The Role of Innovators at Large Organizations

In-house innovation programs continue to proliferate and our concept of the innovator has evolved alongside them. Now we no longer think of a creative genius sitting alone in their tower coming up with creative ideas. Now, innovators can play a number of different roles within an innovation program beyond idea author. A lot of interest and attention is being paid to this concept, because organizations that are looking to sponsor and train innovation skills at their organization need to understand what skills matter most when it comes to creating meaningful change. After all, it’s an important part of professional development nowadays. Every employee at any organization needs to be able to keep up with the rapid pace of change. So here are a few of the roles that innovators play at large organizations.

The profound impact of social factors on innovation

Customers are people. Users, choosers, and influencers are people. Channel partners are people. People create things for other people to use in exchange for money. Understanding what motivates people can help us to overcome hurdles to effective creativity and innovation.

What do skeletons and innovation have in common?

Does disciplined innovation really create the big new idea? Do we need to allow for more "random creativity?"