Three hands went up. In a room of twelve senior executives reviewing fourteen active innovation projects, the Chief Operating Officer asked a simple question: How many have a confirmed commercial owner? Three hands. The room went quiet. That moment captures the real problem at the heart of innovation: not weak ideas, but the gap between technology visionand business reality. THE INNOVATION AUTOPSY is a diagnostic and practical guide for business and technology leaders who want to understand why innovation programmes fail - and what must change to make them work. This is not a book about creativity slogans or disruption theater. It is a book about the predictable organisational conditions that kill innovation: unclear ownership weak governance misaligned incentives poor commercial connection lack of leadership honesty Inside, you will discover: why innovation language often outpaces innovation capability what real commercial ownership actually means why innovation leadership looks different across industries, geographies, and organisational sizes what open innovation really requires how leaders can carry the personal burden of innovation in complex organisations The book also includes four practical tools: The Innovation Reality Check Canvas The 30-Day Innovation Diagnostic The Commercial Ownership Checklist The Stop / Continue / Double Down Decision Table These are not consultant frameworks. They are field tools for leaders who need to act on Monday. Who this book is for: Innovation managers, R&D leaders, technology directors, business unit leaders, and senior executives in industrial and technology organisations who have seen innovation struggle - and want a clearer diagnosis and a more effective response. Innovation doesn't fail. It dies in the gap between technology vision and business reality. This book is the autopsy - and the survival guide.
