The COS looked confused when I explained why their “culture of innovation” was not producing results.

“We have all the systems in place,” she insisted. “Idea boards, innovation challenges, cross-functional teams.”

I pulled up their engagement data. “Tell me about the ideas that never made it to those boards.”

The Hidden Innovation Loss

Most organizations think innovation happens in brainstorming sessions and suggestion boxes. They’re wrong.

Real innovation happens in hallway conversations, in the observations of people navigating broken systems, in the solutions created by folks who had to figure out how to succeed despite the obstacles.

And Black women? We’ve been innovating around your barriers for decades.

What Code-Switching Really Costs

Every time a Black woman adjusts her voice in a meeting, softens her ideas to make them palatable, or presents her insights through someone else’s mouth, your organization loses innovation.

That strategic insight she doesn’t share because it might sound “too aggressive”? That process improvement she’s identified, but knows won’t be heard coming from her? That relationship solution she’s perfected but can’t present authentically?

That’s your innovation tax.

The Math is Simple

My research shows that Black women generate 23% more actionable solutions when we’re in environments where authenticity is valued over code-switching. But most organizations never see those solutions.

Why? Because we’ve learned that our natural problem-solving approaches get labeled as “not strategic enough” or “too emotional” or “not the right fit for our culture.”

So we translate. We dilute. We perform palatability.

And you miss the breakthrough thinking that comes from our authentic perspectives.

What I Told That COS

“Your innovation problem isn’t about systems. It’s about who feels safe being innovative.”

Black women have been solving complex problems with limited resources our entire careers. We’ve mastered the art of relationship-based solutions, community-centered innovation, and sustainable change management.

But when those approaches don’t match your traditional innovation models, you miss the opportunities.

The Real Question

How many game-changing ideas has your organization lost because the person with the insight didn’t feel safe sharing it authentically?

Lead Boldly. Care Deeply. Change Everything.

That’s what happens when you create space for Black women to innovate as ourselves, not as who you think we should be.

What This Looks Like in Practice

One client implemented what we call “Authentic Innovation Sessions.” No performance. No code-switching. Just real conversation about real problems with real solutions.

The results? 45% increase in implemented innovations. Why? Because they finally heard the ideas that had been sitting in Black women’s minds, waiting for a safe space to emerge.

The Choice

You can keep running innovation theaters where the same voices dominate and the same solutions recycle.

Or you can create conditions where Black women feel safe bringing our full innovative capacity to your challenges.

The question isn’t whether you can afford to make this change. It’s whether you can afford to keep paying the innovation tax.

I’m working on a framework for measuring authentic innovation in organizations. Interested in being part of the research? Let’s connect.