Fidelity Labs VP Hadley Stern on the steps companies can take to light the innovation fire.

Rob Preston, VP & Editor in Chief, InformationWeek

October 30, 2014

1 Min Read

What's the best way for companies to tease out innovative ideas and deliver innovative new products and services amid the stresses of day-to-day operations? Hadley Stern, VP of Fidelity Labs, an 80-person incubator for financial services company Fidelity Investments, maintains that "innovation doesn't just happen." It needs to be structured.

At Fidelity Labs, that structure usually takes the form of 10 or 15 "aspirational but achievable" themes, Stern says, which the company conceives in consultation with its internal technology and other business partners, with outside experts, and ultimately with customers. The execution part then comes under the Labs' agile development methodology.

Click on the video for Stern's views on how to structure innovation -- as well as his take on Apple Watch, Google Glass, and artificial intelligence -- all recorded at the recent InformationWeek IT Leadership Summit at Interop New York.

About the Author(s)

Rob Preston

VP & Editor in Chief, InformationWeek

Rob Preston currently serves as VP and editor in chief of InformationWeek, where he oversees the editorial content and direction of its various website, digital magazine, Webcast, live and virtual event, and other products. Rob has 25 years of experience in high-tech publishing and media, during which time he has been a senior-level editor at CommunicationsWeek, CommunicationsWeek International, InternetWeek, and Network Computing. Rob has a B.A. in journalism from St. Bonaventure University and an M.A. in economics from Binghamton University.

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