If you were to ask any banking executive today whether innovation is a priority, the answer would be a resounding "yes". Yet, if you were to look into the internal processes of that same organisation, you would likely find an engine designed to do the exact opposite.

This is the "Innovation Paradox" in banking: institutions that know they must evolve to survive yet operate within structures explicitly engineered to prevent that evolution.

I explored this concept with Wasim Mushtaq, the founder of 1CG and a veteran of the financial services industry, after reading his paper that was published in The Journal of Digital Banking (which he has kindly allowed us to make available for our readers to download for free in our summary blog post found here).

With over two decades of experience, ranging from the coalface of business banking at Abbey National (now Santander) and credit operations at Barclays, to leading global transformation at Standard Chartered and serving as the interim COO of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), Wasim offers a rare, holistic perspective. He has seen the industry from the lender’s desk, the operations floor, and the regulator’s office.

Our conversation went beyond the usual platitudes about "digital transformation" and "agile working". Instead, we dug into the structural, cultural, and leadership mechanisms that stifle innovation, change and transformation and, more importantly, how to dismantle them.

Grab a coffee and get settled in for an epic episode!