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Jeff DeGraff

Clinical Professor of Business Administration, Ross School of Business at University of Michigan

Jeff DeGraff is a world renowned thought leader, executive and innovation expert. His expertise has been shared globally at top innovation incubators and think tanks such as the Aspen Institute and with companies that include Eaton, GM, SPX, 3M, Apple, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, GE, Johnson & Johnson, LG, Pfizer, and Toyota. DeGraff has contributed his expert knowledge in publications such as Business Week, CIO, Fortune, USA Today, Training+Development and the Wall Street Journal. Jeff is focused on how to lead Innovation; developing the culture, capabilities, and collaborative connections that result in revenue and market growth.

With over twenty-five years of corporate leadership experience and as Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Jeff is the 'guru to the innovation gurus' at Fortune 500 companies His advice is frequently in demand from the investment community on how to pick, manage and harvest winning ideas and business enterprises.

DeGraff offers his personal experience as a former business executive from one of the fastest growing companies in America, the credibility of being a published author and an expert resource for the media. Jeff is the Executive Director of the Innovatrium Institute for Innovation, an idea lab; Managing Partner of the Competing Values Company, a top innovation consulting firm where he is also the co-creator of the Competing Values methodology that integrates innovation with finance, strategy, management, and leadership into a robust business model that boosts the bottom-line.
Innovation is Like the Path of Odysseus
Jeff DeGraff: As a rule of thumb I like to tell people you have to be very open and an innovation usually takes you three times as long and at least twice the amount of money you thought it would. 
On the Hypocrisy of Innovators
Recently I spoke to a conference of leading business school deans about the prospects of the MBA degree. My speech was entitled The Future has Come and Gone and You’ve […]
Recreating Your Company
Your Only Friend Innovation is different from everything you do as a leader in three distinct ways. First, innovation happens in the future for which you currently have no data. […]