German pharmaceutical giant Bayer has long been seen as a firm which embraces business innovation. However, ensuring a culture of sustainable innovation across such a large firm is in itself a challenge. Even CEOs struggle to implement such cultures in case inherently not existing. One of the ways to succeed at it is to involve outsiders. While developing helmets for astronauts NASA took advice from jumbo truckers as they experience similar G forces during their travails. Bayer has always taken business consulting advice from academicians. David Shrier is one of those academicians having earlier worked with the likes of Walt Disney, Ernst & Young, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and GE/NBC Universal. Another unusual industry to include within Bayer’s innovation panel is energy from where the CEO of Harvest Power joins them. That is one industry which, faced with climate change concerns has been innovating faster than most while at the same time, having to deal with several levels of government regulatory authorities.