Idea 60: The seven key players in innovation

It is worth identifying some of the key players who, if they were all present within an organization, would surely make it unbeatable.

1. Creative thinker – produces new and original ideas.
2. Innovator – brings new products/services to the market or changes existing ones.
3. Inventor – produces new and commercial ideas.
4. Entrepreneur – conceives of or receives ideas and translates them into business reality to exploit a market opportunity.
5. Intrapreneur – responsible for innovation within an organization.
6. Champion – determination and commitment to implement an idea.
7. Sponsor – backs an idea and helps remove obstacles.

Successful businesses run on positive change. Effective innovation requires:

• A blend of new ideas.
• The ability to get things done.
• Sound commercial sense.
• Customer focus.
• A conducive organizational climate.

Leaders should be able to:

• Lead on the journey of change.
• Encourage creativity in their teams.
• Provide an organizational environment in which innovation can thrive.
• Use a variety of techniques to stimulate ideas for products/services/systems and to generate ways of bringing them to fruition.

The management of innovation must be seen as a process with three phases:

1. The generation of ideas (from individuals and teams).
2. The harvesting of ideas (people evaluating ideas).
3. The implementation of ideas (teams developing and introducing ideas to the final, customer-satisfied stage).