The real reason innovation stalls inside companies

It usually starts like this: a burst of excitement, some early wins, a promising pilot. A few leaders talk about "changing the game." There's a whiteboard full of ideas and a Slack channel that’s buzzing.

And then - silence.

The team gets pulled into other priorities. Budgets get tight. Feedback loops close. A few months later, someone says, "Whatever happened to that thing?"

From the outside, it looks like risk aversion. From the inside, it feels like inertia. But neither is the real reason.

Let’s talk about why good ideas quietly disappear inside good companies - and what to do about it.