Most innovation programs don't fail because of bad ideas — they fail because of misalignment. Adrian Rubenstein, Innovation Manager for Latin America at Merck Group, shares how to navigate the political realities of large organizations and move ideas from concept to tested prototype.

About Adrian Rubenstein

Adrian Rubenstein holds degrees in biology, pharmacy, and epidemiology. After working as a medical advisor at a pharmaceutical company, his passion for technology led him to his role as Innovation Manager for Argentina and Latin America at Merck Group.

What We Cover

• Why most innovation ideas die before they get a chance to fail properly
• The role of purpose-alignment in getting stakeholder buy-in
• How to influence without authority inside large organizations
• Adrian's structured innovation process: discovery, journey mapping, ideation, prototyping
• Using video instead of PowerPoint to get executive attention
• How to measure innovation success beyond launched products

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction
01:35 – Adrian's career path: from biology to innovation management
05:00 – Why corporate innovation fails: the misalignment problem
10:00 – How to align stakeholders on purpose before anything else
15:00 – Influencing without authority
20:00 – Discovery, Five Whys, journey mapping, ideation

Key Takeaways

1. Start with purpose, not the idea. Before pitching any innovation, align every stakeholder on a shared purpose. Without it, everyone pulls in different directions — and the best idea becomes a turf war.
2. Influence through understanding, not conviction. You have no formal authority as an innovation manager. Influence comes from deeply understanding what each stakeholder needs and showing how your solution helps them get it.
3. Go deep before you go wide. Use the Five Whys to get to the real problem, not the symptom. Most teams jump to solutions too early. Real diagnosis is where the leverage is.

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Merck Group: merckgroup.com

Where to Find Adrian Rubenstein

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrianrubenstein

Where to Find Yaniv Corem

Link in bio: sleek.bio/yanivcorem
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yanivcorem

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