Sam Yen, the Chief Innovation Officer for Commercial Banking at JPMorgan Chase, joins us for this episode of The Innovation Engine to discuss Innovation by Design and Scaling Innovation. Sam is responsible for JPMorgan Chase’s digital products, platforms, innovation, and product strategy, so there is a massive amount of responsibility that falls under his purview. We kick off the episode by diving into Sam's guiding principles for leading teams and prioritizing work in a financial institution of JPMorgan Chase's scale. He stresses the importance of being customer or client-centered, maintaining effective communication, ensuring a deep understanding of end-to-end experiences in product delivery, and keeping the bigger picture in mind while fostering a culture of quick learning and iteration. Sam shares his insights on the power of design in crafting user experiences that are intuitive, delightful, and even "forgettable" in terms of ease of use. We discuss the challenges and constraints of fostering innovation in a large financial institution and how the constraints by which financial services companies are bound can, perhaps counterintuitively, lead to more focused solutions. We also cover Sam's previous work at SAP and the four phases of scaling innovation in large organizations he uncovered with Janaki Kumar and Baba Shiv. The four phases Sam details on the innovation journey run from the "lonely soldier phase" all the way through to a fully scaled culture of innovation. Tune in to listen to Sam Yen's unique insights on the journey of driving innovation, navigating risk, and why the true importance of design extends far beyond what many people traditionally think of. Episode Highlights  Why the role of design includes but also extends well beyond delivering a delightful and intuitive user experience Principles for managing large teams and prioritizing what those teams choose to focus on The concept of thinking of risk as a line of boxes that gets increasingly larger over time, and the process of de-risking ideas incrementally as they scale Why innovation requires excelling at both creativity AND execution; you don’t get to pick just one Sam shares why the emphasis that’s often placed on creative problem solving would be even more productive if it were instead placed on creative problem finding The four phases of innovation readiness: lonely soldier, success in silos, push to pull, and scaled The value of diverse teams in delivering innovative solutions and the difference between constructive tension and destructive tension  About Sam Yen Sam Yen is an acclaimed design leader who has had an exceptional career trajectory. Prior to his role as Chief Innovation Officer for Commercial Banking at JPMorgan Chase, he served as Managing Director for SAP Silicon Valley and was SAP's first Chief Design Officer. At SAP, Sam led their Design Thinking practice both internally and for customers. With his unique combination of real-world experience and education (Sam has a PhD from Stanford in Design, Mechanical Engineering, and Aero/Astro), Sam offers a valuable perspective on integrating design principles at the highest levels of corporate decision-making and scaling innovation throughout large organizations. Resources  Connect with Sam Yen on  Read  for more on the 4 phases of innovation Learn more about how  is banking the innovation economy  a partnership between JPMorgan and Wired on the future of digital cash and more  which focuses on the future of commerce  &nbsp;  Learn more and get the full show notes at:  &nbsp; Produced by  &nbsp;

201. Innovation By Design & Scaling Innovation

Productizing a services business is no small feat, but the benefits of doing so are vast: improved margins, increased productivity, higher company valuations, and less reliance on increasingly in-demand tech talent. Eisha Armstrong joins us on this episode of The Innovation Engine to share more about how to turn a services company into a productized business.  Eisha has established herself as an authoritative voice in this space, having authored two compelling books: Fearless: How to Transform a Services Culture and Successfully Productize and Productize: The Ultimate Guide to Turning Professional Services into Scalable Products. With her deep understanding of the challenges faced by B2B services companies competing against digital-first companies and scaling efficiently, Eisha offers some insightful strategies and tips. In this conversation, Eisha highlights the importance of setting clear goals to inform your productization approach, treating productization as a portfolio, and overcoming the fear of productization. Listen in as Eisha and host Scott Varho unpack the essentials of a product-friendly culture, highlighting five levers: vision, organizational structure, governance, talent, and people-related practices. Finally, Eisha introduces us to the 'four horsemen of productization': Knowing, Perfectionism, Scarcity thinking, and Individual heroics. She breaks down this daunting task into something surmountable that anyone in a services organization can’t afford to miss. Resources  Learn more about Vecteris at  Connect with Eisha on LinkedIn:  Read Eisha's books:  and   Learn more and get the full show notes at:  Produced by  &nbsp;

202. Transforming a Services Culture to Successfully Productize

Digital transformation is a term often tossed around in boardrooms but rarely understood in its full depth and breadth. David Rogers joins us on this episode of The Innovation Engine podcast to discuss his latest book, The Digital Transformation Roadmap, and his vast experience advising a bevy of top-tier corporate clients including Google, Microsoft, Citigroup, and Toyota.  A renowned faculty member at Columbia Business School, expert in digital transformation, and the brain behind several groundbreaking books on the subject, David is the perfect voice of reason to bring a logical understanding to this vital concept.  David underscores the significant differences between a digital-first startup and a legacy enterprise attempting to make its products and services viable in the digital realm. He emphasizes that digital transformation is not a short-term project, but a continuous journey intertwined with both digital strategy and sweeping organizational change. In David's latest book,  he outlines the Five Steps for Digital Transformation:   Define a Shared Vision: This involves crafting a vision unique to the organization. It should be more specific than just wanting to "go digital" and should be commonly understood by everyone in the company.   Pick the Problems that Matter Most: Prioritize key issues and be willing to say no to less important opportunities.   Validating New Ventures: Shift from traditional planning-focused models to iterative processes that allow for continuous learning and adaptation.   Managing Growth at Scale: Adopt different management or governance models that can work across multiple teams and cater to different strategic opportunities.   Growing Technology, Talent, and Culture: Identify gaps in technology infrastructure, talent, and company culture, and address these.   The process is cyclical, not linear, and the steps should be revisited regularly for continuous adaptation and improvement.  Tune in for an insightful journey into the heart of digital transformation with one of the foremost thought leaders in the field. Don't miss David's deep insights, actionable strategies, and a fresh perspective on a topic that's reshaping the global business landscape. Resources:   Learn more at    Read  by David Rogers   Connect with David Rogers on    Read  by Theodore Levitt   Produced by

204. Redefining Business in the Digital Age with David Rogers

3Pillar Global's "The Innovation Engine" podcast airs every other Wednesday. Each episode, we interview a different guest on topics related to corporate innovation. We look at innovation through the lenses of leadership and management, company culture, and emerging trends and technologies.