The job of a product team is to solve problems for its users and the business. We might not always think of it in this term, but that problem solving is innovation. Some problems require higher levels of innovation than others, but always that should be a goal of our product teams. A Harvard Business Review article explores the roles we take on during the innovation process, “to identify where specific people are needed and who should work together to generate new breakthrough ideas.”
HBR identified four innovation styles: Generator, Conceptualizer, Optimizer, Implementer
The research found that generally, these innovation styles are not evenly distributed. The most people were found to be implementers, folks who take action to put solutions into work. The least amount of people were found to be generators, those who find new problems and ideate based on their own experiences.
This is problematic for two reasons. One, the product teams you are working on are likely lack a balance of innovation styles to be insufficiently cognitively diverse. To solve the most wicked problems that rise on your product, you’ll need support from all four of the innovation arenas. And two, the style you are most likely missing is generators. If we aren’t identifying the problems, are we best serving our users?
Bringing this framework to your product team can help the team understand where they might have gaps, and which innovation styles they might need to lean into.
STAND-UP EXERCISE
After they learn about the innovator types (have them read the article, or walk them through the above graphic), ask your team which innovation style they lean toward. Is the distribution the same as the general population? Which areas are missing?
Ask them to think about how to encourage an even distribution of styles on the team, as well as how to create more generators within their team and the organization. Remember that innovation styles are cognitive state, not fixed personalities. How best can you use identifying these styles to create more true innovation on your team? How can you use this to smooth the pain points in your problem solving processes?
