A very
popular subject in business today is Innovation. I have posted several blogs recently on
innovative people, companies and the how’s of innovation. My topic today is on the common traits that
are often seen in Innovators. According
to Entrepreneur, An innovator is someone who pushes the boundaries of the known
world--a change agent who is relentless in making things happen and bringing
ideas to execution. In essence, the qualities
that make up the character of Innovators can be broken down into 5 behaviors.
Persistence ~ Determination and
Diligence to come to a final resolution.
The Innovator will show optimism and maintain a positive outlook on their
challenges viewing them as opportunities rather than problems. A certain amount
of confidence to weather setbacks is inherent in these individuals. They are not easily beaten by occasional
setbacks and will continue to see the job through to its completion. They seem to have the uncanny ability to know
when to nix a project when it is wise to do so based on market or economic
uncertainties. They involve as many people and departments as they can to get the complete picture on their endeavors.
Salesmanship ~ The Innovator has a passion
for what they are doing and are able to champion people for their cause. They can and must work with a number
of different types of people and departments to sell their ideas. They have a very sharp sense of communication
skills which allows them to network openly and gain support from those who were
originally negative to their ideas. At
the very least, they know how to neutralize opposition. Interpersonal skills
combined with Interdepartmental skills are critical to the innovator. They know how to politic to secure “buy-in”
from the various stakeholders to support their ideas. Often times these stakeholders are both
internal, executive management and external, customers or potential companies
on the outside of the organization.
Creative
but realistic ~ The Innovator wants to have his
ideas or processes fit within the culture of the company if at all possible. In this way, they have the global ability to
see the big picture and the effects that it will have on the organization. They can quickly gain support or at least minimize opposition by neutralization. He realizes that the more that he can stay
within the current corporate culture, the greater his ability to get the needed
support to move forward.
Team
Orientation ~ The innovator will not focus on a
single department but rather draw on a larger network of support within or
perhaps outside the organization.
Similar to my blog about Procter & Gamble and using external forces
to help them grow, the pacesetter for change will go above and beyond their individual
and narrow lines of vision to a much larger, more global application. More and more businesses are becoming
increasingly aware of the need to tap into all possible sources of technology,
process and products either internally or externally. The formation of a team
is a core driver of innovation because you need a number of capabilities at the
same time to make it happen. The trick will be to balance the individuals to a common goal, thus the team orientation skill set.
Risk
Tolerance ~ The combination of persistence,
passion and salesmanship will help the innovator face the inevitable failures
from time to time. In most cases, the
innovator is going into “uncharted waters” and needs to have courage and
conviction to steer the company forward. Learning from the unavoidable failures is key to becoming a true innovator.
It is unfortunate that the reason that companies often fail
is that executive management is fearful to take the steps necessary. The new
breed of employees coming into an organization will help to promote
innovation. Companies today are more
wary of hiring people who will simply toe the line. Many are looking for those ‘tree shakers’
that will make major discovery with innovation!
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