Mission
Enable clients to survive and thrive in a volatile, complex, and increasingly ambiguous world.
Core market
- Exclusive focus on mature companies, regardless of industry
- Companies of all sizes, from small to midsized to large
- Individuals and groups at all levels, from owners to CEOs, presidents, and general managers to technical executives (CTOs, VPs of engineering and R&D), technical managers, and proven and aspiring Serial Innovators
- Both privately held and publicly traded companies
Our unique position
For decades, both business practice and research on innovation have taken the perspective that innovation can be managed like any other (albeit complex) process of the firm. While a highly structured and closely supervised approach is helpful in creating Incremental Innovation, our experience, supported by a decade‐long study of numerous companies across many industries, reveals that it is not conducive to creating Breakthrough Innovation. In fact, the drive to routinize has gone too far, so far as to limit many companies’ ability to innovate. In today’s economy, with the future of so many mature firms at stake, this insight brings a clarion call to rethink how to nurture and thrive on an innovative workforce.
In sharp contrast to prevailing perspectives, we re‐frame the problem by taking a “people” view of innovation. This approach zeros in on the cutting‐edge individuals who repeatedly create and deliver Breakthrough Innovations in mature organizations. Unlike Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk, these “Serial Innovators” are embedded within the organization and unknown to the public. Yet, they are organizational powerhouses who solve customer problems and substantially—and disproportionately—contribute to their company’s financial value.
About us
Bruce Vojak, individually or with one or more colleagues from a powerful network of associated world-class experts possessing deep and varied backgrounds, can be flexibly and collaboratively engaged to help your company.
About Bruce
Bruce Vojak founded Breakthrough Innovation Advisors, LLC to help companies survive and thrive in a volatile, complex, and increasingly ambiguous world.
Spanning a career at the intersection of business and technology, Bruce has experienced and explored innovation purposefully and variously.
Having first established himself as a successful technical contributor and technology executive in industry, he understands first-hand the business need for and benefits of innovation. Having later transitioned to academia, he followed his passion by conducting groundbreaking research on innovation practice across a wide cross-section of mature companies in mature industries.
As a leading authority on innovation in general and breakthrough innovation in particular, Bruce brings a unique and powerful combination of deep and broad expertise—and a rich network of other experts—to guide his clients in harnessing its benefits.
Bruce is the co-author of two highly-regarded books on innovation:
- Vojak & Herbst, No-Excuses Innovation: Strategies for Small- and Medium-Sized Mature Enterprises (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2022)
- Griffin, Price & Vojak, Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012)
Further, he has co-authored five book chapters—in addition to numerous peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations—on innovation. A Senior Fellow of The Conference Board, Bruce has served on the Advisory Board of JVA Partners, the Advisory Board of Midtronics, Inc., and the Board of Directors of Micron Industries Corporation. In addition, he consults on the topic of innovation, presenting to, leading workshops for, and advising various other companies.
Before founding Breakthrough Innovation Advisors, Bruce served as Associate Dean and Adjunct Professor in the top-ranked Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. Earlier, he was Director of Advanced Technology for Motorola’s non-semiconductor components business; held research, corporate development, and business development positions of increasing responsibility at Amoco Corporation; and was on the research staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He holds BS (with Highest Honors), MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA, with concentrations in finance and marketing, from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
A copy of Bruce’s full resume is available upon request.
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