Eight Essential Steps to Transform Any Industry

Lorraine H. Marchand

BUS '06, General manager of life sciences, IBM Watson Health
Adjunct professor of management
Columbia Business School

Innovation requires more than a eureka moment. The vast majority of new product ideas never make it to market. Typically, this is because of the failure to address a real problem that a customer has experienced and is willing to pay to have solved. What do people and businesses need to know about the realities of innovating in order to develop products successfully?

In this talk, Lorraine Marchand—a seasoned practitioner who has guided Fortune 500 companies and start-ups on developing and launching new ideas—lays out a step-by-step framework for spurring success. She shares her eight laws of innovation, a formula for driving significant and lasting transformation in any organization. Marchand emphasizes the frame of mind needed to spark the innovation process, underscoring the importance of creating a problem-solving culture and supporting personal curiosity, passion, and talent. She pinpoints the strengths shared by the big ideas that break through and debunks the myths that hold back aspiring creators. Drawing on her experience as a woman in a male-dominated field, Marchand discusses how to support entrepreneurship by women and highlights the contributions of underrepresented innovators.

Time will be allocated for Q&A.

This program is part of the ColumbiaDC CUP series.

"What Lorraine Marchand has written in this book is nothing short of, well, innovative. Its detailed roadmap, packed with engaging anecdotes and practical planning processes from companies of every size and scale, will provide any individual or team the tools needed to create the perfect environment for innovation. Discussing notables and novices alike, Marchand's examples and commentaries are relevant and fascinating." Spencer Rascoff, cofounder and former CEO, Zillow; cofounder and executive chairman, dot.LA; and angel investor in more than 75 companies

Lorraine Marchand is general manager of life sciences at IBM Watson Health and an adjunct professor of management and serves on the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program Advisory Board at Columbia Business School. she has held executive roles in Management, Operations and Business Development for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Covance, Clinilabs and Cognizant Technology Solutions. She co-founded two life sciences companies.

Highly creative and innovative in the design of projects and workshops, Lorraine developed a course on accelerating the commercialization of new technologies for Princeton University where she served as James Wei Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship. She is adjunct professor and advisory board member at Columbia Business School. She holds the elected office of Auditor, Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania.

Lorraine holds M.B.A.s from Columbia University and the London Business School; a Master’s from The American University; and a Bachelor’s in Science from the University of Maryland. She received awards of distinction from Bristol-Myers Squibb and the National Institutes of Health. She was the 2014 recipient of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Hannah Penn Leadership Award.

CUP Series: This is a new initiative between ColumbiaDC and Columbia University Press to showcase acclaimed and pioneering work by renowned academics, scholars, and researchers published by the Columbia University Press.