Innovation, Unpacked.Evidence-based insights for leaders.
There is no shortage of research on creativity and innovation. It rarely reaches the leaders who need it. We close that gap.
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Straightforward, practical takes on how creativity and innovation work.
Featured posts
Between Eminence and Arts and Crafts: The Pro-C Level of Creativity
Not every creative idea needs to change the world. In fact, much of the creativity that keeps organizations moving forward happens well below the level of eminent, history-making innovation. The Four-C Model helps leaders recognize these different forms of creativity and better understand how to identify, develop, and nurture professional-level creativity at work.
It's Not the Clock: What Actually Shapes Creativity Under Pressure
Deadlines feel like they make or break creative work, but decades of research suggest pressure on its own says surprisingly little about how creative we will be. What matters more are the conditions around it, and how we can shape them for ourselves and our teams.
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Research to Practice
What the research says and what teams can actually do with it.
Debate
Two-sided takes on the ideas people often oversimplify.
Hot Takes
Sharp arguments that challenge familiar innovation advice.
Expert Lens
Deeper reads on creativity, innovation, leadership, and evidence.
Myth Busters
Common beliefs about creativity and innovation put to the test.
Innovation Spotlight
Concrete examples of innovation in action and what they teach us.
The founders
Meet the people behind the mission
Leading for Innovation was created by two industrial-organizational psychologists who care about making the science of creativity and innovation useful for leaders.
Read about the blogAres
Co-founder
Ares Boira Lopez, Ph.D., is an Industrial Organizational Psychologist and Assistant Research Professor at the University of Nebraska whose work applies I-O psychology, creativity and innovation, and artificial intelligence to counterterrorism and national security. Her research examines how AI shapes prosocial and malevolent creativity, how adversaries innovate, and how the national security workforce can adapt to evolving threats. She is also cofounder of Leading for Innovation and is passionate about using science to address societal challenges and strengthen the fight against terrorism.
Sam
Co-founder
Sam holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Oklahoma, where she specialized in creativity and innovation. She works as an Innovation Program Manager at a human capital consulting firm, leading a team that delivers customized innovation support to federal clients. Outside of work, she can be found reading science fiction and fantasy, spending time with family and friends, or cuddling her pug, Petunia.
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Recent posts
New research to practice pieces, debates, hot takes, expert lenses, myth busters, and innovation spotlights.
AI Is Not Innovation. It Is a Tool That Can Help or Hinder Creativity.
AI can match or exceed average human creativity. But can AI, on its own, produce the kind of creativity that drives meaningful innovation? Research reveals surprising limitations, from its struggles with breakthrough ideas to its tendency to generate similar solutions, raising important questions about whether AI alone can deliver a competitive advantage.
GLP-1s: The Two Lives of an Innovative Breakthrough
Innovations have lives, and the most talked-about drug class in the world has already lived two. This post traces how GLP-1s were born through three different creative routes, how success redirected that same capacity toward defending the win, and why the difference shapes competition, timing, and access.
We Don’t Always Recognize a Good Idea When We See One
We think we’re pretty good at spotting great ideas, but research suggests otherwise. The most novel ideas can be the easiest to dismiss, especially when they’re still rough and uncertain. This post presents five ways to avoid killing a promising idea before it has a chance to prove itself.
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