Built For Breakthrough
Why Innovation Fails and How Smart Leaders Get It Right
Innovation isn't optional, it’s your lifeline in a rapidly changing world.
Built for Breakthrough is a practical field guide for leaders striving to innovate and navigate the gap between idea and execution.
Praise for Built for Breakthrough
“Stop your great ideas from dying an untimely death. This book will get your best innovation out the door and making millions.”’
Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit
“If you care about creating meaningful innovation inside real organizations, this book is a must-read. It provides powerful stories and practical tools to surface the insights that will move your company forward.”
Alisa Cohn, author of From Start-Up to Grown-Up
“Built for Breakthrough is the jolt leaders need to escape autopilot and spark real innovation. It shows that breakthroughs come from human insight, not complexity, and gives leaders a clear path to energize and align their teams. Practical, inspiring, and deeply human. If you read one book to elevate creativity and performance this year, make it this one.”
Kristi Herold, bestselling author of It Pays to PLAY
“Companies burn millions on beautiful strategy decks and trend reports, then wonder why nothing actually ships. Built for Breakthrough starts where other books stop: in the messy gap between idea and execution, where innovation actually lives or dies. Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson have mapped the organizational resistance, misaligned incentives, and risk-averse leadership that quietly kills breakthrough work. If you’re responsible for revenue from innovation, you need this book.”
Joe Mechlinski, bestselling author of Grow Regardless and Who Says? and CEO of SHIFT
“Finally, an innovation book that doesn’t feel like a textbook or a fantasy novel. Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson have cracked open decades of scars, triumphs, hallway conversations, and ‘oh-god-why-is-this-so-hard’ truth and turned it into a field guide. It’s smart, grounded, and human. It’s generous instead of preachy. And it respects the reader’s intelligence. Finally someone wrote the innovation manual that people who do real work can use.”
Kelsey Kitsch, award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling author of Success Hangover
“Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson’s innovation archeology approach—borrowing from other industries, translating parallel principles, finding inspiration in unexpected places—mirrors exactly how entrepreneurial breakthroughs actually happen. The magic isn’t in generating more ideas; it’s in knowing which problems are worth solving, understanding the real tensions your customers live with, and then looking sideways instead of straight ahead. Built for Breakthrough doesn’t just hand you a framework—it rewires how you see opportunity.”
Zvi Band, repeat founder and author of Success Is in Your Sphere
“Practical, insightful and grounded in decades of unique, in-depth professional experience—a must-read for anyone looking to deliver innovation that works. The case studies and examples are unusual and illuminating. Most of all, this book offers hands-on tools and techniques innovation leaders can truly benefit from.”
Victoria Mirauer, professor of practice innovation and strategy at Hult Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School
“Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson understand what so many miss: Breakthrough innovation isn’t just about generating ideas—it’s about navigating the critical pivots between vision and execution, where so much innovation tends to fail. Built for Breakthrough distills their decades of real-world experience into a practical guide for leaders who are ready to move beyond endless brainstorming and actually bring transformative ideas to market.”
Meghan Telpner, host of The Courageous Pivot podcast and founder of Academy of Culinary Nutrition
“If you’re tired of innovation theatre, Built for Breakthrough is the book that finally tells the truth. Innovation is human. It’s messy, emotional, political, and driven by courage. Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson don’t romanticize innovation; they demystify it. They show you how to make it work inside real organizations with real constraints. A must-read for any leader serious about meaningful change.”
Jayson Gaignard, founder of Mastermind Talks and author of Community Made
“Essential reading that leaders need to unlock bold ideas and real results. Built for Breakthrough is a practical path to drive meaningful innovation and a master class in using human insight to drive organizational transformation. Thoughtful, pragmatic, and leadership ready, Built for Breakthrough is a reliable system for generating fresh ideas that move businesses forward. It’s a clear, powerful real-world playbook to unlock growth.”
Nancy MacKay, founder and CEO of MacKay CEO Forums
“Stop wasting millions on trend reports that lead nowhere. Built for Breakthrough is the master class to turning abstract inspiration into tangible commercial success. Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson have distilled over six hundred projects into a guide that is as practical as it is transformative. A must-read for every founder who refuses to let their best ideas die in a slide deck.”
Ronsley Seriojo Vaz, computer scientist and author of Amplify and Amplify AI
“Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson are masters of innovation. This book is for any leader or organization looking to accelerate growth!”
Laura Beauparlant, founder of Lab Creative, keynote speaker, and author of Brand Chemistry
“This book explains not just how ideas are born but why they die and how to avoid that fate. It reveals how organizational habits and outdated success formulas choke innovation and provides ways to break through. Backed by expertise and clarity, the lessons in these pages build muscle memory and change behavior. If you want to stop admiring ideas and start executing them, this book is your guide.”
Dr. Emily Block, George M. Cormie Professor of Management at the Alberta School of Business and author of Business on the Edge
“A must-read for every leader, Built for Breakthrough empowers you to develop a sharp innovation mindset. Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson are proven innovation experts, drawing on compelling examples from clients they’ve guided through successful innovations. I only wish I’d had this book two decades ago, before launching my business.”
Ann Gomez, keynote speaker, founder of Clear Concept, and author of Workday Warrior and The Email Warrior
“Practical and exceptionally smart, Built for Breakthrough delivers the truth every leader needs: Real innovation starts with insight. This book reveals the importance of the patterns, emotions, and motivations that truly drive customer behavior, and shows you how to turn intelligence into ideas that win.”
Corrine Sandler, CEO and founder of Fresh Intelligence