, developing an effective weather strategy is key for leaders across all industries.

Across sectors, weather significantly influences operations. For the aviation industry, approximately 75% of delays trace back to weather. One major airline employs meteorologists to monitor conditions in real time, working to minimize passenger disruptions. Beyond flight operations, weather also affects critical business functions like manufacturing, logistics, and marketing.

Consider consumer buying habits — warmer winter days may lift ice cream sales while extreme heat limits construction activity. By overlaying weather data with retail purchasing analytics, businesses can identify trends and better predict demand shifts from weather triggers. They can then adjust inventory levels or target relevant promotions to match consumer behavior.

Even the healthcare industry can benefit from comprehensive weather data. For example, The Weather Company found over 70% of their users visit their platforms weekly to get forecasts to prepare for effects on health conditions. So, they provide relevant alerts on bad air quality days for asthma sufferers or tips to stay hydrated during heat waves. Retailers can stock up on products aligned to upcoming weather patterns to ensure ample availability of goods that customers want to purchase. And they can also trigger contextually relevant promotions when the weather drives specific shopping missions.

The same approach applies across multiple industries, helping insurance agencies model risk, retailers stock shelves, and event coordinators plan more effectively. The key is developing a cohesive weather strategy.

With abundant weather data available, businesses should tap historical records, real-time monitoring, forecast models, and even probabilistic projections to inform decisions. While foundational weather metrics provide a directional guide, deriving actionable business insights requires thoughtful analysis.

Leveraging weather data to trigger automated marketing campaigns or to build predictive financial models allows companies to get ahead of challenges and spot new opportunities. When paired with machine learning and AI, these weather-based analytics promise even greater competitive advantage.

While the scale of the climate crisis seems daunting, collective action offers hope. As consumers and business leaders, we each have a valuable role to play. Evaluating your organization’s weather strategy marks an important first step. The next time the weather disrupts your supply chain or when a heat wave spikes sales of your summer collection, think of it as nature sending you free data.

Will you use these signals to actively boost your business performance? The choice is yours. But one thing is certain – with a comprehensive weather strategy, you can add a little financial sunshine to each rainy day.

 

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Sheri Bachstein began her career with The Weather Channel nearly 30 years ago as a field producer (otherwise known as storm chaser). Today, as the CEO of The Weather Company, an IBM business (and parent company of The Weather Channel), she holds a deep appreciation for and understanding of weather’s impact on consumers, communities, and businesses. Under her leadership, The Weather Channel is recognized as one of the top 10 most trusted brands in the U.S., the world’s leading provider of weather, and the world’s most accurate forecaster, helping hundreds of enterprise-level companies leverage weather data to increase consumer loyalty and business performance.

 

Thank you for reading the Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

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Key Lessons on Resilience and Innovation From Amazon

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Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to her podcast with Beryl Tomay, Vice President of Last Mile Delivery and Technology at Amazon, To Err Is to Innovate.

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

What can leaders learn from mistakes made along their career journey? Beryl Tomay, Vice President, Last Mile Delivery and Technology at Amazon, shares unique insights from over 18 years at the company.

Everybody makes mistakes and everybody will always make mistakes, Beryl reflects. Early in her career as a software developer, Beryl struggled with errors and failures. However, Amazon’s culture of learning and resilience helped her cope.

Within Beryl’s first six months, she made a coding change that broke Amazon’s “Thank You” purchase page. “I had a pretty tough time with that,” she admits. However, her team provided support to understand the root cause and prevent recurrence. “It kind of makes me better,” says Beryl.

When beating herself up over mistakes, Beryl has kept perspective by remembering two things. First, errors are inevitable at all career levels. Second, the priority is to learn from mistakes rather than dwelling on perfection. This mindset has served to build Beryl’s resilience over 18+ years.

Later, Beryl took the risk to lead business divisions she lacked deep expertise in. The intimidating meetings and decisions challenged her, underscoring the need for investment in rapid learning. However, by asking questions and gathering knowledge from those around her, Beryl succeeded in adding value.

She also continues to take risks via Amazon’s innovation efforts. “Think Big Days” encourage teams to brainstorm creative ideas without judgement. Though not every moonshot works out, big wins like their Alexa technology make failure worthwhile.

What did Beryl learn about mistakes, resilience, and innovation over nearly two decades?

1. Errors happen; focus on learning and prevention.

2. Build resilience through support systems and perspective.

3. Take risks and learn from failures to drive innovation.

4. Foster a culture accepting of mistakes to unlock creativity.

What was your biggest career mistake, and what did you learn? Share your stories and insights below!

 

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Beryl Tomay has been at Amazon for nearly 19 years having joined in 2005 as a Software Development Engineer. She was part of the small team that launched the original Kindle device and remained in the Devices organization for the subsequent 8 years. She joined the nascent Last Mile organization (the logistics business that gets packages through the final steps on their way to customers’ doorsteps) in early 2014 as one of its first employees, and today is responsible for all of Amazon’s Last Mile delivery businesses, including the Delivery Service Partner, Amazon Flex and Hub Delivery programs. In addition, she oversees the Last Mile product and technology teams covering areas such as mapping, routing, capacity planning, pickup points, delivery station and driver experience technologies. Prior to Amazon, Beryl received her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

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The Rationale of Irrationality

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Greg Moran, a C-level digital, strategy and change leadership executive with extensive global operations experience, shared this article as a companion to his podcast The Rationale of Irrationality. 

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

Have you ever found yourself looking at a competitor or a co-worker and thought that they were acting irrationally? Very often, when we see behavior we don’t understand, our immediate thought is that it’s irrational and can therefore be dismissed or ignored. Unfortunately, barring a psychotic break, it is rarely true.

Several years ago, upwards of 5,000 employees at Wells Fargo knowingly broke the law and company policy to create fake accounts on behalf of customers without their permission or knowledge. This seems irrational and very risky. Only when we understand that the bonus incentive at Wells was based on ‘share of wallet’ or the number of accounts each customer had can we understand why people would risk firing and jail time to create fake accounts. They couldn’t earn a bonus if they didn’t hit their ‘share of wallet’ goals. In that context, while still very risky behavior, their actions were at least ‘rational.’

A better approach professionally would be to step back and try to understand the context that the competitor is operating within. One of my favorite aphorisms is, “Everyone acts rationally inside the context that they believe they are operating in.” When something important is at stake, starting with the assumption that the competitor is smart and is acting rationally may be critical to you plotting your own strategy and tactics to address the risk.

The first step in this process requires you to suspend judgment. Then, take the time, either individually or as a team, to understand as much as you can about the context that your competitor is operating in so that you can make sense of their actions.

This applies equally at an individual level in both personal and professional relationships. Again, the process starts with offering grace and/or suspending judgment so that you can take the time to learn the context driving the behavior.

As a leader, make sure that you think through the unintended consequences of the structures you put in place for your team. This will help you avoid the Wells Fargo scenario mentioned above.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Greg Moran is a C-level digital, strategy and change leadership executive with extensive global operations experience. He led corporate strategy for Ford and designed the plan that Alan Mullaly used to turn around the company. Greg held C-level IT positions in app dev, infrastructure, and core banking applications at Ford, Nationwide Insurance, and Bank One/JPMC, respectively. He began his career in consulting with Arthur Andersen Accenture, working across industries with 100 companies over the course of a decade. He is passionate about leadership and culture, and teaches part-time on the topic at Ohio University.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

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When Produce Produces Innovation with Avocados From Mexico CEO

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Alvaro Luque, President & CEO of Avocados From Mexico shared this article as a companion to his podcast Avocados: When Produce Produces Innovation.

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

This year, Avocados From Mexico celebrates a major milestone — 10 years of fast, exponential growth. Our company was created to do two things: build a brand for Mexican avocados, and drive avocado demand in the U.S. In our first decade, we’ve tripled brand preference, becoming by far the preferred avocado brand in the U.S., and doubled the volume of Mexican avocado imports. All this while generating an economic output of more than 11 billion dollars.

Innovation and a passion for performance have been the driving forces behind our success story. By reinventing the way produce is marketed in the U.S., we have created a visible brand in a brandless category that is now considered a staple in the Super Bowl and have driven consumption to almost 9 pounds per capita in the U.S. Today, 8 out of 10 avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico.

I am incredibly proud of the team that we have built and the hard work that has gone into expanding the avocado market in such an unprecedented way. Since our founding, we have developed a long-term strategy to accomplish the goals of building a brand and driving demand, and we have successfully implemented our company programs following a disciplined business model approach guided by this process:

  1. Let STRATEGY be the igniter. First and foremost, in this company, we believe that everything needs a why. I love risky marketing ideas, but I firmly believe that strategy is king. A good strategic vision and a solid insight are the north star guiding you to the results you want to achieve. Always, always start there, and don’t let shiny objects distract you along the way.
  2. Stay in your lane and DISRUPT everything around you. Once you identify the why, the strategy allows you to set the playground where you can be creative. At this moment, go crazy and break the mold. Be as disruptive as possible and try to do what no one else has done, but always within your playground. I believe in innovation that matters — creative ideas that have an impact and drive results.
  3. Have a PERFORMANCE mindset from beginning to end. Measure, measure, measure. Creativity always needs accountability. Ideas can’t just be strategic and disruptive; they need to move the needle, and everything can be measured if you pre-define well your success metrics. Concentrate on the biggest opportunities in front of you and then bring the results.
  4. Repeat, improve, and build a CULTURE around it. Following this formula creates a discipline that sparks the innovation and brings results. Now, be sure to do that in a way you can enjoy yourself and collaborate with amazing people around you. That’s culture. I like to say, “Work hard and have fun,” and I believe that perspective helps keep our team motivated, bringing the results while having a good time. At Avocados From Mexico, the essence of our culture and brand is Mexicanity, our term for the celebration of meaningful good times. That’s the spirit we use to celebrate our innovative, high-performance programs that have built this brand in a brand-less world.

I’m a big believer in balance. I am a marketer, I love creativity, but with accountability and a strategy behind you that delivers results. If you can manage that balance between these two worlds and make them work seamlessly day by day, you are going to be successful. As the leader of the company, it’s my job to make sure that we’re moving the needle, but at the same time, I’m committed to fostering an environment where new ideas are supported. I must wear those two hats and be good at them simultaneously, but in the end, it is not only me that will drive this organization. It’s this group of highly engaged and effective people we have been fortunate enough to bring together at AFM. As their leader, it is also my job to offer my team the tools they need to be successful.

With that in mind, I’ve been developing some tools in each of the four quadrants of our thinking model to help our team execute our formula and foster a culture of innovative thinking and high performance:

  • Strategic Framework and Planning Process. We developed a detailed strategic framework that we have kept very consistent throughout the years. The framework defines very well our main targets, campaigns, channels, and strategic pillars. Every department in the company has its own framework that ladders up to our main one. That’s how you keep your company aligned and consistent. With a good framework in hand, we worked on a disciplined planning process that follows our thinking model, sets a solid foundation for creativity, and defines the goals we want to accomplish. We’ve been implementing and refining the process for years.
  • Innovation Ecosystem. We nurture our innovative spirit in everything we do. Disrupting is part of our DNA. To get to that mindset, you need to invest in it. One of our big priorities is training, so our team is constantly pushing the limits and thinking outside the box. We have identified within AFM “innovation champions” to make sure we continue thinking differently, and we have promoted innovation through our planning exercises and our own innovation awards that highlight our best ideas, always using the balance of creativity and accountability at the same time. We like to call that Brandformance.
  • Performance Platform: Measure What Matters. Tracking progress is just as important as the activations and ideas themselves. Using OKR thinking, we created our own customized digital platform where we track our growth. With this system, the whole company is measurable and visible to everyone. The process also inspires team members to consider clear goals and objectives that are defined from the bottom up not only to empower and encourage advancement but also to foster innovation and collaboration and serve as a place to ideate new ways to improve business. We even use this performance platform as our daily recognition tool to highlight our best work.
  • Develop a Culture Map. Our Culture Map defines our company’s purpose and the values we have as an organization. And because we are obsessed with performance, we develop our own operating guidelines for each value so we can operationalize our Culture and be sure we walk the talk.

After 10 years, I believe Avocados From Mexico’s thinking model is successful for a variety of reasons. Not only do we prioritize bold strategies and creative ideas, but we also understand that our creativity needs to drive results. That’s what modern marketing is all about, creating Value and Growth for our organizations.

I am optimistic about the future of AFM — and the future of innovative marketing as a whole. If we as leaders have a solid strategy, a good thinking process, and a true commitment to think differently and drive results, you will ultimately be successful at anything you do. That’s how I’ve built AFM and how we will continue thriving for the future.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alvaro Luque has transformed the produce industry by delivering innovative marketing strategies that not only defy established paradigms but also deliver impressive results. With more than 28 years of marketing experience in the CPG and produce industries, Alvaro has successfully built a brand in a brandless category. Under Alvaro’s leadership, Avocados From Mexico (AFM) has led the growth of U.S. avocado consumption to more than 2.5 billion pounds per year, and today, 8 in 10 avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico. Alvaro’s vision for making AFM the first fresh produce brand to advertise in the Super Bowl is one of many industry firsts that have positioned AFM as the most preferred brand of avocados in the U.S. and one of the most innovative produce companies in the world.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

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Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture

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Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to her podcast with Amazon executives David Carbon, Vice President and General Manager of Amazon Prime Air, John Love, VP of Amazon Pharmacy & Pillpack, Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist who is a medical analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He also serves as a senior principal scientist with Amazon, affiliate professor with the University of Washington‘s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, attending physician at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and lead officer of the Critical Care Air Transport Team for the United States Air Force Medical Service Reserves, based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, and Tye Brady, Chief Technologist at Amazon Robotics discuss how the e-commerce giant delivers the future through its highly successful innovation culture, Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture.

In our podcast episode “Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture,” four Amazon executives discuss how the company fosters a culture of innovation to deliver new products and services to customers. The guests revealed how Amazon innovates to deliver a better customer experience, care for their employees, increase sustainability, and help our communities.

 

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

The discussion uncovered several common traits. Each leader is highly successful, passionate about their work, and kind. Kindness was the most surprising trait. In an era when many organizations struggle with civility, these leaders genuinely care about their customers, people, the environment, and their communities. They are committed to significant innovation and making the world a better place.

These four executives revealed insights into Amazon’s innovation process, which is based on five fundamental principles:

  1. Start with the customer. Amazon always begins by identifying customer needs and pain points. This customer-centric approach ensures that all new products and services are designed to meet customers’ real needs.
  2. Use purpose-driven design to solve real-world problems, prioritizing user needs and business goals.
  3. Put people at the center of the robotics and AI universe. Leverage AI and robotics to solve problems and, at the same time, create a safe, engaging, sustainable environment for people to thrive and grow.
  4. Be willing to experiment. Amazon is not afraid to experiment and take risks. The company encourages employees to develop new ideas and test them quickly. This willingness to experiment has led to some of Amazon’s most successful innovations, such as Amazon Prime and Alexa.
  5. Move fast. Amazon is known for its fast-paced work environment. The company encourages employees to make decisions quickly and to move forward with new ideas. This rapid pace of innovation keeps Amazon ahead of the competition.

Example of Innovation Putting People First

In the podcast, John Love and Dr. Vin Gupta share how Amazon developed its new prescription delivery service. Their team starts the innovation process by asking four key questions:

  1. Is this a large customer problem? An opportunity?
  2. Are customers already well-served by current offerings in the marketplace?
  3. Do we have a compelling or differentiated idea?
  4. Does it create convenient access and delivery?

By answering these questions, the Amazon Pharmacy team developed a new service that addresses the most significant pain points for customers who need to fill prescriptions. As a result, it delivers a superior customer experience. Beyond speedy delivery, Amazon Pharmacy leverages AI to estimate co-pays, check fill accuracy, and administer many data transaction processes. Imagine leaving the doctor’s office, and by the time you drive home, a drone has dropped your prescription at your house or apartment — no waiting in the pharmacy line with a sick child or while you feel ill.

Innovation success is further enhanced because different divisions work together in an interdepartmental ecosystem. Amazon Pharmacy, for example, partners with Amazon Air’s new drone service to deliver prescriptions within 30 minutes of being ordered. The drone program is being piloted in College Station, Texas, and will soon expand.

Imagine hundreds of drones carrying packages up to the size of a shoe box, swooping into an apartment complex or house’s front yard, dropping a package from 10 feet (high enough that people can’t interfere with the drone), then flying back to the fulfillment site to pick up the next package. This drone program will create an entire aviation infrastructure to load and fly the drones and a control system akin to an air traffic control system. The partnership between Pharmacy and Prime Air creates this solution for today’s long waits in prescription filling and delivery.

Leadership Suggestions

Here are four Amazon practices you can implement in your innovation process:

  • Put the customer first. Everything you do should be focused on meeting the needs of your customers. This means listening to your customers, understanding their pain points, and designing products and services that solve their problems.
  • Encourage experimentation. Create an environment where employees feel comfortable coming up with new ideas and taking risks. Give employees the resources they need to test out their ideas, even if they seem crazy at first.
  • Leverage AI. Understand the opportunities AI creates in your organization and leverage it while putting people at the center of the operations.
  • Move fast. Don’t get bogged down in bureaucracy or endless meetings. Make decisions quickly and encourage your employees to do the same. This will allow you to stay ahead of the competition and bring new products and services to market faster. As David Carbon says, “Perfect becomes the enemy of good enough.”

Conclusion

Amazon’s culture of innovation has helped the company to become one of the most successful businesses in the world. By following the fundamental principles outlined in this article, you can create a culture of innovation in your organization and deliver new products and services that your customers will love.

 

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

David Carbon is VP of Prime Air. Before that, he was VP of Operations for Boeing’s 787 program – with earlier work on the 747; he started with Boeing/Hawker de Havilland in Australia. He also spearheaded projects at Ford Motor Company.

John Love is VP of both Amazon Pharmacy and PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy. Before those, his 16-year Amazon career also saw him serve as VP of Alexa Shopping, as well as supporting many other business lines. He’s responsible for helping customers discover equitable, affordable, high-quality medical care and prescription access.

Dr. Vin Gupta is the Chief Medical Officer for Amazon Pharmacy. He remains a practicing pulmonologist and is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation and Evans School. He serves as a major in the USAF Medical Reserve Corps and is a medical analyst for NBC News.

Tye Brady is the Chief Technologist of Amazon Robotics, Fulfilment Information Technology. He has over 30 years of hands-on experience in team leadership, technical management, and system design. Before Amazon Robotics, Tye spent 15 years with Draper Laboratory. He’s a founding partner of MassRobotics, a not-for-profit that serves as a world-class platform for robotic innovation.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.