Alex Cowan

It’s natural to focus on project completion and work that shows well internally. But high-performing innovation teams need to look beyond vanity metrics and ask the hard questions that spur significant improvement. Here’s how to focus on what matters, define and prioritize customer outcomes, and obtain analytical clarity and actionability.

The Post-Information Age means it’s time to take stock of what it means for you personally and professionally. The definition of success of digital products has changed significantly. Here are three recommendations for managers who understand they need to do more with digital.

A collection of what to read from the latest Ideas to Action posts.

Is coding an essential job skill of the future? Should MBA students learn to code? Darden Professor Alex Cowan answers five questions on the building blocks of much of our digital world.

Done right, "agile" is what every organization wants: a workhorse for applied innovation. Darden's Alex Cowan breaks down the process by which teams can determine which agile practices will best help them innovate.

Every year, more Darden MBAs are joining what you’d generally call “technology companies” for reasons that may be obvious to you if you read Ideas to Action. Darden faculty consider how to equip them for those roles.

How do you make sure the next big thing gets enough resources vs. zombie projects that lumber on without delivering?

How do you identify disruptive new ideas that will drive organic growth and renew the corporation?

Agile is a way of thinking that leads to outcomes like interdisciplinary collaboration and an ability to effectively respond to change, and its principles are relevant to innovative firms everywhere.