Innovation Carve-Outs:
Curating the Space for Innovation

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If we want to deliver the outcomes we seek for people and the planet then we must explore and unlock the human behaviours we need to get us there.

This whitepaper from Brink proposes the Carve-Out method, an approach that leverages a behavioural framework to simultaneously promote agility, foster a culture of ideation, and scale effectively without imposing unnecessary burdens on the core business.

In 2012, Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff published the Innovation Ambition Matrix, which included the “golden ratio” of resource allocation.

Their research showed that firms which outperform their peers, dedicate 70% of their resources to “safe bets” in their core, 20% to adjacent spaces, and 10% to transformational initiatives.

Today’s transformational initiatives are tomorrow’s ‘core’ business. Neglecting the ‘10%’ will - in the words of Nagji & Tuff - lead to a “steady decline in business and relevance to customers”.

At Brink, we believe that this need for continuous evolution through transformational initiatives is as true for governments, philanthropists and donors as it is for the private sector.

We are in a time of multiple complex global challenges that will require a great deal of cooperation, creativity and innovation to solve. While there are many innovation techniques that look to understand these problems and to source ideas to solve them, too often they are not far-reaching enough to make a meaningful, lasting difference.

What’s required is a concerted effort to continuously evolve, to generate the necessary transformational breakthroughs, and to stay abreast of all that is coming next.

This kind of innovation mindset is not about achieving a single breakthrough. It is about committing to an ongoing culture of discovery. A systematic and intentional approach, capable of driving change across larger systems through continuous learning, improving, and scaling.

Innovation Carve-Outs: Curating the space for innovation

The Carve-Out method acknowledges that innovation is not just a managerial process but a human one.

It allows for the ‘carving out’ of time, resources and space, but also of cognitive bandwidth and the environmental conditions that enable individuals and teams to take creative risks, embrace new perspectives, and engage fully in the innovation process.

In this way, the “Carve-Out” stands for both the organisational structures we create and the psychological environments we nurture, ensuring that people remain at the heart of innovation.

In this paper we…

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Take a look at the limitations of existing innovation models and explore why traditional approaches often fall short, and even hinder the successful implementation of new ideas.

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Explore the foundations of the Carve-Out method, drawing on the behavioural sciences and organisational psychology and delving into the psychological factors that impede innovation.

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Present the Carve-Out as a practical framework for fostering a culture of innovation.

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Offer actionable steps and strategies for facilitating collaboration and creating the kind of culture that thrives on creativity and allows for a dynamic and sustainable ecosystem for innovation.

The Carve-Out is not simply about generating a single innovative idea. It’s about creating a new way of working, an ongoing process of exploration and discovery.

Innovation Carve-Outs: Curating the space for innovation

If you would like additional support in implementing a Carve-Out within your own organisation, fund, or wider system then we would be interested to hear more about the challenges you are facing and the opportunity for impact you see ahead.

The best person to get in touch with is Asad Rahman, one of our Practice Leads here at Brink, and co-author of this paper. You can reach Asad on asad@hellobrink.co.

Contributors

We are grateful to our contributors for their assistance in developing these ideas and for sharing their stories of the work we have done together.

Clio Dintilhac

Senior Program Officer

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Steven Hunt

Senior Energy Innovation Advisor

UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Suha Tutunji

Head of Refugee Education

Jusoor