top of page

Identifying the Intangible Blockers to Successful Innovation

\ CASE STUDY

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
ThinkOnward_Logo-Full-Color-RGB-1_edited.png

“Ambition wasn’t our problem. What we lacked was the courage to take greater risks. INSI gave us that confidence—and the alignment to turn bold bets into faster results.”

— Jeff Allyn, Chief Executive Officer, ThinkOnward

Background

ThinkOnward, a Shell company, was created as the innovation arm of Shell—deliberately positioned outside the traditional corporate walls to spark fresh thinking. Its mission: shift mindsets toward creativity, pioneer new ways of working, and accelerate the path to breakthrough discoveries.

By leveraging Shell’s vast resources and a community of more than 6,000 global innovators, ThinkOnward set out to move ideas from concept to impact faster than ever before. The mandate was clear: take bigger bets, embrace risk, and learn quickly from failure. Yet despite this ambition, CEO Jeff Allyn saw that the moonshot team was holding back. Instead of boldly experimenting, progress was slowed by hidden blockers—hesitation, misalignment, and an instinct to play it safe. Jeff wanted hard data to confirm his concerns and illuminate what was preventing the team from turning bold ambition into breakthrough results

image (1).png

The Challenge

Like many successful enterprises, ThinkOnward encountered classic innovation bottlenecks:
 

  • Competing priorities pulling teams in different directions

  • Limited bandwidth across functions

  • Blurred ownership and accountability


Despite strong talent and a bold strategy endorsed by Shell’s board, efforts were fragmented and reactive. The real barriers weren’t technical—they were intangible. Leadership dynamics, cultural frictions, and subtle human behaviors were holding innovation back.

Our Approach

CR Strategy partnered with ThinkOnward to uncover these intangible blockers and co-create a repeatable innovation capability.

Using our Innovation Navigation Styles Inventory (INSI), we provided data-driven insight into the leadership dynamics and team frictions that had previously gone unseen. For the first time, ThinkOnward had measurable evidence of what was slowing them down—and a clear path forward.

We focused on four phases:

  1. Diagnose – Apply INSI to reveal hidden leadership and cultural blockers.

  2. Align – Build a shared innovation thesis and common language across stakeholders.

  3. Develop – Coach leaders on measurable innovation behaviors, with a focus on courage, speed, and disruptive thinking.

  4. Sustain – Establish quarterly team health checks and repeatable innovation processes.

Learning & Outcomes

Within months, ThinkOnward began building lasting momentum:

​

  • Alignment: Stakeholders and operating teams now rally around a shared innovation thesis and language.

  • Consistency: Innovation leadership behaviors are measured and actively developed.

  • Velocity: Internal teams test, refine, and scale ideas faster, with fewer bottlenecks.

  • Resilience: Quarterly INSI health checks provide ongoing visibility into team mindset and capacity.

The Results

Early outcomes show tangible gains:

​

  • Closed four critical competency gaps (external vision, rapid decision-making, market empathy, disruptive ideation)

  • +35% cross-functional synergy — fewer reworks, faster consensus on technical paths

  • +45% increase in velocity — greater speed in prototyping and sprints due to stronger alignment

​

ThinkOnward is now equipped with the cultural and leadership tools to make its moonshot ambitions real.

bottom of page