Legacy enterprises often speak the language of innovation while continuing to favor predictability. After more than two decades scaling organizations and guiding leadership teams through transformation, Nadine Green has seen how innovation stalls because fear is embedded deep within organizational culture. “In legacy enterprises, innovation must be a mindset rooted in curiosity and problem-solving, not one constrained by outdated rules,” Green says. That belief sits at the core of her work as Founder and CEO of The C-Suite Group, where she partners with leaders of established businesses to help them evolve without destabilizing what already works.
Many of the organizations Green advises have been operating for decades. They’re profitable, stable, and built on systems that once gave them a competitive edge. The challenge now is relevance. Over time, even strong companies risk becoming commoditized if they rely too heavily on business as usual. “They don’t create the time, space, or psychological safety needed for innovation,” Green says. “Many fear that if they shift focus from the core business, everything could unravel.”
That belief can be costly. While leaders focus on protecting the legacy model, competitors experiment, customers evolve, and markets shift. Innovation, in Green’s view, is less about bold reinvention and more about intentional evolution. Without that shift, stability can quickly turn into stagnation.
Fear: The Most Powerful Invisible Barrier
Legacy leaders are accustomed to clear processes with measurable outcomes. Innovation disrupts that comfort. It introduces ambiguity and challenges long-held assumptions. In her work with established businesses, Green describes the loss of control leaders often experience when innovation begins. “In operations, chaos feels dangerous,” she says. “But in innovation, chaos is often just unfamiliar territory .”
Green encourages leaders to reframe innovation as an extension of what already made them successful. “Its not about reinventing the wheel, its about enhancing what already works with something new. That reframing allows organizations to explore new opportunities without abandoning their core identity. It also requires leaders to deliberately protect time and resources for innovation, rather than expecting it to emerge organically from already overloaded teams.
The One Habit That Matters Most
Innovation reflects a commitment to the future, and leaders play a defining role in shaping that vision. A culture grounded in continuous improvement gives teams permission to question assumptions, test new approaches, and refine even practices that already appear successful. While processes can be redesigned and strategies refined, culture ultimately determines whether those changes take hold. “The most damaging phrase in any organization? ‘We’ve always done it this way,’” she says. “What worked yesterday won’t necessarily work tomorrow.”
Many legacy enterprises weren’t designed for sustained experimentation, and the rise of AI has exposed those limitations. “If there’s a cultural fear of change, that dysfunction will surface,” Green says. “People will say no because they’re afraid it’s going to replace their jobs.” She draws a parallel to the early days of the Internet, when similar fears dominated boardrooms. Over time, those concerns gave way to new capabilities and entirely new ways of working.“AI is another tool in the leadership toolkit,” she says. “Its power lies in how thoughtfully it’s applied.”
Innovation Is a Leadership Choice
Innovation is about building an operating environment where smart people are trusted to solve real problems, without being constrained by outdated rules or rigid hierarchies. For legacy enterprises, that culture can be the factor that determines whether they remain relevant. To make that shift, leaders have to choose curiosity over comfort. That means deliberately creating room for experimentation and learning, and viewing change not as a threat to control, but as a responsibility to the future of the business. “It’s not an operational system,” she says. “It’s a culture.”
