Someone who is innovative

Kelly Wing. Glenn Llopis. Albert Santalo. Scott Bartnick. Steve Taplin. Skip to content Profile Avatar. Subscribe to Entrepreneur. Magazine Subscriptions.

By Deep Patel June 6, Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Hoxton Tom Merton Getty Images. He is the founder of the wellness brand Penguin CBD. The company was rated the No. Patel also worked with companies like Cellucor maker of C4 and A. More About Innovators. Success Strategies. Priya Gogoi Jun 8, Kelly Wing May 24, Glenn Llopis Apr 10, Latest on Entrepreneur.

Albert Santalo Nov 11, Reimagining the Way We Work. LOG IN. Action 2: Be Constantly Curious Be curious every day. Action 3: Look Ahead Embrace a future-oriented mindset. Action 4: Embrace Failure Hug failure. Action 6: Practice Innovation Exercises Schedule innovative exercises into your daily life. Action 7: Learn Your Innovation Strengths Learn your natural innovation strengths and unlock your everyday innovator.

Recent Podcasts. Blog Categories. Experimentation is a crucial factor in innovation, and when people or companies experiment, it naturally means they are running a risk of failure. Despite the fact that failure has a negative connotation, innovative people know that a failed experiment equates to success in many ways. While organizations across industries strive to be innovative, some find repeated success while others never do.

This is simply the reality of a process that relies so much on factors like timing, market need, and internal talent. However, this pattern has led some individuals to believe that the ability to be innovative is something you just have rather than something you can work toward. Marion finds that Microsoft is a perfect example of an organization which may not have started with impressive skills in innovation, but that worked hard to improve for the good of their brand.

This, he believes, is the key to innovation:. While Marion says individuals should feel motivated to hone their innovation skills through training, he also acknowledges that a few common qualities exist among those who have already embraced innovation in their lives and workplaces. Below we explore six common qualities that effective innovators share. To make positive changes to the landscape of an organization or industry through innovation, professionals must be willing to push past the confines of expectation.

Marion also identifies the importance of a user-centric mindset in innovation. Alongside an ability to take the bigger picture into account, people who are successfully innovative can also drill down and look closely at a specific idea or issue when needed, as well. Though not all innovators are born with this unique combination of skills, Marion believes professionals can hone this process through hands-on experience and exposure to real-world scenarios. Though these skills can range from time management to creativity, innovative professionals embrace a certain combination which allows them to thrive.

I want to receive personalised content in my inbox. Leave this field blank. No account? Create one Sign in Email. Forgot your password? This article is based on research by Lotta Hassi In a study published in the International Journal of Innovation Management , Esade innovation expert Lotta Hassi and Satu Rekonen of Aalto University investigated how individual characteristics promote experimentation behaviour.

The key characteristics of innovative people 1. Continuous reflection Participants with innovative behaviour adopted continuous reflection — that is, they were open to questioning their first idea and the direction of the project. Unattached exploration When participants were strongly attached to an idea, they were less open to letting go and trying other things.

Participants who were more prone to innovation were able to postpone fixation on an idea 3. Iterating between abstract and concrete thinking In the experiments, employees had difficulty going from abstract concepts to concrete details — most individuals were strong mainly in one mode of thinking or the other. Action-oriented Another driver of innovative individuals was their action-oriented behaviour. Opportunity-focused While some individuals only saw dead ends, opportunity-focused participants were able to see opportunities in different situations and shared with their teams several possible routes for the project — this played a key role in moving the team forward into experiments.

People who adapt positively to adversity are more prone to innovative behaviours 6. Mental resilience The study demonstrates that people who adapt positively to adversity and don't let challenges defeat them are also more prone to innovative behaviours.

Intellectual humility The field data revealed that intellectual humility was also at the core of innovation.