Is Innovation Tactics worth it?
Dane Sanders discovered that Innovation Tactics could help him guide teams through complex innovation challenges. As a vice president of employee development and CEO of Men & Women of Discomfort, he needed reliable tools to help teams navigate the innovation process more efficiently. The cards became his go-to resource for taking teams from theory to practical implementation.
"You can get into the practical tactics much quicker"
Why Dane needed better innovation tools
Dane Sanders serves as vice president for employee development and performance at Common Thread Collective and co-founded the Men & Women of Discomfort (MWOD) programme. As a speaker, trainer and coach he helps leaders build high-performance cultures, emphasises character formation and encourages individuals to be "strong and awake." In MWOD he promotes discipline through physical challenges and personal growth. Connect on LinkedIn.
"It's so difficult to do that solo, to just kind of wander your way forward. But if you have a guide who can take you there, you can get into the practical tactics much quicker. And that's what these are. It's kind of like a book, but it's framed in a way where you can use it much more excessively than a book because they're kind of one card at a time for exactly the spot you're in and the pickle you're trying to solve for."
Watch Dane's testimonial about Innovation Tactics
Full testimonial transcript
Hey there, my name is Dane Sanders and I am the Vice President for Employee Development and Performance at Common Thread Collective.
I'm also the CEO of Men and Women of Discomfort. And in both contexts, we use Pip Decks a lot.
In fact, when they came around, these are just two of them that I grabbed off the shelf, Innovation Tactics and Brand Tactics.
The reason I love these in particular is when it comes to building a brand or creating innovation, it's so difficult to do that solo, to just kind of wander your way forward.
But if you have a guide who can take you there, you can get into the practical tactics much quicker. And that's what these are.
It's kind of like a book, but it's framed in a way where you can use it much more effectively than a book because they're kind of one card at a time for exactly the spot you're in and the pickle you're trying to solve for.
I can't recommend these more highly. I really think they're impressive and I think they're innovative themselves in a way that I think changes the game around taking really helpful ideas and putting them to work for you and for your team.
From wandering to guided innovation
Dane discovered Innovation Tactics when he was struggling to guide teams through complex innovation challenges. As someone who works in both employee development and leadership coaching, he recognised that innovation is difficult to navigate alone—teams often wander aimlessly without clear direction.
The cards provided him with a structured approach to innovation. Rather than relying on theoretical frameworks, he could guide teams directly to practical tactics that addressed their specific challenges. This accelerated the innovation process and helped teams move from ideas to implementation more quickly.
The innovation guidance challenge
Building brands and creating innovation requires more than just creative thinking—it needs practical guidance. Dane found that Innovation Tactics provided the structured approach he needed to help teams navigate complex innovation challenges without getting lost in theory.
The cards helped him provide targeted guidance for specific situations, allowing teams to focus on the exact challenges they were facing rather than getting overwhelmed by broad innovation frameworks.
What made the difference
Dane's experience shows how Innovation Tactics solves real problems for leaders and coaches. The cards provide instant access to proven innovation techniques, reducing planning time whilst maintaining quality. The targeted approach, in particular, helped him guide teams to practical solutions more quickly.
How Dane uses Innovation Tactics in practice
When a team is stuck, Dane picks a card that matches their stage: discovery to widen options, framing to sharpen the problem and test‑and‑learn to move. He often strings three cards into a 90‑minute flow: a divergent exercise to surface assumptions, a convergent exercise to commit to one hypothesis and a lightweight experiment to validate it this week. This keeps momentum high and turns ideas into action.
In leadership offsites, he uses the same playbook to move from principles to practice—capturing “what we will try in the next 14 days” so strategy survives first contact with real work.
Who this helps
- People leaders turning strategy into behaviour change
- Innovation coaches who need repeatable workshops that adapt to context
- Cross‑functional teams navigating ambiguity and decision fatigue
Transform your innovation process
If you're tired of teams wandering aimlessly through innovation challenges, the Innovation Tactics Deck might be exactly what you need. You'll join over 200,000 professionals who've found their confidence through these cards.
Dane's success story represents one example of how Pip Decks' community of over 200,000 professionals across 100+ countries is transforming their work. These are real experiences from trusted experts who've field‑tested these tools in demanding professional environments.
For the complete innovation system, consider pairing Innovation Tactics with Workshop Tactics to create sessions that both inspire and implement.
Explore more success stories on our Pip Decks Testimonials Hub.
One of the few newsletters I look forward to.
— Dave Cunningham, Head of DesignOps @ NHS
