The gap between what feels right and what actually works is where most teams get stuck.We close it.
Good innovation practice rarely feels natural. We take the research seriously, challenge what intuition gets backwards, and turn the findings into clear ideas teams can actually use.
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Smart takes on creativity, innovation, and how teams actually work.
Featured posts
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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 Buster
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 blog
Leading for Innovation is built by two creativity and innovation researchers who care about making academic evidence useful for real teams, managers, and organizations.
Read about the blogAres
Co-founder
Ares holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Oklahoma, specializing in creativity and innovation. Based in Los Angeles, she works remotely as an Assistant Research Professor for the University of Nebraska Omaha, investigating generative AI's role in creativity and tactical innovation within terrorist organizations. Outside of work, she paints, writes, and cooks her way through her own creative pursuits and is a mum to her orange, chubby cat, Toni.
Sam
Co-founder
Sam holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Oklahoma, specializing in creativity and innovation. Based in Philadelphia, she works as an Innovation Manager at a human capital consulting firm, leading federal innovation efforts and building out the firm's internal innovation practice. Outside of work, she's an avid sci-fi and fantasy reader, a frequent traveler, and dog mom to her pug, Petunia.
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Short takes on LinkedIn. Deeper posts on the blog.
We share timely ideas in short form, then develop the strongest ones here into fuller posts.