14 June 2026

Season 5, Episode 32. The Product Development Framework with Natalie Born 

In this episode of Innovation Meets Leadership, host Natalie Born continues the Set It On Fire: The Art of Innovation series by diving into Chapter 6: The Product Development Framework. Joined by Moriah Hidden, Natalie explores practical ways organizations can intentionally surface innovation, move ideas from concept to execution, and create systems that help innovation thrive long-term.

This conversation unpacks business plan competitions, hackathons, customer incubation sessions, funding innovation, overcoming organizational barriers, and creating cultures where experimentation and execution become part of everyday work.

[00:00 – 03:10] Introduction to The Product Development Framework & Creating Space for Innovation

  • Introduction to the Product Development Framework

  • Leaders must intentionally create opportunities for innovation

  • Different organizations require different innovation approaches

[03:11 – 07:40] Business Plan Competitions & Learning Through Failure

  • Encouraging employees to bring forward new ideas

  • Lessons learned through personal experiences and failure

  • The value of psychological safety during innovation efforts

[07:41 – 11:05] Funding Innovation Effectively

  • Why funding strategy matters as much as the idea itself

  • Aligning financial resources with long-term innovation goals

  • How leaders evaluate which ideas receive investment

[11:06 – 14:30] Customer Incubation & Innovation Programs

  • Gathering real-world feedback before launching solutions

  • Building products that solve meaningful problems

  • Benefits of collaborative innovation environments

[14:31 – 19:22] Why Innovation Efforts Fail

  • Lack of ownership, accountability, and psychological safety

  • Failure to move from testing to execution

  • Leadership misalignment and competing priorities

[19:23 – 22:45] Building a Sustainable Innovation Culture

  • Aligning teams around problems worth solving

  • Creating repeatable systems for testing and learning and establishing accountability

  • Removing fear of failure from organizational culture

[22:46 – 23:20] Final Thoughts & Closing

  • Key takeaways from the Product Development Framework

  • Resources for learning more about Set It On Fire

  • Final encouragement for leaders pursuing innovation

Key Quotes

  • “The urgent work on our plate often suffocates our ability to think about the future.” – Natalie Born

  • “Funding innovation is just as important as generating the ideas themselves.” – Natalie Born

  • “People have good ideas all day long. The challenge is actually executing them.” – Natalie Born

Resources & Links

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a leader, entrepreneur, or innovator looking to build stronger systems for bringing ideas to life.

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