0% of technology transformations fail. Not because of the technology, but because of the gap between a strategy set in the boardroom and the work that actually gets executed.

In this episode, Donna P. Mitchell sits down with Noel Sobelman, Partner at Accel Management Group and author of Innovation Portfolio Management: Linking Strategy to Execution. For more than two decades, Noel has helped the world's largest enterprises, including Medtronic, BD, Siemens, Kimberly Clark, Honeywell, and Whirlpool, turn innovation strategy into real execution.

Most leaders think the adoption gap shows up at implementation. Noel sees it forming earlier, in the boardroom, when strategy fragments and the wrong projects get funded. Together they unpack where innovation really breaks: funding the technology before the customer problem, the difference between a project leader and a coordinator, why killing the right project should be rewarded, and the question almost no one can answer, who actually owns adoption.

TOPICS COVERED:

- Why "fall in love with the problem, not the solution" is the discipline most teams skip

- How portfolio management connects strategy to execution

- What separates a true cross-functional leader from a coordinator

- How to reframe a killed project as learning, not failure

- Why the regulatory function, not engineering, is often the real bottleneck in healthcare

- Who should own adoption, and why it is the million dollar question

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Cold Open

0:24 Meet Noel Sobelman

2:03 Two Decades in Innovation and Advisory

3:18 Why Corporates Struggle to Innovate

5:00 Living with Uncertainty: A Travel Parallel

7:00 Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution

9:45 Building the Capability to Innovate

10:30 Portfolio Management: Strategy to Execution

14:10 The Project Leader vs. the Coordinator

18:50 Finding True Leaders: Skills and Gaps

20:30 Killing a Project: Reframing Failure as Learning

23:00 Overcoming Resistance to Change

26:30 Healthcare and the Regulatory Bottleneck

29:40 The Book: Innovation Portfolio Management

31:00 The Human Side of Change

33:10 Who Owns Adoption?

33:40 Close

Noel's book, Innovation Portfolio Management: Linking Strategy to Execution, is available for pre-order now, with the ebook released early to anyone who pre-orders.

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ABOUT THE GUEST:

Noel Sobelman works with corporate leaders to accelerate core business vitality while simultaneously building new sources of growth. For the past 25 years, he has worked in the areas of growth strategy, innovation capability building, portfolio management, organization design, ecosystem development, and digital enablement. He is widely recognized for bringing a practical and applicable approach to companies looking to ignite change. Prior to joining Accel Management Group, Noel was a Partner and Managing Director with Kalypso. His background also includes senior-level corporate roles, new venture creation, and executive advisory.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/noelsobelman | Book: available for pre-order now (ebook released early to pre-orders)

ABOUT DONNA P. MITCHELL:

Founder of The Transformation Authority and CEO of Mitchell Universal Network, LLC. Forbes Business Council Member. Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank Member. 49 years across five regulated industries, telecommunications, aviation, airline management, healthcare and pharmaceutical, and emerging technologies, enabling 150,000+ professionals.

GET THE BOOK:

Pivoting to Technology Adoption: Mind the Gap

amazon.com/dp/B0GP3CWH2H

CONNECT WITH DONNA:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/donnapmitchell

YouTube: @TheTransformationAuthority

Website: pivotingportal.com

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New episodes every Tuesday.