No Fear, No Failure

FIve Principles for Sustaining Growth Through Innovation

By Lorraine H. Marchand with John Hanc

Many companies claim to prize innovation but struggle to support it in practice. CEOs call innovation their number-one priority in surveys, yet their employees say they are frequently frustrated in their efforts to create change. The biggest reason for this disconnect? Playing it safe. Leaders and organizations want to implement new ideas, but too often they are held back by the fear of failure, even though setbacks are intrinsic to the innovation process. In No Fear, No Failure, Lorraine H. Marchand shows readers how to overcome the status quo that stifles creative thinking and to create a culture that encourages innovation. She provides a framework for sustained growth built on the “5 Cs”: Customer First, Culture, Collaboration, Change, and Chance. Drawing on more than 120 interviews with leaders across industries, real-world case studies, and firsthand experience, Marchand demonstrates how to spark lasting transformation. She shares field-tested strategies, tactics, and tools that practitioners can use to embed creativity within organizational cultures, leverage innovation to ensure better results, and future-proof a company for the long haul. Practical and inspiring, No Fear, No Failure is a step-by-step guide for organizations of every type and size to drive growth by fostering a culture of innovation.

No Fear, No Failure is a must-read for all leaders engaged in developing and nurturing new ideas into products and looking to make innovation a way of working and a lever for driving sustained growth. Marchand’s experience as an innovation leader reflects abundantly through the practical examples and approaches she shares. One can learn and adopt her process for driving innovation into the organization while building the culture.

In No Fear, No Failure, Marchand introduces a groundbreaking guide to corporate innovation, skillfully weaving together the essential 5 Cs―Customer First, Culture, Chance, Collaboration, and Change. The book offers a fresh perspective on fostering a culture of innovation, providing insightful case studies and practical tools for organizations of all sizes to thrive in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Very often, venture capital involves a thoughtful step into the unknown―managing the fear and trepidation that arises across all the stakeholders is a key determinant of success in our portfolio companies. I am delighted to see another book from Lorraine Marchand that, like The Innovation Mindset, can provide a guide for dynamic, fast-growth companies―and a road map for leaders as their company matures

This book is essential reading for boards of directors, CEOs, and their management teams. As a CFO, I have finally discovered a concrete framework in No Fear, No Failure that empowers leadership teams in any corporation to achieve exponential and sustained impact on shareholder returns while redefining the organization’s full potential.

In this insightful book, you’ll discover a wealth of practical tools, strategies, and case studies that illuminate the path to fostering a culture of innovation and organizational change. Each chapter offers invaluable insights to help navigate the complexities of innovation. With easy-to-use frameworks, diagnostic tools, and exercises, you’ll learn how to overcome barriers, embrace uncertainty, and turn bold ideas into tangible results. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a corporate leader, No Fear, No Failure equips you with the knowledge and confidence to fortify your organization for the challenges ahead and unleash its full potential. Get ready to embark on a transformative journey toward innovation excellence!

No Fear, No Failure provides a practical, structured approach to diagnosing the challenges to innovation within your organization and within yourself. This easy-to-read book offers a road map for navigating and reducing, if not removing, roadblocks to change as well as a powerful set of tools for building a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within your team and across your organization.

As our keynote speaker for our Mastercard professional training seminars, Lorraine Marchand has inspired and energized our employees with her innovation mindset prescription for change. The ideas in No Fear, No Failure, which show how to help create a culture of innovation at the organizational level, are equally exciting and vitally important in helping managers and executives kindle and sustain that innovative flame in their corporations.

In a workshop and consulting engagement that drew rave reviews, Marchand helped our Novartis business leaders better understand the principles of change she espoused in her first book, The Innovation Mindset, and how to recognize, inspire, and cultivate an innovation mindset with customers and within our own organizational culture. In her new book, No Fear, No Failure, she shows us how to drive innovation into our way of working and thinking, helping us achieve sustained growth.

Lorraine Marchand maps out a path to overcoming the fear of failure that can hold back any business. Through insightful anecdotes and strategies, this book develops a framework for thinking about “intelligent failure” and empowering individuals and organizations to embrace change and allow passion and curiosity to thrive. No Fear, No Failure is a compelling and immediately useful read!

The Innovation Mindset

Lorraine Marchand is general manager of IBM Watson Health and has three decades of experience in new product development. She has held leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Covance, Cognizant, and IQVIA, and she cofounded four companies. Marchand is an adjunct professor of management and serves on the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program Advisory Board at Columbia Business School.

John Hanc writes for the New York Times, Smithsonian, Newsday, and Brain & Life. The author or cowriter of more than twenty books, he also teaches writing at New York Institute of Technology.

Lorraine Marchand

Author. Speaker. Innovation Consultant.