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.

Consider the experience of Sarah, a high potential appointed to lead a highly visible growth initiative at a large consumer goods company. (This is a composite story drawn from our research for illustrative purposes.) Her team of business strategists and cutting-edge digital and AI talent prototyped a promising new product that tested well. After working tirelessly for three months, Sarah’s team proudly handed the product off to their colleagues in IT, marketing, and other departments that would be involved in the implementation phase. But those teams struggled. The product was built on an advanced technology stack that was incompatible with the business’s legacy systems. It was designed to serve an unfamiliar customer segment. What’s more, some company leaders worried that the innovation was too incremental to gain a foothold in a rapidly evolving market. The once-promising initiative looked like it was about to be stopped in its tracks despite the investment Sarah’s team—and the company—had made in it. Read this great HBR article to find out more.