Follow
Email
Super Bowl XLIX is coming up this Sunday. The Seahawks and the Patriots – and all successful football teams – have one main feature in common: each player has a well-defined role.
Teams pursuing innovation will also benefit from well-defined roles. In the book Employee Driven Quality, the authors identify four roles necessary to fire up your innovation management process.
1. The Idea Maker
The Idea Makers are the employees who will be submitting ideas. They initiate innovation and all potential new projects. These are your team’s centers; they are needed to initiate the whole process.
2. The Idea Manager
The Idea Managers coordinate the implementation of the idea. They will be the employees who brainstorm how to move concepts to reality. Idea managers are the quarterbacks of the team, trying out plays until the team can at least get a first down.
3. The Idea Installer
Idea Installers assist the managers with achieving the “reality” stage. The managers should offer creative insight, but the installers are the realists who decide what will work. Idea installers are your running backs and wide receivers; once they receive the idea, it is their job to actually get it to the end zone.
4. The Idea Coach
Every team requires a coach. Idea Coaches supervise the whole operation by helping to facilitate idea creation. They should be the Managers’ and Installers’ best resources for feedback on the feasibility of ideas.
Conclusion
Just like successful football teams, successful innovation also requires well-defined roles. These four roles can be a great asset for successful innovation, and in small teams one person can even take on multiple roles. When your team understands these roles and how they work together, more of your first downs will lead to innovation touchdowns.
Suggested Next Steps:
- Companies of all sizes (from Fortune-500s to growing startups) use IdeaGlow software to build their own innovation management framework. IdeaGlow is affordably priced & relatively easy to implement. If you’re interested, you can apply for a FREE 30-day trial of IdeaGlow software.
- Get new information we publish on innovation management right in your email inbox, sign up for a FREE email newsletter packed with useful info.
Like This Post? Get More by Email
3) Do not read this blog one sentence per day during your lunch break, while eating a 