Jeff DeGraff

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

A middle-aged man with glasses, short light hair, and a mustache, wearing a dark blazer and black turtleneck, poses in front of a blue background.

Jeff DeGraff is known as the “Dean of Innovation.” A world-renowned thought leader and advisor, he helps organizations — from Apple and Coca-Cola to the U.S. military — build the culture and capabilities that drive growth. He’s the founder of the Innovatrium innovation lab and Executive Director of the Intellectual Edge Alliance (IEA), a nonprofit advancing innovation across tech, defense, education, and mission-driven sectors.

A Clinical Professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Jeff co-created the Competing Values Framework, now used worldwide to lead change and innovation. His media work includes books, columns, and a PBS/NPR series focused on revitalizing purpose in mission-driven organizations.

His mission is the democratization of innovation — equipping people at every level to lead meaningful change. Jeff’s current focus is building a global school of thought — uniting business, government, and culture to shape the future of innovation and change.

Everything Videos Articles

A silhouette of a person playing the trumpet symbolizes jazzy leadership, overlaid on a blue and white world map with radiating lines and data points.

What all leaders can learn from jazz-inspired military trailblazers

In most organizations, contradictions are treated as problems to be fixed. But what if they’re actually the point?

Split image: Left side shows a painting of hands peeling apples with a knife; right side features a modern mechanical apple peeler, echoing Jeff DeGraff’s spirit of innovation bridging tradition and progress.

AI will never be a shortcut to wisdom

Real understanding, argues Jeff DeGraff, doesn’t come from outputs — it comes from practice.

The word "change" appears three times; the top two are crossed out in purple, while the bottom one—creativity highlighted—is circled in purple, all on a black background.

Why “high tolerance of ambiguity” should anchor your creative toolkit

Creative thinkers are unafraid of the ambiguous spaces where innovation often resides — and this trait is vital when navigating change.

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.

Experiments Are Not Good or Bad. There Are Good and Bad People

Bridges do collapse. Products do blow up. Drugs that save millions of people's lives often in the development stage kill people. This is something that you have to be very honest about.

Understanding the Value of Useful Novelty

Innovation is different because it's the only form of value that happens in the future for which we have no real data.

Class of 2013: The Graduation Speech I Didn’t Give

Congratulations to all the new graduates who have successfully accomplished this most impressive of endeavors.

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