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Innovation doesnt happen in silos: it happens in systems. And yet many companies still rely on lone heroes to ignite transformation. They recruit visionary thinkers, celebrate bold ideas, and preach agility, but beneath the surface, their structures reward predictability and punish deviation. As a result, the very people most capable of driving innovationfast-moving, future-oriented changemakers known as catalystsare often left isolated, misunderstood, and burned out. Catalysts ignite possibilities. They challenge the status quo, connect seemingly unrelated dots, and accelerate momentum. But they dont thrive in traditional organizational ecosystems because they threaten bureaucracy, resist incrementalism, and without support, they either burn out or leave. According to Gallup, just 21% of employees strongly agree that they can take risks at work without fear of negative consequences. As Shannon Lucas and Tracey Lovejoy explain in their book Move Fast. Break Shit. Burn Out., these workers often struggle with intense isolation and exhaustion not because they arent capable, but because the system isnt designed for them to succeed. To unlock sustainable innovation, organizations must evolve from celebrating individual disruptors to cultivating ecosystems where diverse changemakerscatalysts, stabilizers, implementerscan thrive together. This isnt a culture tweak. Its a systems redesign. The 4 Layers of a Catalyst Ecosystem Shannon and I have seen how catalytic energy can drive exponential growth if the right conditions exist. This framework outlines the four interdependent layers that support thriving catalyst ecosystems. 1. Identification: Spot the Sparks Catalysts dont always stand out on paper. Theyre often the ones asking provocative questions in meetings, proposing ideas that seem off-script, or moving faster than the rest of the system. But without intentional practices, these traits can be seen as disruptive rather than visionary. To find them, leaders must look beyond the org chart. Psychometric assessments, cross-functional feedback, and structured self-discovery tools can help you to illuminate hidden change agents at every level in your organization. You can also train managers to spot curiosity, systems thinking, and pattern recognition. In her work with large organizations, Shannon uses her companys Catalyst Assessment Tool to uncover innate changemakers hidden throughout the business. This often-overlooked talent is frequently underutilized. At one company, 60% of the employees identified as catalysts were previously considered hidden talent by the C-suiteand they went on to solve some of the organizations most pressing challenges. 2. Integration: Design for Complementarity Once identified, catalysts need more than autonomy. They need meaningful integration with the broader system. Pairing them with stabilizers (who bring operational excellence) and implementers (who drive execution) creates cross-functional change pods that balance energy, tempo, and sustainability. In my work facilitating story-based leadership circles, catalysts often emerge through narratives of disruption, such as career pivots, reinventions, and vision quests. However, their breakthroughs become organizational breakthroughs only when they are translated into a shared purpose. This requires redesigned team norms: tempo-matching, structured conflict mediation, and deep respect for different working styles. Catalysts are the spark, but the team is the engineand the organization is the road they need to travel together. 3. Protection: Shield the Flame A large amount of pressure to innovate without adequate support is a recipe for burnout. According to Deloitte, innovation-driven employees are 2.5x more likely to leave if they lack proper support systems. Catalysts in particular are prone to emotional exhaustion, especially when their efforts are blocked by bureaucracy or misunderstood by leadership. Organizations must build containers that buffer catalytic energy. This means establishing sponsorship structures, recovery protocols (such as off-cycle sabbaticals or reflective retreats), and psychological safety as a norm. This could include internal coaching circles, energy mapping, or check-in rituals that normalize emotional processing. Investing in resilience practices isnt a perk; its a prerequisite for sustainable change. 4. Amplification: Scale the Spark Catalysts cant just be unleashed; they must be amplified. Invite them to inform strategic offsites, facilitate internal labs, or lead cross-functional storytelling initiatives. Establish formal channels, like Catalyst Councils, to elevate their insights into enterprise-level planning. Codify what they learn. Translate their experiments into onboarding content and playbooks. Make space for them to coach emerging catalysts in the system. When you treat catalysts not as rogue actors but as cultural accelerants, their energy becomes contagious. In a Catalyst program with a large healthcare organization, Shannon worked with the team to identify, train, and activate catalysts from across the business. The program participants were given the most pressing strategic initiatives to tackle. In just 16 weeks, the Catalyst participants helped the company reduce reimbursement times from eight weeks to just two days, a 96% improvement, driving significant gains in both customer and employee satisfaction. Additionally, the organization reported a 24% improvement in change leadership capabilities across the enterprise. This is the power you can unleash and amplify by engaging your catalysts. Innovation isnt a solo act; its an emergent phenomenon. It happens when diverse roles, energies, and mindsets interact in the right environment. That means building systems that reward exploration, reframe conflict, and move ideas from the margins to the center. The future wont be led by lone geniuses. It will be shaped by ecosystems that can accommodate differences, adapt rapidly, and nurture catalytic energy over the long arc of change. Dont wait for a crisis to value your changemakers: Design for them now, and your organization wont just survive changeit will shape it. The next time someone in your organization brings an idea that feels risky or too soon, pause before you dismiss it. Ask: What if this is the spark weve been waiting for, and how might we build the right conditions to let it burn bright?
Category:
E-Commerce
For years, Heinz has consistently innovated in the ketchup space. Theres been jalapeo ketchup, chipotle ketchup, mayochup, and even pickle ketchup. Other sauces have gotten similarly modernized, with stunt products like a Taylor Swift-inspired ranch dressing and a hot-pink Barbie barbecue sauce. Notably forgotten amid this flurry of condiment exploration? Mustard. Now Heinz is rectifying that error, officially announcing the release of the condiment Heinz Mustaaaaaard, the brands first new mustard product in 10 years. The smoky-sweet chipotle honey mustard will debut for a two-week period at Buffalo Wild Wings, followed by a limited-time nationwide release at Target, 7-Eleven, Walmart.com, and Amazon.com. [Photo: Kraft Heinz] Heinz Mustaaaaaard was initially teased back in February, when Heinz revealed it would be collaborating on the sauce with record producer DJ Mustard (so named because of his given first name, Dijon). The timing was spot-onMustard had just exploded in the cultural zeitgeist after a callout of his name in Kendrick Lamars song tv off inspired memes and resulted in Mustard joining the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. At the time, Heinz named Mustard as its official chief mustard officer. But, according to the team at Heinz, this wasnt just a collaboration with Mustards name attached to it: The producer met with Heinzs R&D team in person to select the final flavor, down to the specific proportions of each ingredient chosen. [Photo: Kraft Heinz] DJ Mustard mixes a mustard Most people are probably familiar with Mustard through his music and his recently viral collaboration with Lamar. Fewer are aware of his side hustle as a grill master. Heinz pitched a potential collaboration with Mustard more than a year before the official partnership announcement in February. During that time the team learned that Mustard already had a love for Heinz, says Peter Hall, president of elevation for Heinz North America. Mustard shared that he had long used Heinz mustard as his go-to staple when grilling, and that he had a particular penchant for sweeter mustards. In a press release, the artist said Heinz mustard has always been the most important ingredient among his grilling secret weapons, noting, I knew I wanted to make my own sauce one day, something that wouldnt be like anything else out there. Adding mustard gives you that nice browning, bark formation, and grilling, but thats just step one. [Photo: Kraft Heinz] The actual creation of Mustards mustard was a four-month-long process, starting with the music producer personally visiting Heinz headquarters in Pittsburgh to help mix up the recipea kind of access that Heinz has never granted to a celebrity collaborator in the past. Richard Misutka, director of R&D for Kraft Heinz Elevation Brands, worked directly with Mustard during his visit. He says the team prepped around 10 different add-on flavors that might pair well with mustard, including honey, chipotle, jalapeo, bacon, caramelized onion, and even mango. Then, to ensure that they could replicate each potential recipe, all of the various combination components were weighed before they were mixed and tasted by Mustard. [Photo: Kraft Heinz] We started with our Heinz yellow mustard, and then we started playing around with some of the flavors, Misutka says. True to Mustards reputation, he liked the honey, so instead of playing around with the yellow mustard, we pivoted to the Heinz honey mustard. At that point, Misutka recalls, Mustard chose to add an extra shot of honey to the standard recipe. Then we looked at some of the other flavors to help accentuate the experience. We pushed him out of his comfort zone a little bit, because we knew he did not like spicy foods. So we’re like, Let’s just try the chipotle here and see what you think. He absolutely loved it. While bacon and mango were both possible contenders for Mustards top pick, the chipotle combination ultimately won out. I think it has tremendous balance. I mean, you have th sweetness, you have the vinegar tartness, you have the smokiness from the chipotle, as well as the heat, Misutka says. It’s really a great product, and it was a tremendous experience. Mustard summed up his estimation of the product in his own words: This is the one, the Mustard of all mustards.
Category:
E-Commerce
Somewhere along the way, you learned how to read a room. How to anticipate what others needed before they said it. How to shape-shift just enough to stay admired, promoted, or simply safe. You became highly competent at adapting your identity, at being what the moment, the meeting, the mission demanded. And it worked. You delivered. You rose. You built a life of visible success. But lately, in the quiet spaces between the doing, somethings been stirring. A haunting whisper that asks: If I stop performing . . . who am I? This is the quiet cost of adaptation: achieving without anchoring, succeeding without a self. Its more common than we talk about. Especially among high-performing professionals. In fact, more than half of U.S. postgraduate workers say their job is central to their identity. And in environments where productivity and performance are prized above all else, its easy to confuse your role with your worth. Eventually, the gap between the self weve curated and the self weve buried starts to ache. However, theres good news. If the way youve adapted has left the core of you behind, you dont have to forfeit the success youve achieved to rediscover yourself. The key is to learn how to modulateadapt to meet the needs of those around you while still caring for yourselfversus modifywhen you alter yourself to engineer outcomes that cost you your identity. Both can deliver near-term success, but modulating is sustainable. Modifying isnt. Thats what Jason learned. The Story of Jason: A Master of Adaptation Jason had always been the go-to guy. Smart, strategic, relational, he could manage up, down, and sideways without breaking a sweat. By 42, he was COO of a global tech firm. On paper, everything looked ideal. But in a coaching conversation with me one morning, he surprised himself with tears. Ive been everything to everyone, he said quietly. And now Im not sure who I am. I know how to play any role. But I dont know whats real anymore. His voice cracked. I dont think Ive ever actually asked myself what I want. Jasons story isnt rare. Its the natural result of a system that rewards adaptation over authenticity, and of humans wired to belong at almost any cost. Why We Lose Our Identities Several forces drive this invisible drift: 1. Social Conditioning:From a young age, were praised for being compliant, easy, high-achieving. Youre so mature, someone says, because we didnt cry when we needed to. Youre such a leader, someone notes, because we stepped in where others stepped back. We learn early that being attuned to others makes us valuable. 2. A Need for Approval:Psychologically, we are wired to stay close to what feels safe. Children who sense that love is conditional learn to become highly adaptive. Adults carry those patterns forward, often unconsciously. In the workplace, this shows up as people who over-function, over-accommodate, or suppress parts of themselves to stay approved and feel validated. 3. Professional Incentives:Organizations reward whats visible: performance, productivity, polish. Authenticity, vulnerability, or questioning the game? Those are trickier. The SHRM research series found that 44% of U.S. employees feel burned out at work, with 45% feeling emotionally drained and 51% feeling “used up.” Even more disturbing, more than 15% of working-age adults globally experience anxiety or depression, often quietly, behind successful facades. The trouble isnt that we adapted. Its that we forgot we were doing it. Four Ways to Return to Yourself The good news? The self you buried isnt gone. Its just been quiet. Here are four ways to begin the return. 1. Notice the Cost of Over-Adaptation Begin by noticing the signs that somethings off. Do you feel hollow after high-achievement moments? Do you leave meetings unsure what you actually think or want? Do your days feel like performances strung together? Over-adaptation often comes with subtle burnoutnot of energy, but of identity. The mask has grown heavy, but weve worn it so long, we think its our face. This is not a failure. Its a signal. 2. Track What Feels True (and What Doesnt) Reclaiming yourself starts with paying attention to what resonates. What makes you feel more like you? What makes you shrink, go numb, or check out? What conversations, values, or people light something in you? Keep a simple alignment journal for a week. Jot down moments when you felt most like yourself, and least. Patterns will emerge. Your inner voice is quieter than your to-do list, but its still there. Listening is a practice. 3. Create Spacious Identity, Not Just Roles Its easy to collapse our identity into our functions. Im a leader. Im a parent. Im a problem-solver. But the self beneath roles is wider than any title. Ask: Who am I when no one is watching? What values do I hold when theres nothing to gain? What would I say or do if I didnt fear being misunderstood? In a world where 77% of workers have experienced burnout at their current job, according to research by Deloitte, choosing to explore identity outside of work isnt indulgent, its essential. Building a spacious identity means allowing yourself to exist even when youre not being productive or impressive. Its messy, but its true. 4. Practice Micro Acts of Integrity Returning to yourself doesnt require a grand reinvention. Start small. Speak up in a meeting when its easier to stay silent. Take an afternoon to do something that has no strategic value, only joy. Share honestly with a peer instead of defaulting to polished answers. Integrity isnt perfection. Its congruence. And every time you act in a way that matches your inner truth, you rebuild trust with yourself. Its Not Too Late to Return You adapted because you had to. Because it worked. Because it kept you safe or seen or successful. Theres no shame in that. But there comes a point when continuing the performance costs more than it gives. When the ladder you climbed leads not to joy, but to disorientation. And when the only real move left is inward. Thats what Jason did. He didnt quit his job or retreat to the woods. He started smaller. He blocked off one hour a week, just for himself, with no agenda. He began journaling what felt true and what didnt. He reached out to an old friend and admitted he wasnt as fine as he seemed. He brought more curiosity into his leadership meetings, even when he didnt have the answers. And slowly, the hollow places began to fill, not with more achievement, but with alignment. The good news? You dont have to burn i all down. You dont have to quit your job or find yourself on a mountaintop. You just have to start telling the truth. First to yourself. Then maybe to others. You can still be excellent. Still contribute, lead, and grow. But now, from the inside out. The self you thought you lost is waiting. Not to punish you, but to welcome you back.
Category:
E-Commerce
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