Validating Idea Feasibility

As the Head of New Business Innovation at Pizza Hut, Taras Malyshev is a strategic executive with over 16 years of experience driving transformative growth across industries such as QSR, FMCG, IT, and power generation. Taras is recognized for his innovative leadership, successfully creating growth pipelines and leading restructuring initiatives. His expertise lies in navigating high-pressure environments and global crises through agile strategy execution, turning challenges into opportunities. With a global perspective from roles across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Taras excels in change management, strategic planning, and fostering a culture of innovation,
simplifying the complex and making it compelling.

As a leader in New Business Innovation at Pizza Hut, Petra O’Brien is dedicated to shaping the brand’s future by uncovering and unlocking new market opportunities. With a focus on turning these opportunities into profitable ventures, Petra plays a key role in scaling innovations across Pizza Hut’s 100+ global markets. Her strategic insights and forward-thinking approach ensure that the brand remains at the forefront of the industry, driving growth and expanding its global footprint.

Taras, Petra and Pizza Hut are the recipients of an 2024 Innovation Strategy award in the Adaptive Innovation category.

1. What does innovation mean to you?

Innovation, to us, is the ability to identify and execute strategies that efficiently achieve our goals, regardless of whether they utilize new technologies or repurpose older methods that others might overlook. It's about cutting through the hype to discern what truly adds value. This means sometimes embracing tried-and-true practices that are no longer in vogue—if they work—or cautiously evaluating new trends to ensure they deliver real benefits. In essence, innovation is about making smart choices that keep us moving forward effectively, not just trendily.

2. How do you and your team generate new ideas?

Our idea generation thrives on the Scout, Manage, Execute framework, designed to dismantle the barriers of fear, inertia, and disengagement. In the Scout phase, we harness voting to engage teams, prioritizing strategic areas with high interest. By focusing on engaging projects, we build momentum and avoid unproductive initiatives.

During the Manage phase, we draw from diverse perspectives using Open Office Technology principles, separating ideation from execution pressures. This human-centric approach removes barriers to creativity, encouraging ideas beyond current limitations. We prioritize initiatives based on strategic alignment and impact, measured by a benefit-to-effort ratio, effectively overcoming inertia.

The Execute phase employs disproportional investment, escalating commitment only when benefits surpass risks. Sociocracy’s consent-driven approach maintains adaptability, ensuring projects stay "good enough for now, and safe enough to try" while fostering a sense of control. This structured method ensures our innovations are not only strategic but also actionable.

3. Can you share 1-3 unique innovation tactics your team relies on?

Intrapreneurship Empowerment: We empower team members to act as intrapreneurs, driving projects with a startup mindset while leveraging the company’s resources. This approach integrates lean startup and MVP methodologies, enabling rapid validation and learning from real-world feedback.

“We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know” Tests: To navigate uncertainty, we launch small-scale experimental projects, or “firefly tests,” that reveal hidden challenges and opportunities. These quick, iterative tests provide critical insights, allowing us to adapt and refine concepts efficiently.

Strategic Voting Mechanism: We implement a company-wide voting process to democratically assess ideas based on strategic relevance, complexity, and scalability. This collaborative decision-making ensures alignment, prioritizing the most impactful and feasible initiatives.

4. Do you have any specific rituals to reset creativity?

Cross-Industry Exploration: We actively explore trends and innovations from various industries outside our own. This approach broadens our perspectives and inspires unconventional ideas.

Diverse Interactions: We engage with a wide range of voices, including writers, suppliers, customers, and colleagues from different disciplines. These diverse interactions often uncover unexpected insights and offer fresh angles on familiar challenges, rejuvenating our creative approach.

5. What resources do you use to spot trends and consumer insights?

Digital Platforms: We use industry-leading analytical tools for identifying global trends and advanced social listening platforms to monitor consumer sentiment and emerging patterns in real-time.

Innovative Scouting: Tools like Trend Hunter keep us at the forefront of market shifts by scouting the latest innovations and evolving consumer preferences.

Expert Analysis: We rely on specialized market research reports alongside thought leadership publications to gain deeper strategic insights into our industry.

Network Insights: Our diverse network of mentors across various industries offers unique perspectives that go beyond traditional research channels.

This multi-pronged approach ensures we not only stay informed but also anticipate shifts, allowing for proactive innovation.

6. Has there ever been an instance where another industry has inspired you/your company?

Digital Products: We observed how companies in different industries developed digital products for interactive user engagement, inspiring us to explore strategic alignments aimed at creating assets that enhance users' everyday experiences.

Wellness Trends: The rise of holistic wellness concepts, emphasizing the integration of mind and body benefits, motivated us to explore functional ingredients that cater to these evolving consumer needs.

Augmented Reality (AR): We were inspired by another industry’s use of AR to create engaging customer experiences, which led us to collaborate with designers to explore AR elements.

7. What makes an innovative company culture? How do you create a culture of innovation?

Safe Environment: We ensure a no-criticism zone with clear rules and a democratic voting process that empowers every team member to contribute ideas.

Recognition: Our strong culture of recognition is exemplified by the "dare to dream" initiative, which celebrates and rewards innovative efforts.

Intrapreneurial Spirit: We encourage employees to embrace intrapreneurship, fostering a mindset that drives innovative action from within.

Agile Teams: We have agile teams that focus on specific projects, ensuring rapid deployment and the flexibility to adapt quickly.

8. Looking to the future, how will you/your company continue to be a leader in innovation?

The leader is the one who adopts faster, our strategy to maintain leadership in innovation hinges on speed and adaptability. We aim to implement an expansive innovation system that involves a broad network of internal employees and external partners. This system will feature a self-sustaining approval process, utilizing progressive methodologies like beyond budgeting and BOSSA nova. These approaches will allow us to respond swiftly to changes and opportunities, ensuring that we stay at the forefront of innovation by being quicker to adopt and implement new ideas effectively.