Travels from Michigan, USA
Jeff DeGraff's speaking fee falls within range: $25,000 to $30,000
Jeff DeGraff is the Dean of Innovation and one of the world’s leading authorities on organizational innovation and transformational change. As Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business since 1990, DeGraff has established a comprehensive school of thought around systematic innovation development that bridges academic rigor with practical application across business, government, and mission-driven sectors.
DeGraff co-created the Competing Values Framework alongside Robert Quinn, John Rohrbaugh, and Kim Cameron—one of the most widely used organizational effectiveness models globally. Building on this foundation, he developed the Innovation Genome and Innovation Code methodologies, which extend the framework into innovation contexts and provide organizations with practical tools to reconcile competing priorities and drive breakthrough performance.
His intellectual architecture centers on three revolutionary concepts: first, that innovation is a learnable skill, not a gift—a discipline that can be systematized like any business imperative; second, that constructive conflict, not harmony, drives breakthrough innovation by orchestrating opposing perspectives into hybrid solutions; and third, that transformational change emerges from embracing paradox rather than eliminating it. Through his trilogy of books—The Innovation Code, The Creative Mindset, and The Art of Change—DeGraff has codified a complete philosophy of paradox-based organizational transformation.
DeGraff’s career uniquely combines corporate leadership and academic excellence. After earning his PhD at age 25, he served as Vice President of Communications and New Ventures at Domino’s Pizza (1985-1990), where he applied emerging organizational theories to help scale the company from $50 million to $2 billion—earning him the nickname Dean of Innovation. This experience of building things, not just theorizing about them, has defined his approach as a pracademic who teaches innovation through action learning in unconventional spaces like museums and innovation laboratories.
As founder of the Innovatrium Institute for Innovation, DeGraff created a living laboratory where organizations experiment with innovation culture, capability, and community. The Innovatrium operates as the practical manifestation of his school of thought—a physical space where diverse perspectives clash productively to generate new solutions. Through this work with over half the Fortune 500, including Google, Apple, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, NASA, and Microsoft, DeGraff has refined frameworks that help organizations build sustainable innovation ecosystems.
Guided by his mission to democratize innovation, DeGraff founded the Intellectual Edge Alliance (IEA), a nonprofit consortium of research universities and technology companies working with the U.S. Military, NATO, and allied forces in 45 countries. Through the IEA, he makes innovation tools and practices accessible to leaders tackling critical societal challenges in defense, government, and education—proving that innovation methodologies transcend sector boundaries.
DeGraff’s influence extends through multiple channels: as creator of the University of Michigan’s Certified Professional Innovator Program, the first university innovation certificate of its kind; as host of PBS’s Innovation You and NPR’s The Next Idea; and as a prolific contributor to Inc., Fortune, Psychology Today, and Big Think. His speaking engagements span from TED to the Pentagon, and his advisory work includes the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, Cabinet departments, and high-ranking military leaders across democratic nations.
Through four decades of teaching, consulting, writing, and building innovation infrastructure, DeGraff has established himself as the preeminent voice on systematic innovation development and paradox-based organizational change. His school of thought transforms how organizations approach innovation—not as spontaneous creativity or rigid process, but as the disciplined orchestration of diverse perspectives, constructive tension, and the courageous embrace of organizational paradox to generate breakthrough value.
“He made the erroneous assumption that he operated on his own." Jeff DeGraff demonstrates how anyone who forgets or neglects the networks within which they move cannot operate successfully.
Jeff’s exciting and engaging speeches have been delivered to audiences from General Electric, Visa, Tetra Pak, and American Airlines, among others. His expertise as a thought leader and innovation expert is employed in explaining how growth can be achieved through innovation and how the capability for innovation can be developed.
Creating A Culture of Innovation “Strategy doesn’t work without culture.” – Jeff DeGraff
We’re living in a world of accelerating change and unprecedented competition. Disruption has become the new normal—and constant innovation is the only way to stay relevant and succeed. Does your organization have the innovative culture, language, and mindset needed to succeed? In this invaluable session, “Dean of Innovation” Jeff DeGraff draws on 30 years working with the world’s most innovative companies to show you how to pump up innovation and creativity—followed by an exhilarating Q&A that will help set the wheels in motion to transform your organization.
You’ll learn how to:
- Inspire your team to do their most creative work at work. - Foster cross-collaboration and “watercooler moments” with a remote workforce. - Empower a creative mindset that brings people together to “connect the dots” and accelerate the pace of innovation and change. - Synch up innovation strategies and practices to achieve your goals and create value. - Encourage individuals to design and follow their own creative path—retaining your company’s most creative thinkers. - Hire for diversity of thought and assemble “super teams” that complement each other through their strengths and differences.
The Creative Power of Constructive Conflict “We innovate when we disrupt, and we have to disrupt each other.” – Jeff DeGraff
Today’s workplaces are more polarized than ever before. In fact, a recent Harvard Business Review article reported that about 89% of employees have experienced conflict in the workplace and spent roughly 3.5 hours a week dealing with it. But is conflict really bad for the workplace? Or can it be a positive force for innovation and fresh thinking? In this provocative talk, renowned innovation guru Jeff DeGraff challenges the common perception of workplace conflict and team differences, contending that friction can actually be the spark that ignites creativity and innovation. Drawing from his acclaimed book, The Innovation Code, Professor DeGraff, shows you how to harness the positive aspects of disharmony and differences to create a more innovative and productive workplace where creative mindsets and cultures thrive. He identifies four contrasting types of innovators and shows how to leverage their full spectrum of thinking—disrupting old norms and driving innovation in every aspect of your business. You’ll understand why apathy is the death of innovation, conflict feeds creativity, and diversity of thought is critical to successful teams. Sharing a pragmatic playbook based on real-life examples from the Fortune 500, DeGraff shows you how to celebrate differences and embrace conflict as your organization’s new innovation superpower.
Fireside Chat: Talking Innovation with Jeff DeGraff
Known for his talent for thinking on his feet, diagnosing organizational obstacles and prescribing insightful solutions, Jeff DeGraff’s “Q&As” at the end of a keynote are always the highlight of his talks. In this conversational format, Professor DeGraff discusses your organization’s innovation challenges in a fireside chat with an interviewer of your choice. Get ready to get to the heart of what makes and doesn’t make innovation work — with highly pragmatic and prescriptive advice from one of the world’s preeminent thought leaders on innovation.
Leading Innovation: How to Jumpstart Your Organization’s Growth Engine “The amount of innovation a company produces is inversely related to the number of PowerPoint slides or elaborate process diagrams it makes about innovation.” – The DeGraff Hypothesis
Productivity is no longer enough. Strategy is no longer enough. And please don’t get the “Dean of Innovation” Jeff DeGraff started about all the slides and diagrams. As a consultant to half the Fortune 500, he has seen firsthand the obstacles that leaders face when trying to jumpstart their organization’s growth engine. DeGraff’s experience shows that most simply don’t have the tools or preparation to make innovation and growth happen. Even in leading organizations, innovative strategies and processes cannot succeed without the culture, competencies, and leadership practices required to execute and sustain innovation. In this session geared specifically for leadership, Professor DeGraff breaks down these essential components of innovation. He also shares a simple, essential approach that any leader can use to not only recognize, develop and launch creative ideas—but to turn them into winning solutions that create value.
Innovation You: Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved “The greatest innovation you create is yourself.” – Jeff DeGraff
The rapid pace of disruption isn’t just happening at the organizational level. Individuals on every branch of the org chart have realized that the game has changed. Maybe you no longer feel like you are growing. Or worse, keeping up. If you were a product or a service, you would take stock, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and get down to the business of innovation. Why shouldn’t individuals take the same approach? According to innovation expert Jeff DeGraff, “Innovation You” should be job #1 when it comes to succeeding in times of disruption and change. In this lively and inspirational session, Professor DeGraff shows how you can adopt best practices from the most innovative organizations in the world to refresh, reinvent and reinvigorate your life and career. Diving deep into strategies and how-to tactics, he spells out the four steps to becoming “new and improved,” including developing the skills to help others do the same.
“Innovation is a skill, not a gift. It can be routinized like any other business imperative such as productivity, leadership, or quality. DeGraff shows you the way.” – Drew Boyd, Director, Johnson & Johnson
“Jeff’s presentation was far and away one of the best that I saw last week. Our team debriefed for quite some time on it and are reviewing how we can implement some of the suggestions.” – Valassis
“I could not be any more pleased with how well it went over and I know my team feels the same way. It truly was a very valuable experience for everyone.” – Robert D. Barber, Chief Executive Officer, Environmental Data Resources, Inc.
“Simply put, Jeff DeGraff’s methods work! In working with Jeff and his framework to transform various aspects of our business model, it became increasingly clear that he was also subtly transforming me and my team. – Pfizer, Inc.
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Innovation You: Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved
In today’s frenetic, uncertain world, the “same old, same old” routines are perfect ways to go nowhere fast. What has worked for you before—professionally or personally—no longer gets results. Whether you’ve been downsized, reached the end of a long relationship, or found yourself questioning where you are in life, it’s clear you need to change. To innovate. Make it new. Make yourself new. Now, in this invaluable book, the world-renowned “Dean of Innovation,” Jeff DeGraff, shares his tried-and-true techniques on how to reinvent yourself—creatively and with maximum impact.
Innovation You reveals DeGraff’s unique four-step program to bolster your ingenuity and remake your life. From forging ahead in a new career to losing weight to finally pursuing that long-held dream, DeGraff’s strategies are effective and easy to follow. Inside you will learn to:
Full of invigorating ideas, engaging anecdotes, practical wisdom, and inspiring success stories, Innovation You is your personal road map to reach your highest potential—and experience a bold new way of living.
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Leading Innovation: How to Jump Start Your Organization′s Growth Engine / Edition 1
Leading Innovation presents a unique, holistic approach to creating innovation at all levels of your organization. Authors Jeff DeGraff and Shawn Quinn have created a real-world, how-to playbook of integrated creativity tools and techniques for understanding where innovation comes from and harnessing its power to create a culture where real growth happens on a constant basis.
Based on DeGraff′s proven methods-which he teaches in his innovation program at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and has applied at Fortune 500 companies around the world-this breakthrough guide focuses on systematically integrating business practices and connecting them to the value propositions they produce. You′ll discover how to diagnose obstacles to innovation, realistically assess your options, and develop an integrated program of action that can be adjusted to meet the needs of any group, department, or business unit throughout your organization.
You′ll learn the 7 key steps to double-digit growth, sparking innovation in your:
Throughout, insightful case studies demonstrate how these results-driven methods are supported by senior leadership at GE, Reuters, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eaton, and other leading innovators.
Creativity at Work: Developing the Right Practices to Make Innovation Happen / Edition 1
Although many leaders acknowledge and invest in creativity, we seldom see it hold a credible place in the business development process. Creativity at Work takes a practical approach to creativity, showing how to select practices to produce results and add value. The authors explain how to:
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