Yellow Cat Blog

Articles and blogs from Yellow Cat's co-founders Susie Braam and Katie Careless on the trials and tribulations of corporate innovation.

Jun 5
4 min

Corporate Inertia: The Power of the Status Quo

Failing to get traction for new ways of working or cultural changes you want your organisation to adopt? That’ll be corporate inertia....

Mar 8
5 min

Acknowledging and Navigating Uncertainty

How do you feel about uncertainty? Let’s have an honest conversation… Uncertainty means there are many possible future states and...

Feb 21
15 min

Everything I read in 2022

“What a blessing it is to love books." -Elizabeth von Arnim. This year I read 20 non-fiction books about leadership, leading change,...

Oct 30, 2022
3 min

Skin In The Game

Who's helping you help your organisation through its transformation? Anyone who has kids will know that, especially in those early days...

Sep 20, 2022
4 min

Innovation Labs: Get Out of the Sandpit

When Corporate Innovators Are Their Own Worst Enemy How impactful is your innovation lab? A number of years ago, when I started as Head...

Aug 5, 2022
8 min

What is Digital Transformation?

There’s no consistent answer on what digital transformation is What is digital transformation (DX)? There are a thousand different...

Aug 4, 2022
5 min

Navigating Transitions

Are organisational transitions so different to personal transitions? Digital Transformation is one of the most over-used and least...

Jul 21, 2022
8 min

5 Steps to Entrepreneurial Governance

Follow these 5 steps to develop and manage your corporate innovation portfolio. Are you responsible for investing (money and/or people)...

May 23, 2022
8 min

How Strong are Your Innovation Muscles?

How much money has your organisation spent over the last year on R&D? How much money has it spent on initiatives such as hackathons,...

Apr 4, 2022
6 min

Creating Space for Innovation

Allowing new possibilities to emerge Back in 2017, I was responsible for a government incubator that pulled together one of the most...

Mar 9, 2022
6 min

Mission Model or Business Model?

The Mission Model Canvas is the much lesser known sibling of Strategyzer’s Business Model Canvas and was created a number of years ago...

Mar 7, 2022
9 min

Adaptive Strategy

By Susie Braam and Tristan Kromer In an increasingly uncertain and interconnected world, strategy is more important than ever. But the...

Jan 13, 2022
15 min

My 2021 Reading Roundup

I like books. Here’s what’s been on my shelf this last year. Do you agree with my top 5? What was your top read of 2021? Leave a comment...

Dec 13, 2021
6 min

When more Money and People can't be the Answer

A complaint I hear frequently from managers is that they haven’t got enough money or enough people to do the work that needs to be done....

Nov 8, 2021
6 min

You Got This

“You got this,” someone says to you. “I really don’t.” you think silently to yourself. During the course of my career, I've been a part...

Oct 28, 2021
9 min

What's Holding us back from Connecting with Strategy?

My recent blog post, The 7 Types of ‘Not Actually Strategy’ Strategy, makes the point that in most organisations strategy is done poorly,...

Oct 6, 2021
4 min

The 7 Types of 'Not Actually Strategy' Strategies

In Alice in Wonderland, a disoriented Alice comes across the mysterious Cheshire Cat: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go...

Oct 6, 2021
6 min

Spinning Out

As former Head of Innovation at two government agencies, over the last 6 years I’ve met, chatted and shared stories with other Heads of...

Aug 23, 2021
3 min

Innovation = Creativity = Not Me?

Six years ago, someone I knew well approached me about an innovation role. My response: “Hmm, I don’t know about that. I mean, I can’t...

Aug 23, 2021
2 min

Unrealistic Expectations of the Intrapreneur

A while ago, I had an ‘Ah-ha!’ moment after reading Nick Wignall’s article: 4 Things Emotionally Intelligence People Don’t Do. I’d always...