Martin Daffner
Martin Daffner
With over 20 years of experience driving innovation and building innovation organizations with firms like Procter & Gamble, Cisco and Avery Dennison, Martin comes with world leading hands-on knowledge and experience turning innovation concepts and ideas into real business outcomes. In 2006, Martin relocated to China to start up the Asia Pacific Innovation Center for a Fortune 500 company.
While a seasoned practitioner of innovation leadership and management, Martin is also an experienced entrepreneur. Creating an innovation center that was voluntarily funded each year by its business stakeholders changed the way Martin thought about innovation, and drove him to start his own business helping others think differently about how they lead and manage innovation. In 2012 he began his own innovation practice, working closely with senior business leaders in firms like Cisco, TE Connectivity, Unilever and others. Contracted with Cisco Services as their Senior Innovation Architect, Martin was tasked to develop and deploy a ground-breaking innovation program. In 2013, that program was awarded the HBR/McKinsey M-Prize for “Innovating Innovation”, and within 18 months had dramatically changed the way Cisco’s Services businesses create, manage and implement their innovative ideas. This program continues to be deployed more broadly across Cisco Systems globally. Martin plays many roles in the innovation ecosystem in Asia, and is currently the Director of Innovation at Hult International Business School in Shanghai, the Senior Principle for IXL-Center in Asia Pacific, and the Managing Director for Innobrix Consulting.
As a strong believer in growth mindset and continuous development, Martin is also a certified facilitator of the Midnight Lunch creative thinking and innovation methodology. Developed in partnership with the Edison Labs, the Midnight Lunch process directly employs the proven creative strategies and methods developed by Thomas Edison, one of the worlds most prolific innovators. In addition, Martin is a certified facilitator of the Creatix process for building both individual and organizational innovation capability. Developed by Richard and Jacqueline Byrd (author of The Innovation Equation), Creatrix is the world’s most proven methodology for increasing the “Innovation Mindset”.
Favorite quote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison