In 2014, Theranos was valued at over $9 billion and their founder Elizabeth Holmes owned 50% of the business. This made her an instant billionaire. Theranos was one of the most exciting startups in the world, with their technology promising to revolutionise the healthcare industry by enabling several blood tests from only a few drops of a patient's blood.

In 2018, Theranos ceased operations and both Holmes and her company president were indicted on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Bad Blood, the recent best selling book by the Wall Street Journal’s John Carreyrou, outlines the rise and fall of the multi-billion dollar biotech startup. Luckily for corporate innovation teams, the Theranos journey uncovered several learnings that can be applied.

Here are six key learnings from the downfall of Theranos for corporate innovation teams.

1. Find your own identity

Holmes idolised Steve Jobs and where possible she would mimic him (this even includes dressing just like him!). During the Steve jobs era, Apple would schedule meetings with their creative agency on Wednesdays - so Theranos hired the same creative agency and had their meetings on Wednesdays too.

When it comes to corporate innovation teams - bean bags, ping pong tables, huge screens, and colourful walls are all great but they don’t make an organisation innovative. Going to work in jeans and a t-shirt doesn’t make you innovative either. Spend less time mimicking startup culture and focus on getting the job done, or as said startups would say, getting sh*t done. Everything short of moving the needle on innovation is just theatre.

2. Build a strong culture

As Peter Drucker famously put it, “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Theranos failed to build a culture that employees actually wanted to be a part of. Their culture was built on intimidation and fear, leading to a high level of staff turnover.

Innovation teams need to build a culture that encourages employees to fail, celebrates quick wins and promotes experimentation. Reward behaviour that supports your innovation vision and most importantly have empathy for your team members so that they enjoy coming into work each and every day.

3. Trust your team

The management team at Theronas had very little trust in their team members and this was made evident through their leadership style. They would constantly question the loyalty of their employees and second guess their decisions. Their mindset was that if you were not prepared to show complete loyalty to the company then you should “get the f*ck out”.

Put trust in your innovation team members - don’t second guess what they do. A lack of trust will stifle their drive and creativity. Look to develop an ecosystem internally where people are not shut down for failing but encouraged to do so. If you are going to fail, fail fast and learn quickly. Set them up for success and equip them with the tools and techniques to generate new ideas and build them.