Musing about who innovates…
I often read articles that imply that the Innovation Leaders are also the Innovators. In my opinion, there is a simple definition and a simple difference between the two.
- Innovation Leaders, as I discussed/defined in another blog, focus on stimulating an innovation mindset in the corporation and on managing a portfolio of innovation experiments (i.e. guiding Innovators). Sometimes they are also responsible to scale successful innovations across their corporation.
- Innovators are the ones that create innovations: they come up with an Idea, they Experiment, they do a Pilot. If their innovation is successful, they may also lead its scaling across the corporation.
There can be some overlap between the two positions.
- Mindset. Innovation is a mindset that Innovators master. Innovation Leaders track how/when Innovators come up with ideas and they guide the Innovators on how to execute those ideas. Innovators typically have a innovation “can-do” mindset. The understanding of this mindset helps the Innovation Leaders to better help the Innovators. Both Innovators and Innovation Leaders are typically curious, action oriented, positive thinking and collaborative.
- Innovation Team. In some corporations, Innovation Leaders lead a team of “Innovators”. This is a designated team, tasked by the company to come up with innovative solutions, more or less independent from the rest of the organization. In this case, the Innovation Leaders are very close (physically and mentally) to being an Innovator themselves.
There are many nuances. There is no single answer to the question in the title. However, differences in definitions may create confusion and therefore it’s important to clarify the relevant definitions to all stakeholders within the corporation.
As Nike said:
“JUST DO IT”
So, as Innovation Leader, I made sure to clearly and continuously communicate and clarify the definition of my role and my responsibilities and those of the Innovators across the organization.
More about this topic: The Power of Certified Innovation Leaders, by the Global Innovation Institute and What is Innovative Leadership? by Jeffrey Baumgartner.
What are your thoughts or questions about this?
Click here for more of my blogs on innovation within corporations: Wim Vandenhouweele