The Best of Killer Innovations: Six Vital Innovation Skills

Returning to our Best of Killer Innovations series, we kick this week off with a look back at vital innovation skills. This foundation can help beginner and seasoned innovators stay ahead in an evolving world.

What innovation skills are needed to create new ideas and products successfully? Many people often find themselves void of creativity in the innovation world. This stems from a deeper issue. We dive into more detail to discover what innovation skills separate those with limited success from those with continual success. The skill sets that can allow you to be successful no matter your organization type, size, or geographical location all have the same foundational elements.

Self-Confidence in Creativity

The number one skill set I have discussed is self-confidence in your creativity. We were all born highly creative. From an early age, the education system drives creativity out of us. Grade school through college teach children conformity, instilling the belief that acting the same is crucial to relevance. Then, in our professional careers, we are expected to think differently, be more creative, and generate solutions despite sixteen or more years of being drilled in conformity. It's no myth that CEOs recruit creativity. Creativity drives innovation. It's a catalyst for growth in a business. If you are not exercising your creativity and unlocking its potential, you could become irrelevant because of conformity.

Bravery

Another essential skill set is bravery. The opposite of innovation bravery is conformity. You need to go out and apply your creativity. Share your thoughts and ideas. Take some risks. Try something you haven't done before. The fear and feeling of failure a detrimental mind block because it holds us back and kills our bravery. You have to get over the fear of failure to be brave. Step out, get permission, or permit to go, and fail. Go out, experiment, test the limits, break the norm, and be brave.

Seeing with Fresh Eyes

One vital skill set that gets harder to use as you get more experienced and set in your ways is your perspective. Seeing with fresh eyes and having a beginner's mind will guide you to develop breakout products and services. Don't let your area of expertise cloud your vision but come into every new project with an attitude of openness. Every year of experience in your area of expertise can enable you to become more and more closed off to different approaches or new opportunities if you are not careful. By adopting an open-minded approach, you can avoid getting caught up in a limiting cycle of repetitive groupthink.

Ability to Craft & Ask Great Questions

How does one get creative thoughts and ideas flowing? The answer is by asking questions. Questions hold great power. They get people thinking. There are simple ‘yes' or ‘no' questions, leading questions, and questions you craft to discover. The power of creating and collecting your questions is critical in the innovation world. It will help you develop new ideas and eliminate problems. Coming in as a new leader, I crafted four questions to gain a unique insight. Creating these questions is vital to deriving input from your team, vendors, partners, leaders, and potential beneficiaries of your idea.

Continually developing different ways of asking a question can generate unique discoveries. For instance, if I ask you, “What is half of thirteen?” and you respond, “Six and a half,” I would give you an ‘A' on a math test, but in innovation, I would give you a ‘C.' Why? The reason is that you stopped at the first obvious answer. What if I craft the question slightly differently and ask how many ways you can convey half of thirteen? There are more ways than one, and how creative you can get would surprise you.

To help, I've crafted a card deck that asks questions from various angles to challenge you to think differently. Learning how to reword questions and uniquely ask them will give you a skill that generates new insights. The power of questions is critical in the innovation game. Begin creating, crafting, and collecting your questions today.

Dealing with Innovation Antibodies

One skill we need, but tend to overlook, is the ability to deal with innovation antibodies. When operating in the world of innovation, opposition often occurs. People may feel threatened by your idea for one reason or another. These people act as innovation antibodies, attacking your idea. How do you deal with this issue? No matter where you are in innovation, you will encounter different responses and have to learn to work through them.

Here are the types of responses you will need to work through:

• Ego Response– The jealousy of your idea comes from an authority position. Share some of the idea/give credit to get around these people
• Fatigue Response– “I've tried that before.” Treat them as an adviser to help your idea
• No-Risk Response – “That's too risky.” Empathize with them and take risks seriously
• Comfort Response –”We don't need change. We're doing good.” Show them that things will not be good forever

Have you dealt with an innovation antibody in your organization? What category would you put them in? Do others call you an innovation antibody? If so, what type are you?

Innovation Attitude

An essential skill set vital to success is an innovation attitude permeating your culture. I use the following easy-to-remember acronym CARE to keep an innovative outlook.

• C – Candor – freely share your creative thoughts and ideas with others. Be respectful but be honest and encourage openness among yourselves and others. Invite them to act as an innovation antibody, even on your ideas. If you don't share your thoughts and ideas, they don't become genuine innovations—they have zero value.
• A – Action – Act on ideas that will impact your organization. Take charge to enable progress and lean in. Provide solutions to issues both big and small regardless of if it is your idea. Don't let good ideas become stale simply because it wasn't your idea. Instead, please take action to drive them forward.
• R – Risk – Understand the uncertainty and risk of trying new ideas. Take calculated risks or act on perceived threats. Get rid of perceived risks—many are not real risks. Learn from experiments and calculated risks. Understand how to manage risks and push forward.
• E – Empower – Trust yourself and others to make a difference. Feel like you are empowered and have permission. Empower others and encourage leaders to empower—enable permission.

Let's connect; I am on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If we do connect, drop me a note and let me know. The email address is feedback@philmckinney.com, or you can go to PhilMcKinney.com and drop me a message there. If you are looking for innovation support, go to TheInnovators.Network or want to be challenged to develop the next big idea? Check out our Disruptive Ideation Workshops. Don't forget to join our Innovators Community to enjoy more conversations around innovation.

To learn more about the ingredients for innovation success, listen to this week's show: The Best of Killer Innovations: Six Vital Innovation Skills.