Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard
Researchers at LISH look at the way incentives and governance work in innovation, explore novel approaches to problem-solving and investigate how knowledge is produced and disseminated. LISH’s main partners include the Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute, NASA, and P&G deploying advanced field-based experiments.
Faculty
LISH is led by a team of principal investigators from diverse backgrounds:
- Karim R. Lakhani, Dorothy and Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration. He is the founder and co-director of LISH and holds a PHD from MIT.
- Eva C. Guinan, Professor, Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School. She is the director of the Harvard Catalyst Translational Innovation program. Eva earned her MD from Harvard Medical School.
- Kyle R. Myers Assistant Professor of Business Administration. He has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He studies the economics of the rate and direction of innovation.
- Alberto F. Cavallo, Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration. Pioneer of measuring inflation, he is the creator of Inflacion Verdadera and co-founder of The Billion Prices and PriceStats. Alberto earned a PhD in Economics from Harvard University.
- Alexander MacKay, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.
- Iavor I. Bojinov, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. He is a Richard Hodgson Fellow and holds a PhD from Harvard University.
- Edward McFowland III, Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Unit of HBS. Edward holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.
- Frank Nagle, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Frank earned his DBA in Technology and Operations Management from Harvard Business School
- Jacqueline Ng Lane, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. She holds a PhD from Northwestern University and studies the impact of new technologies on performance outcomes.
Activities/Research Focus
The Lab focuses on three key areas of investigation:
Open Innovation:
- How can organizations use contests, communities, and labor markets to solve complex problems?
- How does open innovation transform access to talent?
- What does the future of work look like in an era of open talent?
Science of Science:
- What are the drivers, behaviors, and motivation underpinning innovative work?
- What makes a successful Lab?
- How can science best be applied in solving business challenges?
Data Science and AI:
- How is a data-first company built?
- What is the role of data science in a firm’s operating model?
- How can AI factories be used in organizations?
- What impact do algorithms have on the innovation process?