About

Stephen Shapiro:  Keynote Speaker on Innovation, Problem-Solving & Collaboration | Hall of Fame Speaker | Bestselling Author | Former Accenture Innovation Leader

See What Everyone Else Misses. What if your biggest challenge isn't finding better answers—but asking better questions?

Stephen Shapiro is a Hall of Fame speaker, bestselling author and internationally recognized keynote speaker on innovation, problem-solving, collaboration and business growth.

Before becoming a speaker, Stephen built and led Accenture's 20,000-person innovation practice. Today, he helps organizations stop chasing every new idea and instead focus their energy on the right problems, the right opportunities and the right people to solve them.

His highly interactive keynotes turn audiences from passive listeners into active participants—giving teams practical tools they can continue using long after the event.

Why Book Stephen Shapiro?

Stephen challenges one of the biggest misconceptions about innovation: your organization probably doesn't need more ideas. It needs greater clarity about which problems are worth solving.

Instead of encouraging endless brainstorming, Stephen teaches audiences how to ask better questions, uncover hidden opportunities and bring together people who think differently.

His approach combines decades of innovation experience with practical frameworks, humor and audience participation.

The result isn't simply an entertaining keynote. It's a shared language and set of tools your people can bring back to work.

What Makes Stephen Shapiro Different?

• Built Accenture's 20,000-person innovation practice — real-world innovation experience before becoming a speaker
• Hall of Fame speaker — more than 30 years of speaking experience
• Eight books — including Invisible Solutions, Pivotal, Personality Poker and Best Practices Are Stupid
• Highly interactive — audiences participate rather than simply listen
• Problem-solving focused — teaches people to find better questions before searching for answers
• Personality Poker® creator — turns different thinking styles into a collaboration advantage
• Proven global experience — has spoken in more than 50 countries
• Trusted by major organizations — including NASA, Microsoft, 3M, P&G, Marriott and Nike

Why Is Stephen Right for Your Audience?

Stephen is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to solve problems differently, collaborate more effectively and focus innovation where it can create the greatest value.

He is particularly effective for leadership conferences, innovation summits, corporate meetings, association conferences and organizations navigating uncertainty or transformation.

Book Stephen when your audience needs to:

• Solve complex problems more effectively
• Ask better questions
• Stop chasing distractions and focus on what matters
• Build stronger collaboration across different thinking styles
• Challenge conventional approaches to innovation
• Identify opportunities hiding in plain sight
• Experiment without betting everything on one idea
• Create more predictable growth in an unpredictable environment

Audience Takeaways

Attendees will leave:

• Better equipped to define the right problem before solving it
• Understanding how different perspectives improve innovation
• More capable of separating real opportunities from distractions
• Equipped with practical frameworks they can use immediately
• Better prepared to collaborate with people who think differently
• More focused on where innovation can create genuine competitive advantage
• Ready to experiment with smaller, smarter bets
• Sharing a common language for innovation and problem-solving

Stephen Shapiro Keynote Programs

Solve Your Toughest Problems. Most teams aren't short of solutions. They're solving the wrong problem.

Stephen shows audiences how better questions can reveal solutions that were hiding in plain sight.

Using practical reframing tools and multiple “lenses,” he teaches teams how to examine challenges from different perspectives, redefine the problem and uncover solutions they may otherwise have missed.

Instead of simply leaving inspired, audiences leave with a repeatable approach to solving real business problems.

Ideal for: Leadership conferences, innovation summits, strategy meetings and organizations facing complex challenges.

Personality Poker® What if the people who frustrate you most are exactly the people your team needs?

Personality Poker® is Stephen's highly interactive experience designed to help people understand their own innovation styles—and recognize the value of colleagues who approach problems differently.

Using a proprietary deck of cards, participants uncover strengths, blind spots and missing perspectives while developing a shared language for better collaboration.

It's engaging, memorable and designed to change how teams work together.

Ideal for: Leadership meetings, team events, corporate conferences and organizations focused on collaboration and culture.

Stability in an Uncertain World. In a world obsessed with what's changing, what if competitive advantage comes from understanding what shouldn't change?

Drawing from his book Pivotal, Stephen challenges leaders to stop reacting to every trend, technology and “bright shiny object.”

Instead, he helps organizations identify the areas where they should remain firmly anchored so they can determine where innovation and change will create the greatest return.

The result is greater clarity, stronger focus and the ability to move from a position of strength.

Ideal for: Executive conferences, strategy meetings, leadership events and organizations navigating disruption.

Small Bets to Win Big at Innovation. When the future is impossible to predict, why make one enormous bet?

Stephen shows audiences how experimentation can help organizations test ideas quickly, inexpensively and intelligently.

Rather than betting heavily on assumptions about the future, teams learn how to make smaller bets, identify which experiments deserve additional investment and know when to stop.

Ideal for: Innovation conferences, transformation initiatives, product teams and organizations operating in uncertain markets.

Why Book Stephen Shapiro Through The Sweeney Agency?

Stephen Shapiro combines deep innovation expertise with one of the most interactive approaches to problem-solving and collaboration—but the real value comes from identifying which of his frameworks best addresses your organization's challenge.

The Sweeney Agency can help you:

• Confirm Stephen Shapiro's availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Stephen Shapiro keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your organization's challenges
• Coordinate interactive elements, format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Stephen with other leading innovation, strategy and future-of-business speakers

Is Stephen Shapiro Right for Your Event?

Tell us the problem your organization needs to solve—or where your people need to think and collaborate differently.

We'll help you determine whether Stephen is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.

Planning a leadership conference, innovation summit or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Stephen Shapiro as your keynote speaker.