Dr Tim Curtis: Messy Maps, Moving Targets, and Meaningful Change
When we talk about innovation, most people picture shiny new tech or disruptive startups. But innovation is just as much about people, power, and context as it is about products.
In this episode of Six Degrees of Innovation, I sat down with Tim Curtis—former academic, consultant, researcher, and one of the deepest thinkers I know about how change really happens. Tim was also the saint who shepherded me through the academic rigour of my master’s thesis, so it was a joy to flip the script and ask him the big questions this time.
Our conversation explored stakeholder engagement beyond the textbook matrix, why your slick new initiative might flop if you ignore the people it affects, and how showing your rough draft could be the smartest innovation strategy you have.
The Brent Spar Lesson: When Stakeholders Rewrite the Rules
Tim’s career-long fascination with stakeholders began in the early 1990s with Shell’s Brent Spar decommissioning project. Shell had ticked every legal and regulatory box in its plan to sink a redundant oil storage buoy in the Atlantic. But then Greenpeace mobilised public outrage, particularly in Germany, where petrol buyers boycotted Shell so heavily it dented the company’s share price.
What mattered wasn’t the legality of the plan—it was the power of stakeholders nobody saw coming.
That experience shaped Tim’s view: organisations aren’t only accountable to shareholders. They’re accountable to a web of stakeholders—employees, regulators, communities, customers—each with the ability to influence outcomes in unexpected ways.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
From Managing to Engaging
Classic stakeholder theory often reduces people to boxes in a power-interest matrix. Useful, but incomplete.
As Tim explained, “Stakeholders are human beings. They have emotions. They connect in ways organisations don’t usually anticipate. And sometimes, they won’t be managed.”
The shift from “controlling” stakeholders to engaging them as partners in change has been one of the biggest evolutions since the 1990s. Today, whether in government, social enterprise, or big corporates, organisations are learning that involving people early—especially those most affected—doesn’t just de-risk projects, it often makes them more innovative.
The Rough Draft Advantage
One of Tim’s most practical insights was about the danger of waiting until ideas are “perfect” before sharing them.
From car manufacturers in the 1950s to startups today, too many innovations have been over-engineered behind closed doors—only to flop when they meet reality.
Instead, Tim advocates for sharing rough work and co-creating solutions with the very people who will use them. Whether you’re a micro-business founder or a corporate leader, this means:
Testing ideas early with real users
Creating safe spaces for honest feedback
Accepting that imperfection is part of innovation
“We’re not taught to share rough drafts,” Tim said. “But showing your process might be the smartest thing you do.”
Scaling Without Flattening Context
Every social entrepreneur has heard it: “That’s amazing. You should do it everywhere.”
But as Tim cautioned, best practice doesn’t travel well. What works in one neighbourhood or country may fail spectacularly in another. Context—people, culture, networks—matters too much to ignore.
Instead of replicating services wholesale, Tim suggests thinking in terms of platforms: repeatable processes or principles that can be adapted locally. His PhD research on crime prevention showed that while each community needed a different solution, the steps of engagement and co-creation could be scaled across contexts.
In other words: don’t scale the product. Scale the platform.
Innovation vs. “Managing Innovation”
Too often, organisations confuse innovation with project management. As Tim put it, “Most innovation textbooks are really just about managing processes, not creating something new.”
Real innovation, he argues, is cultural. It’s about shifting organisational climate, not just installing new software. That means engaging the most influential stakeholders—especially those resistant to change—so they become part of the process rather than blockers on the sidelines.
Yes, it’s messier. But it’s also more likely to stick.
Looking Ahead: The AI Shift
When asked who’s inspiring him right now, Tim pointed to Andrej Karpathy, formerly of Tesla, whose work on large language models frames them as a “third operating system.”
We’re at the transistor stage of AI, Tim noted—early, clunky, but revolutionary. The ability to interact with computers in plain language could democratise creation, giving small businesses and individuals power once reserved for major corporations.
The challenge? Not to waste it on boiling-egg instructions or cat videos, but to harness it for meaningful change.
Closing Thoughts
Tim’s reflections cut through the hype and get to the heart of why so many initiatives fail: they forget the people they’re supposed to serve.
Innovation isn’t about having the perfect idea. It’s about engaging stakeholders as real people, sharing your rough work, and building platforms that adapt to context.
As Tim reminded me, “Ultimately, the purpose of an organisation is to create value for its stakeholders.” The sooner we take that seriously, the more likely our innovations are to succeed.