Champions !

Sparks to fire up your innovation combustion.

In this coaching session, I discuss which employees Innovation Leaders should prioritize.

Starring: Inna (Innovation Leader in a large Pharma corporation) and Wim (coach for Innovation Leaders). [Transcription far below]

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Are you looking for a personal innovation coach?

• Do you want a soundboard, a sparring partner?
• Did you just start an innovation program or want to improve it?
• Do you need practical ideas to stimulate innovation or on how to manage an innovation portfolio?

If yes, I’m ready to help you!

• I believe in KISS: Keeping Innovation Super Simple. High focus on passion, low focus on processes.
• I have coached more than 50 innovation leaders across the globe in Pharma/healthcare.
• I work as independent coach: per hour or as long as you consider valuable at wimvand@outlook.com

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Transcript

Inna:

⁃ Hi Wim, I don’t have enough time to support every employee. Any ideas?

Wim:

⁃ Ideally, everyone in the corporation should understand the value of innovation and how to contribute to it: by actively innovating or by supporting innovators. But I realize that as Innovation Leader, you don’t have the time or resources to work on every single idea with every single employee. Therefor, it may be more effective to identify and prioritize support for the most passionate and focused champions of innovation.

Inna:

⁃ How did you approach this?

Wim:

⁃ I first made sure to have the innovation basics in place: 1. The Problem. I provided a clear focus for innovation: for which specific problems do we want innovative solutions. 2. The Leadership. I ensured that the senior leadership team endorsed innovation – and supported this focus on a specific problem.

Inna:

⁃ Of course. How about the next step?

Wim:

⁃ Then, I concentrated my efforts on those employees that were passionate about innovation. Let me share a few examples. I’ll start with the Innovators. I received a lot of ideas for innovative solutions. Sometimes through innovation Challenges, sometimes from individual employees who contacted me directly, etc. From a time management perspective, it was impossible for me to deeply engage with all Innovators. So I chose to work with the most passionate ones.

⁃ After I checked that their innovative idea or experiment addressed one of the corporate innovation focus areas, I had a discussion with those Innovators. Usually by phone or video call, because of the global nature of our business. During that call I tried to gauge the passion of the Innovators: did they really understand and care about the problem, why were they convinced that their solution would work, did they understand the initial hurdles, did they have a plan for the next step, who would they collaborate with, etc.

⁃ Then, either I fully supported them with my time and resources. Or, I encouraged them to pursue their idea, but I monitored their progress from a distance.

Inna:

⁃ Any other examples?

Wim:

⁃ Indeed, Managers: Our region covered about 60 key countries. Again, it was impossible to support all countries in the same way, so I prioritized those Country Managing Directors who truly cared about innovation. The most dedicated managers typically contacted me directly to propose ideas, to ask for support for their innovators in their teams, to ask me to give a talk or lead a workshop for their teams, etc.

⁃ I also identified the most enthusiastic Country Managers during my presentations at leadership team meetings, as those managers were usually the ones asking relevant questions or providing constructive input. I provided extra attention to Innovators in those countries , as I knew they would get appropriate support from their manager.

Inna:

⁃ Any other stakeholders?

Wim:

⁃ Yes, Country Innovation Leaders. As I mentioned in one of our earlier discussions, I created a network of Country Innovation Leaders. These were employees, in each of those 60 key countries, who were responsible for stimulating innovation within their country organization and for supporting Innovators within their country. I recommended Country Managers to select their Country Innovation Leader based on dedication to innovation. I had learned that selecting those Country Innovation Leaders based on other criteria, like seniority in the organization, was often ineffective.

Inna:

⁃ Any other advice related to passionate champions?

Wim:

⁃ Well, sometimes you may encounter hesitancy to Innovation. This can be for several reasons: uncertainty about what innovation means, no feeling of ownership, other priorities, which may not be aligned with Innovation, etc.

⁃ You may want to engage with those employees, especially those who are most vocal about their doubts, as they can slow down your innovation efforts. Listen to their rationale and try to address their concerns. If you cannot turn them into “positive” champions, then at least try to bring them to a more “neutral” or “wait and see” position.

Inna:

Great! Focus on Passionate Innovators – Passionate Managers – Passionate Innovation Leaders

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