We’ve all heard the phrase “Fake it until you make it.” Can we apply this same concept to an innovator? It is truly possible to fake mindset and innovative principles until you’re able to naturally exhibit these characteristics with ease. While it’s hard to assess this, it’s important that we understand what innovation truly is at its core to fully understand this question.
Innovation is defined as developing a new product or service that is novel in concept or practice. Through this definition, we can also define an innovator as one that introduces said innovation into the marketplace. As innovators it’s essential that we ask the right questions, embrace operational excellence, and stay focused on our overall goals and objectives. In addition, an innovator must possess specific characteristics that set them up for success throughout the design thinking processes.
Let’s now take a step through some common characteristics of innovators:
Resilience
When it comes to innovation, you need to remain hopeful and resilient. When you are resilient, you create an environment of confidence and optimism within your teams. To promote resiliency embrace some of the following practices:
- Empower your team to succeed
- Manage and monitor your team’s emotional wellbeing
- Foster and develop trust and positive team dynamics
- Listen actively and aim to understand
Swiftness
Innovation is like a marathon but you need to run it like a sprint. Be fast, adaptable, and agile as you navigate through this process. It’s essential that you leverage your momentum to grow as quickly as possible while continuing to stay motivated throughout the process. As we become too content, we begin to stop innovating and settle for flawed systems that don’t align with our core strategies and roadmaps.
Discipline
Keep in mind that while the process may be long and tiring at times, an effective innovator must remain disciplined. A disciplined individual ensures all efforts remain on track to be sure a product is delivered on time and within budget or scope. With discipline, innovative leaders are able to maintain a high level of focus that ensures alignment with business goals and promotes consistency within change.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, as innovators, we can truly only develop ideas, plan strategies, and plant seeds. We need a strong team and followers to help bring these ideas and concepts to life. If you’re an innovator, whether there’s one person in a room or two, keep sharing your ingenuity and continue to lead change.
Speak out and speak up! You have the ability to change the world with one idea at a time.
