Defining innovation: Synchrony's Margaret Keane

Ask a dozen executives to define innovation, and you’ll likely hear 12 different answers. Become aims to answer this question. This annual research, sponsored by Mastercard and based on the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services’ Business Innovators Index, provides actionable insights and roadmaps needed to spark innovation, informed by research and insights from business leaders across continents and industries.

This month, we hear from Margaret Keane, the executive chair of Synchrony, the consumer financial services company delivering customized financing programs across key industries, along with award-winning consumer banking products. Synchrony recently ranked among Fast Company’s 100 “Best Workplace for Innovators,” which recognizes companies that successfully foster cultures of innovation, encouraging employees at all levels to discover, explore, and invent.

Keane discusses how retailers need to meet the increasing consumer expectations for digital experiences, and how the pandemic impacted the work culture at Synchrony: “Working from home actually catapulted our ability to work, and actually accelerated some innovation,” she says. “We made the right decision to really protect our employees.”

Learn more about Become and what traits the most innovative companies share here.