In 2026, as AI reshapes management and volatility defines markets, innovation demands more than data or disruption – it’s about perceiving possibilities and acting on them amid chaos. Four concepts – sensemaking, predictive processing, affordances, and emergence – offer managers a practical framework to navigate this reality.[…]
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Most large organizations have launched innovation initiatives in the last five years. They have built dedicated labs, appointed chief innovation officers, trained cohorts in design thinking, and run internal hackathons with genuine enthusiasm. The ideas that emerged were often promising. And then they derailed. Someone asked for strategic alignment of the business case, another for ownership clarity, a third for cross-functional sign-off before any resources could be committed. Approvals, handoffs, and procedural questions suffocated momentum.[…]
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When leaders talk about innovation, they usually talk about talent, technology, and speed.
They look for creative people, better tools, faster decisions, and stronger execution. They invest in AI, digital platforms, new ventures, and redesign efforts. All of that matters.
But one question usually remains underexamined: what kind of organization makes ingenuity usable?[…]
Every organization now wants more ingenuity.
Boards ask for it. Leaders invoke it. Strategy decks celebrate it. AI is expected to accelerate it. In a world shaped by volatility, technological upheaval, and competitive pressure, ingenuity has become the human resource everyone suddenly wants more of. […]
In Jerry Maguire’s memorable words, leadership is demanding that generative AI show them “the money.” According to PwC’s 2026 Global CEO Survey of more than 4,400 CEOs, 56% report seeing no significant financial benefit from AI to date. The mandate is clear: prove the return, and prove it quickly.
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The Global Peter Drucker Forum wrestles with a deceptively simple question: when everything depends on ingenuity, where does it actually come from?
The theme challenges organizations to unlock the next generation of innovation. Yet in almost every organization I work with, the same uncomfortable truth surfaces: the ingenuity is already there. It shows up in a sales rep’s instinct, a project manager’s half-voiced concern, an engineer’s spreadsheet no one requested. The problem is not a lack of creativity or talent. The problem is that organizations have become highly effective at filtering out what they already know.[…]
You are about to walk into a difficult conversation. A team member has been disengaged for weeks. A key project is stalling. You have facts, a plan, a message. And then, just before you open the door, something tightens in your chest. Your jaw sets. You are already slightly irritated, and the meeting has not even started.[…]
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First, a moment of silence for those who have fallen. Then, before the debate could begin, the air raid siren protocol: instructions for what to do when Russian missiles or drones approach.
That was a first. My family had sensibly vetoed my attending in person, so I was there on large screens, at a safe distance, when I served as Intellectual Provocateur at a public event hosted by the Graduate Business School of Kyiv School of Economics.
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