Amantha Imber
April 26, 2017
AFR
Most organisations that take innovation seriously have a group of innovation champions. These are people who, in addition to their day job, have received specialised innovation training and are responsible for mentoring and coaching others in the business through an innovation process.
Innovation champions can make or break an organisation’s approach to innovation. Great champions know how to move ideas forward, ensure their organisation follows a customer-centric approach to innovation, and ultimately help their organisation deliver more successful innovations. Ineffective champions at best have a minimal impact, and at worst, actually impede the success rates of innovation for an organisation.
Organisations such as Commonwealth Bank, Lendlease, Australian Unity and the Starlight Children’s Foundation have all embraced the approach of having innovation champions within their organisation. At Lendlease, around 100 champions are spread across every region they operate in globally, and are charged with helping innovations make traction through their innovation process.
At the Starlight Children’s Foundation, a group of cross-functional champions were trained up. They have worked on solving challenges such as how the organisation could transform its in-hospital program with children, generating over 100 different solutions and applying training in experimentation and Lean Startup methodology which has enabled them to test their ideas for less than $100.
One of the most challenging parts to get right is recruiting the right type of people to be Innovation Champions. Many people mistakenly believe that champions need to be their most creative thinkers, or employees who are naturally high performers. However, neither of these qualities guarantee the success of an innovation champion.
Researchers from the University of Western Ontario identified three specific traits that separate top performing innovation champions from average players. Here are three qualities to factor into your innovation champion recruitment process.
1. Find confident optimists
Innovation is a tough game for a pessimist. Those who consistently see the glass as half empty will struggle to build excitement and momentum for any innovation projects. Instead, look for those who see possibilities in spite of the challenges that exist in any innovation assignment and act as a cheerleader who those working on solving those challenges.
In addition, shrinking violets do not make great champions. The best innovation champions are confident individuals, and show conviction for the projects with which they are involved. They are not afraid to fight the good fight to achieve progress and momentum on ideas they are helping teams with.
2. Persistence in the face of adversity
The one guarantee about innovation is that there will be failures. People who collapse at the first sign of a setback will not make for a top innovation champion. Instead, look for those who do not attach failure to their own self-esteem. Find people who can learn from failure and not take it personally.
The best innovation champions are the ones that keep moving forward when others say that it can’t be done. While they listen to feedback, they can take what is useful and not get bogged down in negativity.
3. Recruit those that can get the right people involved
The final factor that predicts the effectiveness of an innovation champion is their ability to connect teams with the right people and the right stage. The best champions are well connected both within their organisation, and also have strong networks in the outside world. They are knowledgeable what capabilities exist both within and outside the organisation, and can connect seemingly disparate groups of people to form effective project teams.
When it comes time to making decisions at key points during an innovation process, effective champions bring in the right decision-makers who have the power to keep things moving along.
Great innovation champions are hard to find – but once you find them – they can be the difference between a hugely successful innovation program, and one that delivers average results.
If you know an innovation champion who is achieving great things, encourage them to enter their organisation in the 2017 The Australian Financial Review Most Innovative Companies list to recognise the impact they have been having.
Dr Amantha Imber is the founder of Inventium, the innovation consultancy that assesses and compiles the Financial Review Most Innovative Companies list.
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