For many organizations, the biggest challenge of innovation isn’t coming up with good ideas—it’s making sure those good ideas are noticed and acted upon. This is a particular challenge for multinationals, such as global pharmaceutical and health company Bayer, which have thousands of staff spread across numerous departments, countries, and regions, all with the potential to create good ideas.

The answer for Bayer was to build a framework to integrate and nurture innovation. This structure helped middle managers facilitate a culture of innovation throughout the company.

A blueprint for innovation

These observations were made during research for my book Built to Innovate (McGraw Hill, 2021). The book’s aim is to map out a proven system (which I define as an innovation engine) for embedding constant innovation into an organization’s DNA. At its heart, this system identifies three key processes: creation, reframing, and integration.

 …