Breakthrough solutions aren’t enough. New ideas can’t flourish without “bridgers”—leaders who excel at collaborating across boundaries. by Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards and Jason Wild

Innovation increasingly depends on partnerships. As complexity and specialization rise and technologies such as AI reshape workflows and product portfolios, no single team or company has all the capabilities, tools, or authority needed to move ideas from prototype to scale. Organizations must “partner or die,” as one executive told us. But sharing the driver’s seat is difficult. The more that innovation relies on collaboration across groups and firms, the more initiatives are likely to stall—or worse, fail—because the partnerships meant to deliver them break down.