Ways to Drive Dramatic Sustainable Growth

In this second part of Get Vertical, host Mike McCalley speaks with innovation expert, Dan Adams, about the importance of building capabilities for sustainable growth in companies. McCalley discusses key metrics for innovation, including market facing innovation, and emphasizes the importance of building capabilities for profitable, sustainable growth. Adams explains that while there is pressure on executives to focus solely on results, it is important to also prioritize building capabilities through initiatives such as market facing innovation. He also shares a methodology called Minesweeper that helps teams identify and investigate high impact, low certainty assumptions in their innovation projects. Dan Adams advises his younger self to be more proactive in making things happen personally rather than waiting for promotions.

Dan Adams received his degree in Chemical Engineering as well as his MBA in finance from the University of Akron. He has had a rich career working in strategic planning and business development. Now, Adams is the Founder and President of The AIM Institute working to provide B2B suppliers with tools and skills to improve their new product development.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

billing platform
Retail Energy Companies Don’t Need a New Billing Platform, They Need a Better Strategy
February 25, 2026

Retail energy companies are experiencing real pain with their billing systems — but the system itself isn’t always the root cause. Mollie Gaby, Principal at CG Infinity, believes many organizations underestimate how much performance depends on collaboration between technical teams and the business. When developers truly understand retail energy operations and work closely with internal…

Read More
team
When Your Team Becomes the Bottleneck
February 25, 2026

In a candid take on organizational blind spots, Mollie Gaby, Principal at CG Infinity, highlights a hard truth many leaders avoid: sometimes your biggest pain point isn’t your technology or your strategy — it’s your staff. A common red flag is resistance to change. When team members are unwilling to explore new tools, automate…

Read More
asset visibility
Diagnosing Your Capital Asset Health: Why Asset Visibility Is the New Financial Imperative in Healthcare
February 25, 2026

Hospitals and surgery centers own millions of dollars in equipment — but owning assets and having actionable visibility into them are two different things. Most systems maintain inventories, yet many struggle with outdated records, fragmented tracking, and limited insight into useful life or service contracts. With nearly half of U.S. hospitals reporting negative operating…

Read More
CFO
From Public Accounting to CFO: The Leadership Wake-Up Call
February 25, 2026

The CFO seat is being rewritten in real time. Today’s finance leaders are expected to drive growth, lead enterprise-wide systems transformations, and shape AI strategy—while still keeping the close, controls, and capital story airtight. Gartner reports that 59% of finance leaders are already using AI in the finance function, underscoring how rapidly the role is…

Read More