About the Innovation and Leadership Studies Program

The Innovation and Leadership Studies Program seeks to contribute to the fundamental research-derived foundations of Innovation Science and to foster a related community of collaborating scholars and practitioners, both within and outside the academy.

A line with three black boxes. The one on the far left marked 'Black Box', the middle is 'Pattern Recognition' and the far right box is marked 'Rules'. A 'We are here' marker is placed around 1/4 of the way from 'Pattern Recognition' to the 'Rules' box. Below these three boxes are two words centered between 'Black Box' and 'Pattern Recognition' is the word 'Serendipity'. Centered between 'Pattern Recognition' and 'Rules' is the word 'Science'

Innovation is the source of leadership in many domains and is a fundamental driver of impact. In industry, innovation drives differentiated competitive advantage. In academia, innovation is the basis of thought leadership and scholarly excellence. And, in the non‐profit sector, innovation likely holds the key to sustainable solutions to heretofore intractable problems, often referred to as Grand Challenges. In this regard, achieving innovation is no longer simply an aspiration; it is an imperative. Innovation is shifting along a spectrum from art to science. From an attribute of originality and creativity in thinking, to a discipline framed in a state of formalized pattern recognition in which a practitioner may learn to recognize and routinely employ best practices that increase the probability of achieving a high impact outcome from their efforts.