Mark Mathews
Professional Big Wave Surfer | 3x Oakley Big Wave Award Winner | Red Bull Athlete | Resilience & Fear Management Speaker
Gary P. Pisano
Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School | Authority on Innovation, Strategy & Growth | Author of Creative Construction | Chief Strategist, Flagship Pioneering
Gary P. Pisano is one of the world's leading authorities on innovation, strategy, and growth, and a Harvard Business School professor of nearly four decades. Author of Creative Construction and twice named by Thinkers50 among the top eight innovation thinkers, he proves that big companies can innovate too. On stage, he gives leaders a rigorous, myth-free framework for building and sustaining innovation at scale.
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Gary P. Pisano biography
Gary P. Pisano is one of the world’s leading authorities on innovation, strategy, and how organizations grow, a Harvard Business School professor who has spent nearly four decades studying how companies innovate, learn, compete, and scale. His work dismantles one of the most persistent myths in business: that only small, nimble startups can truly innovate, and that large enterprises are doomed to be disrupted.
Innovation speaker Gary Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he has taught MBA, executive, and doctoral students since 1988 and served as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development. He is best known for the concept of “creative construction”, his answer to Schumpeter’s “creative destruction”, which shows how big companies can leverage the advantages of scale to become transformative innovators. His book Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation argues that sustained innovation is not a matter of luck or genius but of deliberately designed strategy, systems, and culture.
The DNA of Sustained Innovation
Pisano’s influence on his field runs deep. His 1997 paper on “dynamic capabilities,” written with David Teece and Amy Shuen, is among the most-cited works in all of management and helped launch the capability-based view of strategy. He is a two-time winner of the McKinsey Award for the best article in Harvard Business Review and the inaugural winner of the Clayton M. Christensen Prize for his influential piece “The Hard Truth About Innovative Cultures,” which revealed why innovative cultures are so widely admired yet so hard to sustain. The author of six books, including Producing Prosperity and Science Business, and more than a hundred scholarly articles, he has advised senior leaders across industries from biotech and aerospace to fashion and finance, and in 2024 became Executive Partner and Chief Strategist at the science-innovation firm Flagship Pioneering. He has twice been named by Thinkers50 among the world’s top eight thinkers on innovation, and holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and a BA from Yale.
As a speaker, Gary Pisano combines deep research with decades of hands-on advisory experience to give leaders a clear-eyed, practical understanding of how innovation and growth really work. He speaks on building sustained innovation capability, the hard truth about innovative cultures, how large enterprises can innovate at scale, and the strategies behind profitable growth. Audiences leave with a rigorous, myth-free framework for making their own organizations more innovative, and the discipline to sustain it.
Gary P. Pisano Speaking Videos
Innovative Culture by Gary Pisano
Beyond Industrial Policy with Gary Pisano | 15.05.2012
Gary P. Pisano Keynote Topics
Challenging the myth that only startups innovate, Pisano shows how large enterprises can leverage the advantages of scale, resources, and reach to become transformative innovators. Drawing on his book, he gives leaders a practical blueprint for the strategy, systems, and culture that turn size from a liability into an innovation advantage.
Everyone says they want an innovative culture, but few understand what one actually requires. In this award-winning talk, Pisano reveals the uncomfortable trade-offs behind innovative cultures, tolerance for failure paired with intolerance for incompetence, psychological safety paired with brutal candor, and shows leaders how to build cultures that are genuinely innovative rather than merely comfortable.
Pisano argues that innovation fails not from a lack of creativity but from a lack of strategy. He helps leaders define what kind of innovation their organization actually needs, align systems and resources behind it, and avoid the common traps that cause well-funded innovation initiatives to stall, so that innovation becomes a repeatable capability rather than a lucky break.
Drawing on his latest research, Pisano tackles one of the hardest questions facing executives: how to grow profitably and sustainably. He explores how fast a company can really grow, how rapid growth reshapes culture, and when to grow organically versus through acquisition, giving leaders a disciplined framework for scaling without breaking what made them successful.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Gary P. Pisano
Why Gary Pisano?
Booking Gary Pisano gives audiences one of the most rigorous and respected minds in innovation and strategy, a Harvard Business School professor whose ideas have shaped both academic thinking and real-world practice for decades. Twice named by Thinkers50 among the world's top eight innovation thinkers, a two-time McKinsey Award winner, and the inaugural winner of the Clayton M. Christensen Prize, he combines deep research with hands-on experience advising senior leaders across dozens of industries. He is especially valuable for large organizations wrestling with how to innovate and grow, offering not slogans but a clear-eyed, evidence-based framework. He is an ideal speaker for events on innovation, strategy, growth, and organizational culture. To bring Gary Pisano to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Gary Pisano?
Gary P. Pisano is an American academic and one of the world's leading authorities on innovation, strategy, and growth. He is the Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he has been on the faculty since 1988 and served as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development, and in 2024 he became Executive Partner and Chief Strategist at Flagship Pioneering. The author of six books including Creative Construction, he is a two-time McKinsey Award winner and has twice been named by Thinkers50 among the world's top eight thinkers on innovation. He holds a PhD from UC Berkeley.
What is "creative construction"?
Creative construction is the concept at the heart of Gary Pisano's book of the same name. It is a deliberate counterpoint to economist Joseph Schumpeter's famous "creative destruction," the idea that innovation comes from startups displacing incumbents. Pisano argues that large, established companies are not doomed to be disrupted: they can be powerful innovators in their own right by leveraging the advantages of scale, and that doing so requires purpose-built innovation strategy, systems, and culture rather than simply "acting like a startup."
What topics does innovation speaker Gary Pisano cover?
Gary Pisano speaks on building sustained innovation capability, the hard truth about innovative cultures, how large enterprises can innovate at scale ("creative construction"), and the discipline of profitable growth. His keynotes suit events on innovation, strategy, growth, and organizational culture, especially for established companies seeking to innovate. To book Gary Pisano as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Gary P. Pisano as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Gary P. Pisano as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Gary P. Pisano's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Gary P. Pisano or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Gary P. Pisano speaking fee?
Gary P. Pisano speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Gary P. Pisano to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Gary P. Pisano.
How can I contact Gary P. Pisano?
We only work with Gary P. Pisano on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Gary P. Pisano and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Gary P. Pisano speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Gary P. Pisano for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Gary P. Pisano for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Gary P. Pisano is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Gary P. Pisano for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
