Lord Simon Pitkeathley, CEO of Camden Collective, speaks on his belief that ego has no role in true innovation.

Innovation is one of those words that gets thrown around too easily. Too often it is tied up with technology, disruption and the language of the pitch deck. The idea is that progress has to be shiny, new and dressed in jargon. But in my experience, innovation is usually more down to earth. It is about how we work together, how we notice value where others do not and how we reuse what is already there.

At Camden Collective, the charity I lead, we have been putting this into practice for more than a decade. On the surface the model is simple: take empty or underused buildings, give them a new lease of life and fill them with early stage businesses, social enterprises and creative start ups who could never otherwise afford central London space. But the real story is in the way it works: innovation rooted in collaboration, humility and shared purpose, not ego or competition.

Step inside one of our spaces and you will not see glass towers or luxury finishes. You will see buildings buzzing with activity. You will see artists working next to digital designers, food start ups swapping ideas with campaigners, musicians chatting with fintech developers. That mix is deliberate. We believe innovation comes from unlikely encounters, sectors rubbing shoulders that rarely get the chance to.

And when you strip away hierarchy, the ideas flow. The best ones I have seen at Collective have not come from strategy sessions or consultants. They have come from conversations in the kitchen or from someone sharing a challenge that sparks an unexpected solution.

That is why Camden Collective has always been the opposite of ego driven innovation. We do not chase unicorn valuations or headlines about overnight success. We value resilience, collaboration and the courage to test ideas when resources are thin. Over the years we have supported thousands of entrepreneurs, many of whom now run thriving businesses or social ventures, and the common thread is not ego but openness to learn, adapt and share.

Communication plays its part too. In big business, innovation is often spun as a story of visionary leadership. At Camden Collective, we try to keep it real: sharing failures as well as successes, listening to our community and giving space to voices that are too often ignored. Innovation without ego means communication without spin.

Of course, some argue that without ego you risk being invisible. Is not innovation partly about standing out and attracting investment? Maybe. But what we have seen is that collaboration creates its own visibility. Funders, partners, and policymakers are drawn to Collective precisely because it does not look like a corporate scheme. It feels genuine. And that, in the long run, is more persuasive than any slick PR.

There is a sustainability angle too. By reusing buildings instead of putting up new ones, we cut waste, keep costs down and give communities something real, fast. Innovation here is not a distant vision on paper, it is a disused office block turned, within weeks, into a place full of life and ideas. Not glamorous, maybe, but it works.

Innovation without ego is about rethinking progress. Not by growth charts or awards, but by the strength of the ecosystem that forms when people are given space to connect, experiment and support one another. At Camden Collective, we are proud to show that you do not need a Silicon Valley mindset to make real change. Sometimes the most innovative thing you can do is share space, listen well and keep ego out of it.