Google's Chief Innovation Evangelist on how to navigate ambiguity and lead in complexity

Having trained thousands of Googlers how to develop an innovation mindset, Frederik G. Pferdt is firm about this mindset's importance in tackling real problems and bringing individuals and organisations closer to the future

- Mastufa Ahmed

Innovation has always been a top priority for successful organisations. For a company such as Google, innovation is part of everything they do. The search giant makes sure that teams continue to collaborate and brainstorm to improve their products and services, internal processes, and even workspaces as they work remotely.

One of the initiatives that the company launched at the beginning of the pandemic was “Reimagine” which explored how workers want to work at Google in the future. ‘We see that today some of these imaginations became a reality and that’s exciting,’ says Frederik G. Pferdt, who launched the project.

In this interview, Frederik sheds light on the importance of experimental mindset, the culture of innovation and innovation for sustainable growth.

As the Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google, Frederik’s mission is to grow an innovation mindset in everyone and he believes creativity exists in all of us. Frederik currently serves as Innovation Consultant to the United Nations (UN), advisor to the Stanford University Innovation Fellows (UIF) and Innovation Coach of the German Soccer Association (DFB) and member of the “Hall of Fame” (Paderborn University).

We lived in a storm of accelerated innovation even before the current pandemic. How has the two years of disruption changed how corporations view the need to innovate?