The perfect innovation team?

Those who are passionate about innovation know well the perfect innovation team should involve a group of individuals with cross functional skill sets. Why? Well because having a diverse set of individuals will bring together a broad range of ideas and will be able to address a problem from all angles.

Leading innovation consultant Gijs Van Wulfen references the Mayo Clinic’s proposal for ‘the perfect innovation team’;

• The Visionary – The force behind creating the world as it could be-and should be.
• The Generator – The generator of the idea that gets an innovation rolling.
• The Iterator – An idea-engineer who takes the original idea and turns it into an innovation.
• The Customer Anthropologist – The keen observer of what customers truly hunger for.
• The Tech Guru – The harnesser of technology to turn the innovation into reality.
• The Producer – The champion of flow. The master of moving ideas along.
• The Communicator – Amplifies and clarifies the idea in the minds of others outside the team.
• The Roadblock Remover – With a hammer- or velvet gloves- knocks away organization, political, and financial roadblocks.
• The Futurecaster – The forecaster and modeler of the economic and social value of the future of innovation.

Whilst it’s hard to argue with the nine profiles listed above, there is one key skill / profile that seems to be missing from the Mayo Clinic’s ideal team; the salesperson!What’s the role of sales in innovation? Well to quote Ash Maurya;

Life’s to short to build something that nobody wants

Whilst a ‘customer anthropologist’ may be best placed to determine customer wants and needs, perhaps they might not be able to determine whether they would be willing to pay it and also how much they are willing to pay! Having the discipline to kill of a product or solution that will not be profitable is a key component of any innovation focus. But this will really depend on what your innovation goals are, and whether revenue is even a consideration. Innovation can be both evolutionary or revolutionary, so don’t forget sales in your innovation teams if revenue is part of your plans for world domination.

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