1. Leading With A Purposeful Mindset
Creating Innovative Climates at Your Organization with E.A.S.E.
@socalbma 
Armin Pajand
Executive Development

2. What are
the attributes of
purposeful leaders?
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

3. You are the CMO of a large, established company in Southern California and
overseeing presentations for the 2018 budget requests.
You are faced with the decision of allocating $1.5M between:
(1) A long term speculative project with no clear ROI or
(2) A project for a mature brand that has very clear pathway and payback in less
than 2 years and well established ROI
How likely are YOU to invest in the speculative project?
1. Not likely
2. Somewhat
3. Very likely
Getting to Know You a Little Bit
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

4. 4
How might we leverage insights from brain-science to foster a culture of creativity and innovation?
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

5. 5
THE UNHAPPY FACTS ON INNOVATION
• 72% of companies miss
opportunities to exploit
underdeveloped areas
or markets
• 67% of companies are
risk averse
• 60% of organizations do
not learn from past
mistakes
Source: Accenture 2016
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

6. A NETWORK OF TEAMS
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

7. An Approach
7
#2 Create Brain-friendly Cultures
#1
Tackle Climate
Before Culture
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

8. Climate vs. Culture
Innovative Climate
• Channels / tools to source and develop new ideas
• Core employees embody innovative mindset
• Some track record of innovative success
• Perception may lack reality of efforts
Innovative Culture
• Embedded in company’s DNA
• Reflected in employee’s actions
• Outwardly projected
• Reflected as client perception
• Demonstrated through HR actions
The Corporate Environment
Innovative Climate
Innovative Culture
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

9. 9
• Empathize
• Associate
• Synergize
• Engage
Create with E.A.S.E.
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

10. EMPATHIZE
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

11. DARE TO TRY
• The Goal
Scale empathy through key employees and resources
• How They Did It
 Key employees trained to address key challenges / opportunities with
customer empathy
 Introduced own version of Design Thinking + Lean concepts
 Focus on process improvements and new products
 Consistent processes and approaches
 Introduce training, tools, and funding channels for new ideas
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

12. ASSOCIATE
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

13. • The Goal
– Network of 500 Intuit employees develop new ideas
• How They Did It
 Focus on member’s social connections
 All members trained, engaged, encouraged to develop their and
other’s ideas
 Have access to exclusive resources to develop and implement
ideas
 Broader ecosystem of innovative resources
 Important employee engagement, recruiting tool
INNOVATION CATALYST NETWORK
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

14. SYNERGIZE
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

15. • The Goal
– Digitize a 90 year old car company
• How They Did It
 Managed tension through organizational design
 Started with tight focus, build success, expand reach
 Balanced flexibility and control
 Developed a clear innovation strategy
SIGNIFCANT CHANGE FOR A MATURE ORGANIZATION
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

16. ENGAGE
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

17. • The Goal
– Innovative manufacturing company identifying innovation gaps
• How They Did It
 Profiled 250 innovative employees to identify skill gaps
 Now profiling an additional 1,000 employees
 Will be allocating individuals toward specific innovation
challenges / opportunities based on profiled skill sets
 Profiler as a recruitment tool, to ensure new employee
alignment with broader motivation goals
FOCUSING ON INNOVATION EXECUTION
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

18. • Empathize
– Train employees on empathetic approaches
– Connect to existing idea development processes
– Scale and promote this approach across the organization
• Associate
– Strategic framework to guide efforts
– Create a series of targeted actions to drive behavior change
– Rely on existing resources wherever possible
• Synergize
– Recognize and respond appropriately to org. culture
– Build success over time
– Focus on easiest path forward
• Engage
– Assess employees around innovation types and skills
– Create opportunities to leverage these skills, driving business value
APPLYing E.A.S.E.
SoCalBMA.org Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

19. You are the CMO of a large, established company in Southern California and
overseeing presentations for the 2018 budget requests. Your company has been
experimenting with creating innovative climates for more than a year.
You are faced with the decision of allocating $1.5M between:
(1) A long term speculative project with no clear ROI or
(2) A project for a mature brand that has very clear pathway and payback in less
than 2 years and well established ROI
How likely are YOU to invest in the speculative project?
1. Not likely
2. Somewhat
3. Very likely
Getting to Know You a Little Bit (Part 2)
Farmers Insurance Group, Inc. @socalbma 

20. Questions?
Armin Pajand
Executive Development
LinkedIn.com/in/ArminPajand
/socalbma
/company/socalbma
/socalbma
/socalbma
SoCalBMA.org 
Leading With A Purposeful Mindset
Creating Innovative Climates At Your Organization With E.A.S.E.

21. Let’s Discuss
>>>Please Join us Outside on the Terrace for the Reception >>>
SoCalBMA.org 