Bruce Vojak — The Hourglass Model of Breakthrough Innovation

May 13, 2026

Bruce Vojak, co-author of Serial Innovators and founder of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors, explains the Hourglass Model of breakthrough innovation. He talks about reframing problems, practicing deep customer empathy before it was a trend, iterative prototyping, and why work can look unproductive. He contrasts nonlinear innovator flow with rigid stage-gate approaches and suggests using the model to self-diagnose.

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INSIGHT

Redefining The Assigned Problem

Serial innovators often redefine the assigned problem rather than accept the brief as-is.
Bruce Vojak describes Tom Osborne shifting a feminine hygiene brief from a diaper mindset to a garment that conforms to the body, unlocking the Always Ultra product idea.

ANECDOTE

Tom Osborne Reframed Pads Into Garments

Tom Osborne's work on Always Ultra reframed pads from diaper-like products into garments that conform to the body.
That reframing led to comfort-focused features and a distinct product that outperformed the diaper mindset.

ANECDOTE

Gatekeeping Blocked Ideas Until The Innovation Show Escaped

Aidan McCullen recounts that internal gatekeeping (a 'Schmeichel' or worse) often blocks ideas, which is how The Innovation Show escaped into existence.
He notes organizational blockers cause workable ideas to be lucky if they escape, illustrating institutional resistance to innovation.

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Most companies think innovation is a straight line. Bruce Vojak spent years studying the people who prove otherwise.

Bruce Vojak is co-author of Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms (Oxford University Press). In this bonus episode of The Innovation Show, he joins Aidan McCullen for a focused look at the Hourglass Innovation Model — the descriptive framework that maps how serial innovators actually move from an interesting problem to a flawless product launch.

In this conversation, Bruce reveals:

Why the Hourglass Model is descriptive, not prescriptive — and why that matters
How serial innovators often redefine the problem before they solve it
The Tom Osborne story — how reframing a feminine hygiene brief from diaper to garment changed everything
Why serial innovators can appear completely unproductive for months — and why that is actually the work
How they were practising customer empathy and design thinking before those ideas had names
Why Execute — the stage most firms obsess over — is just one of five tasks
How to use the model as an honest self-diagnostic: am I doing these things, or is it really the organisation?

Chapter topics

00:00 Hourglass Model Intro

00:31 Stage Gate vs Hourglass

01:15 Redefining the Problem

04:16 Pragmatism and Empathy

06:27 Deep Dive Understanding

07:49 Experiment and Iterate

08:39 Nonlinear Flow Explained

10:02 Org Maturity and Politics

11:47 Normalize and Self Assess

12:53 Wrap Up and Sponsor

About The Innovation Show The Innovation Show with Aidan McCullen is the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes. Conversations with world-class authors, scientists, and practitioners on disruption, innovation, leadership, and the ideas shaping tomorrow.

About Bruce Vojak Bruce is co-author of Serial Innovators and Innovation Code, founder of Breakthrough Innovation Advisors, and former Associate Dean for Administration at the University of Illinois College of Engineering. He advises executive teams and boards on how to find, support and unleash serial innovators inside mature firms. Website: https://breakthrough-innovation-advisors.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bvojak/

Book: Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms https://amzn.to/4f7Y85q

This episode is brought to you by Kyndryl, who run and reimagine the technology systems that drive advantage for the world's leading businesses. Learn more at https://www.kyndryl.com.

Subscribe to the Thursday Thought on Substack for a chance to win a copy of Serial Innovators, with thanks to Kyndryl: https://thethursdaythought.substack.com

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