Who It’s For
You've been given a mandate to build or fix an innovation team. The hard part isn't finding ideas — it's knowing where to start.
This toolkit is for you if you're:
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A senior innovation leader building or redesigning a function
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A CTO or technology leader scoping innovation capability
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An HR director or OD professional designing team structures
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An executive asked to stand up an innovation capability from scratch
The Problem
Most innovation teams are designed by gut feel. They copy what worked elsewhere, skip the diagnostic work, and end up misaligned with the organisation around them.
The result: frustrated teams and a mandate that gets quietly withdrawn.
The organisations that get this right have a clear process for the foundational decisions. That's what this toolkit gives you.
What You Get
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1. Innovation Readiness Assessment
Understand your organisation’s actual starting point before you design anything.
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2. Innovation Archaeology Canvas
Learn what past innovation attempts reveal about your culture and constraints.
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3. Team Orientation Matrix
Determine whether you need Architects, Builders, or Enablers - matched to your context.
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4. Innovation Team Model Canvas
Design your operating model: purpose, activities, resources, and stakeholders.
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5. Stakeholder Map
Map your supporters and blockers and build the mandate you need.
6. Radical Focus Template
Keep your team aligned and accountable with a shared OKR structure and weekly rhythm.
Each tool includes a blank template, guidance notes, and a worked example.
ALSO INCLUDED
Monthly live Q&A session last Friday of every month, 2.30–3pm UK. Bring your real questions and get practical answers. Included with every purchase.
Why Trust Me
I've spent 20+ years in national security and government and 10+ years building and leading innovation teams inside complex organisations — not just consulting on them from the outside.
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Head of Innovation, Ministry of Defence
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Head of Innovation, FCDO
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Trained 5,000+ people in innovation practice
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Clients include NATO, BP, Scottish Government, Bertelsmann
I've also made the mistakes. The tools in this toolkit are grounded in what actually works — and what doesn't.
John Reuben,
Managing Director
“This is a really insightful tool — treating an innovation team like a startup with a canvas immediately forces the right questions into view."
Dr Aaron Sudholz,
Senior Engineering & Program Leader
"This is the part most innovation leaders underestimate. Designing the model is intellectual work. Building the coalition is political work.
The Four As + stakeholder mapping is powerful because it treats influence as infrastructure, not charisma."
Reid Derby,
Innovation Leader
“When I started working in my first innovation role I wish I had something like this Toolkit!”