Serial innovators: How individuals create and deliver breakthrough innovations in mature firms

OVERVIEW: For over 25 years, research on innovation has taken the perspective that new product development can be managed like any other (complex) process. In sharp contrast to this process view, we reframe the problem by exploring a people perspective on innovation, focusing on the cutting-edge serial innovators who repeatedly create and deliver breakthrough innovations in large, mature organizations. These employees are powerhouses who solve customer problems and contribute substantially to their firm's financial value. In this paper, we provide an overview of who serial innovators are and how they develop novel products; we also share insights about how to better understand, emulate, enable, support, and manage these unique individuals for long-term corporate success.