From The Harvard Business Review, an article by Innosight founder Clayton Christensen, BYU Professor Jeffrey Dyer, and INSEAD Professor Hal Gregersen describes the critical characteristics of successful innovators, and presents practical tips for business leaders looking to strengthen their innovation muscles.
"Our research led us to identify five “discovery skills” that distinguish the most creative executives: associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking. We found that innovative entrepreneurs (who are also CEOs) spend 50% more time on these discovery activities than do CEOs with no track record for innovation. Together, these skills make up what we call the innovator’s DNA. And the good news is, if you’re not born with it, you can cultivate it."What makes innovators different?
"Innovative entrepreneurs have something called creative intelligence, which enables discovery yet differs from other types of intelligence (as suggested by Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences). It is more than the cognitive skill of being right-brained. Innovators engage both sides of the brain as they leverage the five discovery skills to create new ideas."
Full article here.
