EP3: Innovating on the tapeout treadmill

In your current job, would you describe yourself as a "Brilliant Technology Innovator" or "Indentured Spice Monkey"? In the competitive and fast-paced semiconductor industry, most jobs require people to do at least a little (but more often a lot) of both. And your answer may change on a daily or hourly basis. But how do corporations, universities and the technologists at the heart of these organizations strike the right balance between blue-sky innovation and disciplined execution? What priorities and policies distinguish the industry leaders from the industry followers?