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The Lean Post / Articles / Innovation as a Core Capability: Sebastian Fixson on Why Leaders Need Lean Product and Process Development 

Innovation as a Core Capability: Sebastian Fixson on Why Leaders Need Lean Product and Process Development 

Product & Process Development

Innovation as a Core Capability: Sebastian Fixson on Why Leaders Need Lean Product and Process Development 

By Sebastian Fixson and James Morgan, PhD

August 21, 2025

In this edition of The Design Brief, Sebastian Fixson, PhD, of Babson College, joins Jim Morgan of LEI to discuss how today’s product leaders can build stronger teams, better businesses, and innovative solutions. They explore leveraging LPPD to develop future-ready leaders, balance physical and digital innovation, and create process thinkers who drive sustainable growth. Listen now and discover how LPPD is transforming the way we develop products, teams, and leaders.

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In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Sebastian Fixson, PhD, of Babson College, on mentoring the next generation of leaders in lean product and process development (LPPD). Sebastian is the founding faculty director of the doctor of business administration) program and professor of innovation and design, at Babson, where he focuses on helping people and organizations build innovation capabilities. 

Jim Morgan, senior advisor on LPPDat LEI, joins Sebastian and me for this wide-ranging conversation in which we discuss: 

  • How to get emerging product leaders to slow down and leverage LPPD to build stronger teams and better businesses 
  • How engineers can use LPPD to become more effective business leaders by understanding how the larger business works  
  • Sebastian’s advice to product leaders on how to understand both the physical and digital side of the business (as well as how LPPD supports this effort) 
  • How to build “process thinkers”, not just product development leaders 
  • Where Sebastian sees hope for innovative product development processes, organizations, and/or new ways of working to solve global challenges 

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Designing the Future Using Lean Product and Process Development

Learn how to reduce time to market, improve quality, and drive innovation in a hands-on, coach-led experience that applies Lean Product and Process Development across your value stream.

Written by:

Sebastian Fixson|
James Morgan, PhD

About James Morgan, PhD

Jim is currently a senior advisor at the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) and a board member at Adrian Steel. He has a unique blend of industry leadership experience and rigorous scholarship, which he draws from to support senior leaders and help improve organizational performance in the aerospace, energy technology, heavy…

Read more about James Morgan, PhD

About Sebastian Fixson

Sebastian Fixson is Founding Faculty Director of the DBA Program and Professor of Innovation & Design, at Babson College. 

Dr. Fixson concentrates his work on helping people and organizations build innovation capabilities, an increasingly important aspect of the future of work.  In his research, he investigates how factors such as structure and governance of innovation processes, practices like design thinking, and the use of digital design tools and Artificial Intelligence (AI) affect the nature and outcome of innovation work.   

Dr. Fixson teaches innovation, design, and operations management related courses and executive education programs at Babson College, USA, and Universities and Companies around the World.  He has also innovated on new ways of how to teach innovation, including programs, spaces, and simulations.  In addition, he is serving the College in various leadership roles. From 2014-2017, he served as the founding Faculty Director of Babson’s Master of Science in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership (MSEL) program, from 2018-2019 as Chair of the Technology, Operations, and Information Management Division, from 2019-2024 as Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Innovation, and since 2024 as the Founding Faculty Director of the College’s Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program.  He also works with industrial clients and partners in industries ranging from health care, to manufacturing, to defense, to software.  

Dr. Fixson’s writes for both academic and practitioner audiences, and his work has appeared in books and journals such as Concurrent Engineering, Creativity and Innovation Management, Design Management Review, European Management Review, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Informs Transactions on Education, International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Research Policy, Research-Technology Management, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, as well as online outlets such as Harvard Business Review online.  His latest book “Transform by Design,” co-edited with Jochen Schweitzer and Sihem BenMahmoud-Jouini, provides detailed insights into multi-year innovation implementation stories in large organizations around the World (published by University of Toronto Press in October 2023). 

Dr. Fixson holds a Diplom-Ingenieur (MSc) degree in mechanical engineering from Technical University Karlsruhe, Germany, and a PhD in Technology, Management, and Policy from MIT. 

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