Innovation or Stagnation? Ron Brumbarger on Leading Through Uncertainty

TheInquisitor Podcast with Marcus Cauchi

In today’s fast-moving VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) businesses can no longer afford to confuse motion with progress. In this high-impact episode, we sit down with Ron Brumbarger, American entrepreneur and founder of Struinova, an “innovation-as-a-service” firm helping organisations unlock new products, services, and processes that genuinely delight customers.

Ron delivers a candid exploration of why companies stall, the dangers of systemic blind spots, and what it really takes to build a sustainable culture of innovation. With decades of experience and sharp, real-world insights, he challenges leaders to confront the uncomfortable truths holding them back, and offers tools to navigate the complexity with clarity, confidence, and creativity.

Whether you're a founder, executive, or innovator inside a large organisation, this conversation is your blueprint for staying relevant in an increasingly unforgiving market.

What You’ll Learn: Confronting Organisational Blind Spots

• Why waiting for permission kills innovation, and how to lead with urgency of agency

• How inattentional blindness sabotages even high-performing teams

• Where middle-management friction stalls progress, and how to refocus on issues, not egos

• The myth of "guaranteed revenue" and why G-A-R-R is a dangerous illusion

Building a Strategic Innovation Portfolio

• A practical definition of innovation: net new or enhanced value that delights customers

• How to assess the real value of your innovation portfolio, and why most leaders don’t

• TAM vs. SOM: Why chasing Total Addressable Market is a distraction

• How to create your own "Purple Cow" in a Blue Ocean" and avoid the commodity trap

• Why innovation lives in the estuary between your team and your customers

Leading Change with Core Disciplines

• Why humility is a superpower in the innovation game

• The role of trust, not just with clients, but within your team

• Practicing empathetic curiosity to unlock customer insights

• Plus: Marcus Cauchi’s powerful insight “Think as your customer, not about them.”

🗣️ Notable Quotes:

"There’s no such thing as a guaranteed run rate, especially if your top customer walks away." – Ron Brumbarger
"The closer you live to your customer’s reality, the more innovation you’ll find."
"Middle management is often where innovation goes to die, because risk is seen as a threat, not a tool."

🎯 Ideal For:

• Business leaders navigating change

• Innovation teams & product strategists

• Founders scaling new ventures

• Anyone seeking practical tools to drive real organizational transformation

🔗 Resources & Links:

• Stranova – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brumbarger

• Book: Purple Cow by Seth Godin https://amzn.to/3Kg5tCM

• Learn more about VUCA Leadership Models https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

• Mattress Interview: https://jobstobedone.org/radio/the-mattress-interview-part-one/

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