Every book goes through its journey, but this one has been a particularly winding one. I and my colleagues at Innosight have been thinking hard about some of the themes in the book for more than a decade. A client moment in 2015 crystallized how important it was to synthesize and share those thoughts. Pontus Siren and I were facilitating a session with the top leadership team of a big global logistics company. We started the session by sharing our usual thoughts around disruptive change and competitive threats. The CEO politely (but brusquely) responded by saying, “We understand all of this and have set up a separate group to pioneer new business models. My question is, What do I do with the other 20,000 people we have?” The question motivated me to collaborate with my friend and longtime colleague Dave Duncan to create a mash-up of 55,000 words on the topic and give it the title Everyday Innovation: A Practical Guide to Creating a Culture of Innovation. As we stepped back from what we had created, however, it became clear that we didn’t yet have the right answer to the CEO’s question. So, we shelved the book and moved onto other ideas. Not long after, coauthor Paul Cobban did a thing that has kept me hooked on consulting for far longer than I expected: he asked a question to which I not only did not know the answer but also did not know how to come up with the answer. That question, in essence, was this: Can you purposefully design and change a culture? That led to a yearlong project through which we pushed the experimental envelope and ultimately came up with the central idea in this book: BEANs. (In parallel with this project, Dave coauthored Competing Against Luck with Innosight cofounder Clayton Christensen and is currently working on two exciting streams of research and writing).

There are, as always, many people to thank. I’ll start with collective thanks on behalf of the writing team before offering personal thanks. First, we’d like to thank the DBS project team and our colleagues at Innosight who have continued to advance the thinking around innovation culture. The core DBS team at Innosight was Rahul Nair, Elliot Tan, and TY Tang. Innosight colleagues Dave Duncan and Pontus Siren helped to stress-test our thinking, intern Xun Yang Tay did yeoman’s work to put together the first set of BEANs, Kit Lee was a masterful coordinator during the DBS project and beyond, Crystal Spanakos helped make the ideas sparkle, Cathy Olofson and Kristen Blake supported efforts to spread the key ideas that emerged from the project, Craig Deao of the Studer Group provided valuable insight, and Amantha Imber and Michelle Le Poidevin from Inventium pressure-tested our emerging framework. Beyond Paul, Dave Gledhill, Melissa Heng, Mohit Kapoor, Jimmy Ng, Patsy Quek, Asnaa Sabzposh, Nina Santana, Constance Soh, Tammy Tsang, Sonia Wedrychowicz, and Angie Yeo from DBS all played vital roles in our work together. Sadly, one of the DBS team members, Paul Tan, unexpectedly passed away in the middle of the project. His dedication and creativity inspired us through both the project and the process of developing this book.

We would also like to thank the great team at Harvard Business Review Press. The conclusion notes that the book’s writing was tied to an experiment in early 2019 called IdeaLab. We’d like to thank Adi Ignatius for having the idea and Walter Frick for making it happen. Kevin Evers has been a tireless advocate whose deft editorial hand helped us bring out the book we were trying to write. Stephani Finks did her usual magic in the design of the book’s vibrant cover. Finally, thanks to Jennifer Waring, Kim Giambattisto, and Lynn Everett for their great support shaping and refining the final manuscript. We’d also like to thank Tanya Accone from UNICEF, Steven and Sharon Bussey from The Salvation Army, Sir Chris Deverell from the UK Joint Forces Command, Helen Eaton from Settlement Music School, and Aileen Tan and Chee Keat Koh from Singtel, who generously shared their stories with us, showing that innovation can flourish in unexpected places.

On the personal side, I’d like to start by publicly thanking my collaborators, each of whom brought important energy to the book. Paul, thanks for sharing the DBS story with clarity and humility and for your surprising doodling superpower, which makes the work more accessible and approachable. Andy, thanks for doing such a great job bringing the Singtel story to life and for your consistent and diligent willingness to offer thoughtful perspectives throughout the editing process (which includes listening to my occasional rants). Natalie, thanks for your great work helping to build the core toolkit during the DBS project and for your passion and enthusiasm in bringing the ideas of this book to Innosight and beyond. You have brought a warm humanity to the book and, indeed, to our organization! I’d next like to thank my children: Charlie (age fourteen as I write this), Holly (twelve), Harry (eight), and Teddy (three). You are great kids who teach me more than you know. I can’t wait to see what you will do as you continue to grow up, and I hope you never lose your curiosity, creativity, kindness, and love for each other. I am truly grateful to my wife, Joanne. She has an unbeatable combination of patience, competence, and generosity. Jo, I couldn’t do what I do without you. Every day I thank God that you and our wonderful children are part of my life.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge my mentor and Innosight’s cofounder Clayton Christensen. Clay sadly passed away as we were working on the final draft of this book in January 2020. Without him I would be neither where I am today nor who I am today. I am honored and privileged to play a part in carrying the torch that he helped light when he and my colleague Mark Johnson started Innosight in 2000. This book is dedicated above all to his memory.

—Scott Anthony

Singapore

I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the amazing people of DBS whose open-mindedness and creativity over the last ten years has proved boundless. Ultimately, it was these wonderful colleagues who delivered an incredible corporate transformation. I am truly thankful to my long-term bosses and mentors Piyush Gupta and Dave Gledhill, who set the ambitious direction of the company and who gave me the space to try new things and the support to scale. Thanks also to the DBS transformation team, past and present, who made it so much fun along the way (how we laughed!): Andrew Sidwell, Tim Kyle, Arin Basu, Kelvin Chow, Michelle Lay, Raju Nair, Rajdeep Ghai, Patsy Quek, Jurgen Meerschaege, Rachael Straiton, Mohit Kapoor, Cade Tan, Melissa Wong, Neal Cross, Bidyut Dumra, Mark Evans, Linda Lee, Constance Soh, Sameer Gupta, Lim Choon Heong, Phillipa McNaughton Smith, and Angie Yeo.

Special thanks to Scott and the talented team at Innosight who not only pushed our “Culture by Design” thinking at DBS to a new level while steering the journey that resulted in this book, but who also—and especially—let me know that I give away my age every time I leave two spaces after a period.

But most of all, thank you to my wife, Fiona, and our two boys, Ross and Ewan, who continually remind me of the most important things in life. Without your loving support, endless patience, and willingness to try new experiences, I would not have been able to enjoy this incredible journey.

—Paul Cobban

Singapore

I am very thankful for my coauthors, Innosight colleagues, and clients who I learn from every day. My officemate Sharon Wilson reminds me that we build on the last best answer, and we have been fortunate to have been able to build on the great work of so many people. I’d like to express a special thank-you to coauthor Scott Anthony for being a mentor and friend for the last sixteen years and for inviting me to join him to support DBS in its transformation. I had the very good fortune to work with Paul Cobban, Patsy Quek, Melissa Heng, Constance Geok, Shaun Ang, and Nina Santana for a month in Singapore, together with TY Tang. There I learned about DBS, life, and the amazing food culture in Singapore. In my dual consulting and internal role, I’ve been able to bring the culture of innovation practices to the talent team at Innosight. Thank you to Kady O’Grady and Patrick Viguerie for being open to trying new things and for helping to create our desired culture at Innosight. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have interviewed Sharon and Steve Bussey at The Salvation Army, together with Annie Garofalo, to understand what innovation looks like at a normal organization doing extraordinary things (NO-DET). I am also very grateful to Innosight’s cofounder Clayton Christensen, who taught me the importance and value of helping individuals and organizations view the world through different lenses. I’d like to acknowledge and say a special thank-you to my family and my husband, Jonathan, who encourages me and always makes a point to remind me how proud he is of me. The love, support, and delicious meals he provides enable me to do work that I love.

—Natalie Painchaud

Bartlett, New Hampshire

I am grateful to my collaborators on this book. Their dedication to helping organizations improve the way they work to unleash innovation and creativity inspires me deeply. I am grateful to my Innosight colleagues who, with their questions and ideas, make me smarter every day. I owe a special thanks to Scott Anthony, my coauthor, mentor, and friend. Scott has tirelessly helped me innovate (and sometimes eat and remind me to sleep too!) during my time at Innosight by making sure we never stop striving to find better ways to help our clients solve their toughest growth problems. I am grateful to Innosight’s client Singtel and, specifically, to its group chief human resources officer Aileen Tan, for giving us a platform to experiment with starting a culture movement in her HR team. I learned a huge amount doing this, as documented in these pages. I am proud to see the outcomes every time I visit or, as is more often the case these days, through various social and professional media postings! My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Luyuan. The support and love she provides, both to our two young children, Aureli and Agnes, and to me (despite my frequent absences due to work commitments), is what keeps me going.

—Andy Parker

Singapore