Since 1979 Keeley has worked with many global companies on innovation effectiveness, among them Abbott Labs, American Express, Apple, BlackRock, Boeing, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Coty, Diageo, Ford, Gillette, GE, GM, Hallmark, Lloyds Banking Group, Mars, McDonald’s, Monsanto, Motorola, Novartis, P&G, Pfizer, Shell, Sony,Texas Instruments, Whirlpool, Zurich Financial Services and many others.
Keeley’s lectures and publications explain the strategic aspects of innovation and his books Ten Types of Innovation, the Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, codify much of the research and tradecraft that drives effective innovation, available in ten languages. Bloomberg Businessweek named Keeley one of seven Innovation Gurus that are changing the field, and specifically cited Doblin for having many of the most sophisticated tools for delivering innovation effectiveness. They also separately selected Keeley as one of the 27 most influential designers in the world.
Keeley teaches graduate innovation strategy classes at the Institute of Design in Chicago. He lectures in executive education programs at Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also lectures at many other business schools worldwide. Collectively, Keeley has helped educate more than 5,300 Masters or PhD level innovation specialists worldwide. In 2016, Keeley was named one of the five global Deloitte Creative Tigers, used to deepen and shape the firm’s most valuable IP and client relationships.
Keeley was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Business Innovation in Boston. He was also a long time board member for Chicago Public Radio, where he worked to make it one of the most innovative public radio stations in the US.