HBR IdeaCast

The New Leadership Structures that Unblock Innovation

349 snips
Mar 3, 2026
Linda Hill, Harvard Business School professor and author focused on leadership and innovation. She explores why leaders must build cultures for collaboration, disciplined experimentation, and clear decision rights. She describes new leadership roles as Architects, Bridgers, and Catalysts. Practical examples include Mastercard and Pixar and advice on bridging silos and scaling innovation.
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INSIGHT

Innovation As A Repeatable Capability

  • Innovation is a capability, not a one-off event, and requires collaboration, disciplined experimentation, and systems to scale ideas.
  • Linda Hill emphasizes you cannot plan your way to innovation; you must act, experiment, and learn to build repeatable capacity.
ADVICE

Make It Safe To Share Ideas

  • Create conditions where people feel it's worth sharing ideas by building shared purpose and trust.
  • Leaders must foster social connections and respect so frontline employees will take emotional and intellectual risks to co-create.
ADVICE

Use Sparring Partners And Coaches

  • Get feedback loops: hire sparring partners and coaches to reveal the gap between intent and impact and improve leader behavior.
  • Linda Hill gives examples of CEOs using a pessimist sparring partner and a communication coach for virtual presence.
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