Managing the Unmanageable: 13 Tips for Building and Leading a Successful Innovation Team

Nearly all innovation is done by teams. And while there are many books about the innovation process, and also many about managing teams, the management of innovation teams has gone unaddressed.

This matters, because innovation teams are not like other teams. Most teams and their managers know where they are headed. They’ve probably been there and done it previously, more than once. Innovation is different. The problem objective has been outlined, but the journey and the destination are full of unknowns and untrieds. The team is tasked with going where none have gone before—with scaling a mountain whose height, form, and hidden passes are unknown, and doing so before a rival team from the other side of the mountain finds the summit.

There’s no simple formula to enable innovation team managers to accomplish this daunting task. But Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright—Carnegie Mellon professors and practitioners with a combined 50+ years of experience in research, consulting, and hands-on innovation—have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

In Managing the Unmanageable, they offer 13 tips that can greatly improve the odds for success for any innovation team. Filled with eye-opening real-world examples, bolstered by groundbreaking research studies, and enlivened with illustrations by artist Kurt Hess, it’s a quick, fascinating read that any manager with a mandate to innovate will find irresistible—and essential.

“Consistently clear, straightforward, and upbeat, packed with excellent descriptions, logical explanations, and persuasive recommendations, presented with empathy and humor . . . An engaging collection of useful ideas for leading teams to tackle the unique challenges of innovation.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Demystifies a process that too often entails risk and guesswork or gets bogged down in aimlessness . . . Inspiring guidance for managing innovation teams to create lasting success.”—Publishers Weekly BookLife

"Innovation is one of the most popular business topics, yet it remains highly difficult for many organizations. Cagan and Boatwright demystify innovation and provide practical tips for managing it for high-impact results. Finally, innovation managers have a handbook that they can rely on—one that should be in the collection of every technology leader and innovation practitioner."—Tolga Kurtoglu, Former Chief Technology Officer, HP

“Cagan and Boatwright combine expertise and experience into a roadmap and a GPS for successful innovation. Their tips will help managers lead their teams to navigate traffic, roadblocks, and detours while bringing out winning products and services.”—Govi Kannan, Senior Vice President, Mack Global Brand, Mack Trucks

“You won't find a more valuable guide on effective and impactful innovation management. Managing the Unmanageable is full of practical, research-backed tips for anyone looking for a smart approach to solving hard and important problems. Go read this book and build the future.”—Kelly Bowles Kinch, Vice President of Product Design, Yelp

“Cagan and Boatwright tap into their vast experience and keen academic insights to bring rigor and relevance to the challenging process of managing innovation teams. Comprehensive, thoughtful, and practical, Managing the Unmanageable is an indispensable playbook for growth-oriented companies seeking innovation success.”—Kevin Lane Keller, E.B. Osborn Professor of Marketing, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and author of Marketing Management and Strategic Brand Management

Jonathan Cagan is the David and Susan Coulter Head of Mechanical Engineering and the George Tallman and Florence Barrett Ladd Professor, with courtesy appointment in Design, at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has been on the faculty since 1990. Along with Peter Boatwright, Jon created the Integrated Innovation Institute and its professional masters degrees. Jon has consulted for three decades with a variety of companies to guide their teams through the product innovation process, as well as guiding hundreds of university teams that have worked with companies through that process. By merging design thinking with artificial intelligence, machine learning, optimization, and cognition, Jon has been a founder of the fields of generative design and hybrid AI/human design teams, with nearly 300 peer-reviewed publications and 7 issued and 2 pending patents. Jon has co-authored three previous books: Creating Breakthrough Products, The Design of Things to Come, and Built to Love (the latter two with Peter Boatwright).

Peter Boatwright is the Allan D. Shocker Professor of Marketing and New Product Development at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has been on the faculty since 1997. Peter also serves as director of the Integrated Innovation Institute, a market-focused center designed to speed the pace of innovation, which he co-founded with Jonathan Cagan. Peter has consulted with companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to entrepreneurial startups, with a focus on innovation management and product strategy. He has led innovation teams that produced dozens of patents as well as successful products in the marketplace. Peter has taught courses on new product management, pricing strategy, digital marketing, product development, brand strategy, and marketing research. His work on a variety of business topics has been published in academic journals, and he has co-authored two previous books on innovation with Jonathan Cagan, The Design of Things to Come and Built to Love.

Matt Rogers knows quite a bit about innovation teams. At Apple, he built the software team for 10 generations of the iPod, was a member of the original iPhone team, and worked on shipping the first iPad. As cofounder of Nest (now Google Nest) he built the team that built the first learning thermostat. In 2017, he founded and currently coleads Incite.org, a new model of catalytic capital that invests broadly for social impact. And in 2023 Matt introduced his latest innovation with the founding of Mill, a new way to compost food scraps.