Industrial and Commercial Training

What kills innovation? Your role as a leader in supporting an innovative culture

H. Soken Nelson, Kim Barnes B.,
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H. Soken Nelson, Kim Barnes B., (2014) "What kills innovation? Your role as a leader in supporting an innovative culture", Industrial and
Commercial Training, Vol. 46 Issue: 1, pp.7-15, https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-09-2013-0057
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(1998),"Culture and climate for innovation", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 1 Iss 1 pp. 30-43 <a href="https://
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 What kills innovation? Your role as a leader
in supporting an innovative culture
Nelson H. Soken and B. Kim Barnes
Nelson H. Soken is based at
N.H. Soken Consulting,
Hugo, Minnesota, USA.
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 00:48 26 April 2019 (PT)
B. Kim Barnes is based at
Barnes & Conti Associates,
Inc., Berkeley, California,
USA.
DOI 10.1108/ICT-09-2013-0057
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a set of leadership practices that can help to build
and sustain a culture of innovation.
Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on the authors’ many years of consulting and
facilitating learning experiences in innovation management in a broad range of organizations. The
authors have observed that specific leadership and management practices seem to be strongly related
to the success or failure of organizations in building self-renewing innovation environments.
Findings – Leadership and management behaviors that engender fear, a lack of focus and
communication about organizational innovation strategy, a paucity of resources (time, money,
encouragement) are among the factors that make innovation less likely or less successful. A clearly
communicated purpose, the ability to accept and use failure, and an accessible process for getting a
hearing on ideas are among the supportive factors.
Practical implications – Many leaders understand that innovation is key to their organization’s ability to
survive in a connected and competitive business environment. Fewer understand and/or are willing to
make the changes that will create and sustain a culture of innovation. Leaders who are willing to adopt
some of these practices are likely to achieve better results in encouraging talented people to contribute
their capabilities, ideas and efforts to strategic innovation initiatives.
Originality/value – Successful innovation is not created through magic and good fortune. It is the
product of strategic thinking, a supportive culture, great talent, managers who know when to be involved
and when to step back, and leaders who listen, support risk, and learn from failure.
Keywords Leadership, Innovation, Culture, Management, Organizations, Risk-taking
Paper type Viewpoint
xecutives see innovation as the way to long-term success. According to a McKinsey
E worldwide survey, over 70 percent of the executives view innovation as one of their
top three growth drivers over the next three to five years. These organizations have
incorporated innovation into their vision, mission, and strategy. One of the first issues that
arises is that many of them do not have a common definition of innovation. People in these
organizations often conflate creativity and innovation. They may believe that it belongs in the
marketing department or R&D. If innovation is to be an important factor in organizational
strategy, the word must have a shared meaning to everyone in the organization. In the
managing innovation course developed by David Francis, PhD and B. Kim Barnes,
innovation is defined as ‘‘optimizing the potential benefits embedded in an idea that is new to
you’’. Two concepts contained in this definition are that innovation is about creating value
and that it requires individuals and organizations to embrace something new. It is not just
about generating good ideas, but also about taking these good ideas and bringing them to
fruition. Innovation requires people to change and move beyond the status quo. Vision,
motivation, focus, perseverance, and leadership guidance are required to achieve success.
In that same McKinsey survey, 65 percent of the executives surveyed are disappointed with
their ability to stimulate innovation in their organizations. It is not as if these leaders and
VOL. 46 NO. 1 2014, pp. 7-15, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0019-7858 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING j PAGE 7
 ‘‘ Innovation requires people to change and move beyond the
status quo. Vision, motivation, focus, perseverance, and
leadership guidance are required to achieve success. ’’

organizations are not investing in innovation. They invest in workshops on innovation,

experts come in to consult with leaders on innovation strategy or recommend building
‘‘creative spaces.’’ They recognize that creating a positive and cheerful workplace is
important to employee engagement and productivity. Unfortunately, they see few new
products or services emerge from their development teams. They find that clunky processes
continue to slow things down. The mood and climate of the organization’s physical and
social environment remain dull, subdued; even, at times, depressing. People celebrate
Fridays and hate Mondays. Talented individuals leave for greener pastures at other
companies that they perceive as more exciting. What’s wrong with this picture? Frustrated
leaders throw up their hands and ask themselves and others, ‘‘What am I supposed to do to
create a real culture of innovation?’’ Richard Danzig, former US Secretary of the Navy, states
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in the February-March, 2000 issue of the magazine, Civilization: ‘‘Organizations are a kind of
fossil record of what bothered their predecessors. That record should be studied, he argues,
to anticipate better how organizations will change. The issue is not whether they will
encounter different types of crises; they will. The issue is whether or not they will change fast
enough to be prepared for those crises when they occur.’’
What are the barriers to an innovative culture? Employees (and ex-employees) often cite the
following factors in describing the human environment of organizations that have lost or
never had a culture that is supportive of creativity and innovation:
B Fear and punishment (cannot co-exist with a willingness to take the risks that innovation
requires).
B Lack of meaning (if you do not know where you are going, any road will get you there – no
vision; no innovation).
B Not seeing that you make a difference (if your work falls into a black hole and seems
disconnected from organizational vision and goals – why bother?).
B Loss of confidence (if you only hear about what does not work and never hear any
appreciation, you may start to discount your own ideas).
B Resentment and frustration (why should you do something above and beyond for an
organization that does not treat you well?).
B Lack of control, powerlessness (micromanagement and inability to make decisions kill
initiative).
B Win/lose mentality – internecine warfare (we have met the enemy and he is us).
B Incessant distraction, clutter, and busyness that fills people’s time, saps them of their
natural creative energy and excitement, and wears them down (time-intensive activities
that at times feel meaningless and counterproductive to progress, such as sitting in
endless meetings. How can you innovate if you do not have the time to think?).
B Implicit and explicit reinforcement of the status quo (if you step out of line, you will be
pulled back into the fold or be pushed out).
B Lack of flexibility and openness to new opportunities and/or ways to measure their
potential value (if you do not have an enormous set of slides with reams of statistical data
about a potential customer or new offering, it must not be a worthwhile innovation to
pursue).
B The physical and social environment is sterile, more focused on uniformity – sometimes
called alignment – than on stimulating individuality, creativity, and out-of-the-box ideas

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PAGE 8 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING VOL. 46 NO. 1 2014
 and behaviors (the ‘‘organizational immune reaction’’ kills anything that generates
variability and non-conformity).
A total of 94 percent of the executives in the McKinsey survey concluded that people and
culture are the most important drivers of innovation in organizations.
Business leaders need, first of all, to recognize that their organizations are not machines but
rather are comprised of human beings with all their assets and liabilities. The human
environment of an organization can be friendly or hostile to innovation and creativity.
If people and culture drive innovation, how can leaders create and sustain an environment
that is conducive to innovation? In an Oliver Wyman and the Economist Intelligence Unit
survey, executives from 17 industries worldwide identified proactive leadership as a major
factor in the success or failure of efforts to foster an organizational environment that is
supportive, open, and conducive to innovation and intelligent risk-taking. Leaders of
organizations need to establish clarity of purpose around innovation so that people feel that
the organization truly sees innovation as a business priority.
Successful innovation requires true leadership, not just good management. Some leaders
see their role as primarily focused on directing and controlling people and resources to
accomplish desired goals. True leaders engage people at a different level of interaction and
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relationship. These leaders focus on inspiring employees with a common vision, mission,
and values. They engage their team members; encouraging them to bring all their skills and
energy to bear in order to achieve important results. Leaders of successfully innovative
organizations encourage an organizational climate that harnesses employee’s natural
energy, creative spirit, and desire to do amazing things. They provide a laser focus on a
common set of goals.
Beyond sharing or co-developing the vision, mission, and strategy of the organization, what
do leaders need to do to foster a culture of innovation? How can they establish and share
norms and values that support innovation? Leaders need to develop the appropriate
mindsets and skill-sets to foster and support innovation and encourage others to do the
same. Self-reflection and self-awareness are fundamental to having an impact on the
organizational climate.
All of us can learn to adapt our mindset and learn skills around innovation; however, a recent
Harvard Business Review article by Cohn, Katzenbach, and Vlak entitled ‘‘Finding and
grooming breakthrough innovators’’ states that only 5-10 percent of high-potential managers
have the skills to be breakthrough innovators (Cohn et al., 2008). The authors highlight the
importance of identifying and nurturing leaders who are particularly adept at demonstrating
an innovation mindset. This requires them to recognize what they are good at and to be
unthreatened by others with different skills – team members who will help the organization
stay at the cutting edge and bring unique value to the organization. These leaders should be
nurtured through challenging assignments and provided with the support of high-profile
mentors and peer networks at the highest levels of the organization. Ultimately, these
individuals should be placed in the middle of an organization so they can influence from an
‘‘out of the box’’ position that goes across organizational boundaries. They can then serve as
the focus of ‘‘innovation hubs.’’ Let’s consider innovation issues from the point-of-view of
such a leader.

‘‘ Business leaders need, first of all, to recognize that their

organizations are not machines but rather are comprised of
human beings with all their assets and liabilities. The human
environment of an organization can be friendly or hostile to
innovation and creativity. ’’

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VOL. 46 NO. 1 2014 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING PAGE 9
 ‘‘ Most innovations require teamwork. Rarely will one person
have all the skills and knowledge needed for an innovative
project. Internal competitiveness and a lack of trust and
respect are fatal for collaboration. ’’

Clarifying your purpose in your area of influence

Innovation is not generic. In practice, it is focused on specific arenas. In order to focus the
innovation energy of the people in your organization, you need to be open and clear about
your approach to innovation.
Communicating a clear purpose related to innovation requires considerable skill. The
message needs to go beyond an intellectual and analytical statement of the vision, mission,
and strategy. It is as much about the heart as it is the mind; it has to be practiced as well as
preached:
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B Have you made the innovation vision, mission, and strategy ‘‘real’’ to the employees in
your area of influence and demonstrated that you are truly committed to it and sincere
about its importance? What are you doing to motivate and inspire; to capture employees’
hearts around innovation?
B Have you considered measuring innovation efforts differently from regular projects? For
example, P&G measures total input and output rather than individual projects – rather like
a venture portfolio with varied opportunities maturing at different times.
B Are there clear customer and business needs identified and prioritized to demonstrate
that innovation is truly a top priority? Does everyone know what he or she should focus on?
Do you identify high-profile, well-established leaders to drive these efforts?
B What are you doing to infuse your employees with energy and a sense of urgency that
inspires them to make a real commitment? How do you gain their trust and confidence
and provide a realistic sense of security about the future?
B Do you regularly communicate to your employees why innovation is important? Do you let
them know what we need to worry about in the external competitor and business
environment so we have a context for why we are doing what we are doing?

Practicing what you preach

Albert Schweitzer once said: ‘‘Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the
only thing.’’ Set an example that generates trust and confidence through your actions.
Communicate openly about organizational goals, how the organization is doing, and what
employees can do that will contribute to achieving the goals. Let people know where
innovation is welcome and encouraged. Ask for ideas and suggestions and listen deeply
before evaluating them positively or negatively:
B Do you always keep the door open to your employees? Are you generous with information
that affects them? Well-informed employees are more eager and better prepared to
participate.
B Do you encourage a wide variety of ideas, including ones that make you and others
uncomfortable? Do you seek diverse perspectives?
B Do you suspend judgment, and avoid evaluating ideas either positively or negatively
before they have been well developed? Do you ensure that there is a large number of
ideas under consideration before you express your opinion or preference? Early positive
evaluation of one idea by a leader can channel the discussion in a particular direction and
make it difficult for unusual ideas to get a hearing.

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PAGE 10 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING VOL. 46 NO. 1 2014
 B Do you model desired behaviors? Are you consistent in what you say and what you do?
(For example, do you encourage intelligent risk-taking and reward ‘‘good’’ failures –
those that are the result of making a courageous and informed choice?).

Taking risks
Risk is inherent in innovation. There is a chance that your idea will not work, be too costly, or
too late to the market. Your customers may not see a need for it or your competitors may
capture the market before you get there. Successful innovation requires tolerance for risk,
ambiguity, and failure:
B Are you willing to share your own personal experiences with failure in order to create an
open atmosphere for discussing failure and risk-taking?
B Do you share the challenges of innovation with your team so that they feel like everyone is
in it together when it comes to risk-taking and decision making?
B Have you given employees specific guidance on what they should do when it comes to
risk-taking; in particular telling them where risk-taking is desired and where it is not?
B Do you find ways of turning setbacks and failures to your advantage by learning from the
experiences? Do you encourage open discussion around failures and openly evaluate
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team performance?
B Do the areas of focus and resources tend to go to ‘‘sacred cows’’ that made the
organization successful in past or is there greater emphasis and resources invested in
pursuing new opportunities for the future?
B Do you encourage and support prototyping and pilot testing to generate data cheaply
and quickly? Do you seek out a variety of opinions to assess the potential value of an
innovation?
B Do you encourage a ‘‘fail-fast’’ approach? Do you ask your team to do multiple
prototyping to learn what works best rather than focusing too early on one approach?
B Steve Jobs once said: ‘‘Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an
environment where excellence is expected.’’ Are you pushing your team to identify the
‘‘idea killer’’ issues earlier in the process and force them to deal with the issues sooner
rather than later?

Creating and sustaining a team

Most innovations require teamwork. Rarely will one person have all the skills and knowledge
needed for an innovative project. Internal competitiveness and a lack of trust and respect
are fatal for collaboration:
B Do you lead by example? Sometimes chipping in with the work that others have to do
builds trust and respect and creates a sense of teamwork around a sometimes risky and
lonely endeavor (as long as you do not micro-manage it).
B Do you create informal settings and/or celebrations to discuss how things are going as
well as to celebrate progress?
B Do you show up and participate? Are you a visible supporter of innovation efforts? Do
employees know you are there to protect them? Particularly in innovation efforts, people
need to have a protector who helps them overcome obstacles, provide resources, run
interference, and shield them from the organizational immune response (e.g. persecution,
mockery, and even deliberate sabotage).
B Do you encourage constructive and creative debate around ideas but manage it so it is
not personal and destructive?
B Do you spend time listening to others without judgment?
B Do you seek out, protect, and support people who are different and push against the
status quo in an effort to make the organization better?

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 B Have you earned the trust of innovators and their associates so you can serve as an
arbitrator between innovators and the rest of the organization?

Navigating the organization for innovation success

Many good ideas may walk out the door of your organization every day because people do
not know how to get a hearing, a sponsor, or the resources they need to move their ideas into
action:
B Is there a clear and well-understood process for innovation so everyone knows where
they are at any time?
B How are ideas identified and explored? Do people know what to do if they have an idea to
propose? Do they know who by and how the ideas will be evaluated and a decision
made? Are they informed about the decision criteria? How is the decision communicated?
B Do people know how to find facilitators, sponsors, or advocates to help move an idea
through the decision process?
B Is there an established funding mechanism that is explicit and transparent for innovation
– that shows that the organization is serious about innovation? Is this funding process part
of the overall annual operating plan process?
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B Do you spend time coaching others on how to navigate the organization and more
successfully influence key stakeholders?
B Do you stretch boundaries appropriately to provide space for innovation? For example,
do you allow for variability when it does not cause harm and may result in positive
outcomes? Too much control, unreasonable metrics, processes, deliverables, deadlines,
and organizational policies can kill new ideas and suck the energy out of people.
B Are you an advocate for efforts to generate organizational innovation energy such as
stimulating physical environments, social networks, creativity/brainstorming sessions,
events such as innovation fairs or contests, flexible organizational structures and
processes?

Measuring and rewarding innovation

To succeed in innovation, the organization needs to have an environment that supports the
identification, development, and implementation of innovative ideas. Employees need to
hear a clear message that the organization expects them to take initiative and try new ways
of doing things. What does it take to create an atmosphere that clearly drives these
expectations?
1. Are your employees rewarded for identifying and implementing innovative ideas?
2. Are ‘‘good tries’’ (intelligent risk-taking) rewarded as well as successes?
3. Are people recognized for making good risk decisions before the outcome can be
known?
4. Have you established clear metrics so everyone knows where they stand and what is
expected of them? This discipline makes everyone feel more secure and provides a clear
sense that there is leadership on innovation. Some things to consider when establishing
metrics include:
B Focus metrics on what matters.
B Limit the number of metrics so people do not get overwhelmed and lose track of the
purpose of metrics: to measure progress toward value creation.
B Review metrics constantly to make sure you are getting what you want out of them.
B Make sure that the metrics are aligned with the organization’s objectives.
B Make sure the metrics are linked to the performance management system because
what gets measured is, typically, what gets done.

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 5. Are you patient and willing to nurture good ideas over time?
6. Are you willing to identify qualitative (e.g. customer feedback) as well as quantitative
measures?
7. Do you make timely and sound decisions with good rationale about which ideas to pursue
and which to reject? Do the decisions stick?

Busting boundaries
Do you encourage customer interaction and understanding? A.G. Lafley once said: ‘‘You
need creativity and invention, but until you can connect that creativity to the customer in the
form of a product or a service that meaningfully changes their lives [. . .] you don’t yet have
innovation.’’ And ‘‘[. . .] the consumer is boss. If we can develop better ways of learning from
them – by listening to them, observing them in their daily lives, and even living with them –
then our mission is more likely to succeed’’ (Lafley and Charan, 2008). What are you doing to
encourage and develop your own and your employee’s skills to learn directly from your
customers – skills that go beyond just talking to them?
1. Do you encourage expansive thinking and action rather than an overly controlled and
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limited perspective based on the status quo?

2. Are you developing your discovery skills as a leader and encouraging others in these
skills as well? According to Agatha Gilmore (2010) in an article entitled, ‘‘Five secrets of
great innovators,’’ innovators have four discovery skills that need to be identified and
nurtured:
B associating; connecting seemingly unrelated things and cutting through a lot of data
quickly to identify the key issues;
B questioning; having an open mind and always asking ‘‘why?’’ ‘‘why not?’’ and ‘‘what
if?;’’ looking at problems with fresh eyes;
B observing the marketplace, including the behavior of potential customers; and
B experimenting; prototyping and pilot-testing new ideas; consciously networking with a
diverse group of people to share insights and expand one’s knowledge base.
3. Do you encourage employees to look outside of themselves – beyond their colleagues,
friends, organization, and company? P&G fights NIH (not invented here) with PFE
(proudly found elsewhere).
4. What are you doing to break down organizational silos? In particular, do you discourage
employee behavior that optimizes for personal or group benefit at the expense of greater
organizational good? Are you balancing internal competition so that the results are fruitful
and productive rather than uncontrolled and destructive, with competing groups
sabotaging each other for personal gain?
5. Do you encourage and visibly support information and insight sharing within and outside
typical organizational boundaries? (For example, encouraging and sponsoring
book/journal clubs, conference attendance, and collaborative problem-solving
sessions where diverse groups gather to share insights).
6. Does each employee feel a sense of personal responsibility and are they empowered to
establish a supportive innovation climate in his or her area of influence across
organizational boundaries?

Focusing on what matters

In the end, leaders are the people we look to for guidance in setting our priorities and
focusing our energy. We need our leaders to help us see what is truly important about our
work; how we are contributing to our customers, and our communities; how what we do
makes a difference.

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 A broad perspective combined with self-awareness, high energy and a fierce focus on what
is most important creates inspiring leadership:
B Are you aware of your preferences and habits of response about risk/reward and
innovation? Do you hire those with the talents and expertise you lack?
B Do you work at creating an upbeat environment at work?
B Do you broaden your cultural and social horizons beyond your usual experience?
Learning to see things from different perspectives will give you greater flexibility in
problem solving at work.
B In a rapidly changing world, are you willing to venture in new directions to seize new
opportunities and learn new skills?
B Do you work at seeing the perspective of others when it comes to innovation? What data is
sufficient to measure innovation (e.g. leading versus lagging indicators)? What’s the best
way to communicate to stakeholders who have a different view of innovation?
B Are you willing to look at your own assumptions and any organizational ‘‘sacred cows’’
and open your mind to alternatives?
If leaders who see innovation as a critical growth imperative are to succeed, they have to be
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proactive in addressing these and other important issues around people and culture.
Leaders ultimately have to take responsibility for influencing the organization and its
members to embrace innovation and to make it everyone’s responsibility to foster a culture
that supports innovation and intelligent risk-taking. As Jim Collins (2009) states: ‘‘Whether
you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the
world does to you.’’

References
Cohn, J., Katzenbach, J. and Vlak, G. (2008), ‘‘Finding and grooming breakthrough innovators’’,
Harvard Business Review, Vol. 86 No. 12, pp. 62-70.
Collins, J. (2009), How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins,
New York, NY.
Gilmore, A. (2010), ‘‘Five secrets of great innovators’’, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, February.

Lafley, A.G. and Charan, R. (2008), The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth
with Innovation, Crown Business, New York, NY.

Further reading
Anthony, S.D., Johnson, M.W., Sinfield, J.V. and Altman, E.J. (2008), The Innovator’s Guide to Growth:
Putting Disruptive Innovation To Work, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.
Barsh, J., Capozzi, M.M. and Davidson, J. (2008), ‘‘Leadership and innovation’’, Mckinsey Quarterly,
No. 1, pp. 36-47.
Dunn, S. and Mott, C. (2009), ‘‘Building a climate for innovation’’, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, April.

Martin, R. (2009), The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage,
Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Morrell, M. and Capparell, S. (1998), Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic
Explorer, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, Boston, MA.

About the authors

Nelson H. Soken has published in academic psychology journals, presented papers at
various professional technology conferences. He has been an invited speaker on the topic of
innovation, and holds a technology patent in software (EP1073943). He recently co-authored
a book, Lead the Pack: Sparking Innovation that Drives Customers Wild. Dr Soken has
taught psychology courses at the university level and has conducted internal corporate
workshops in the USA and Europe on product planning, human factors and innovation

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PAGE 14 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING VOL. 46 NO. 1 2014
 management. Throughout his career, he has been involved in a variety of activities, such as
new opportunity identification, product planning, human factors strategy and management,
innovation initiatives, knowledge management, competitive intelligence, and leadership
development efforts. Prior to joining Medtronic, he was Manager of Information Resources at
Honeywell International as well as serving in various senior technical positions both in
Europe and the USA where he participated in corporate strategy initiatives along with
executing on technical human factors activities. Currently he is an independent consultant
working with companies to develop competency in innovation and design thinking. Formerly,
he was a Systems Strategist, Senior Engineering Manager at Medtronic. He received his
undergraduate degree in Psychology from Macalester College and his doctorate in
Experimental Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota. His clients include IBM,
Liberty Mutual, Abbott Labs, New York Life, TE Connectivity, and United Technologies. He
resides in St Paul, Minnesota.
B. Kim Barnes is the CEO of Barnes & Conti Associates, Inc., of Berkeley, California, an
independent learning and organization development firm. She has had over 30 years of
experience in the fields of management, leadership, and organization development.
Working in both internal and external roles, she has experience in a broad range of industries
including high technology, research and development, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology, telecommunications, aerospace, finance, distribution, public utilities, health
care, manufacturing, insurance, and government. She is a frequent speaker at national and
international professional conferences and meetings; she has also published a number of
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articles in professional journals in the USA and abroad. She is the primary developer of
Exercising Influence, Constructive Negotiation, The Mastery of Change, Inspirational
Leadership, Intelligent Risk-Taking, Constructive Debate, Applied Creativity, and many other
copyrighted leadership development programs. She co-developed the program Managing
Innovation, Driving Ideas from Strategic Initiative to Value Creation with Dr David Francis, the
Deputy Director of CENTRIM, the University of Brighton’s Centre for Research in Innovation
Management. The second edition of her book, Exercising Influence: A Guide for Making
Things Happen at Work, at Home, and in Your Community, was published by Wiley in 2007.
With Beverly Scott, she co-authored Consulting on the Inside: A Practical Guide for Internal
Consultants, published in February of 2011 by ASTD Press. She and Aviad Goz published
Self-Navigation: A Compass for Guiding Your Life and Career in the winter of 2013. She holds
a master’s degree in Human Development. Her clients include AARP, Abbott Laboratories,
Capital One, Cisco Systems, CitiGroup, Novartis, Genentech, the Haas Business School of
the University of California, Medtronic, NetApp, and the San Francisco Department of Public
Health, among many others. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. B. Kim Barnes is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: bkbarnes@barnesconti.com

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