Five Secrets of Great Innovators

First came the iPod. Then came the iPhone. With the unveiling of the iPad last week, one might argue Apple CEO Steve Jobs officially cemented his place in history as one of the world’s greatest innovators.

We all might wish we had Jobs’ creativity and business savvy. The good news is, the ability to innovate is a learnable skill — at least according to three researchers from INSEAD, Brigham Young and Harvard. In their new study, they find that the most innovative leaders possess five key “discovery skills” that distinguish them from their less creative colleagues:

1. Associating, which is the ability to connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas from different fields.
2. Questioning, which means constantly asking “Why?” “Why not?” and “What if?” as well as always keeping an open mind.
3. Observing, which is scrutinizing the marketplace and common business phenomena, including behavior of potential customers.
4. Experimenting, which involves rigorous testing of new ideas via prototypes and pilots.
5. Networking, which means making a conscious effort to speak with and visit others to expand one’s own knowledge base.

The researchers, who surveyed nearly 3,500 executives over the course of six years, also found that the most innovative individuals spend 50 percent more time on these activities than those with no track record for innovation.

“Finding innovative skills at the C-level is not only critical to generating new ideas for disruptive businesses, services, products and processes, but equally valuable to soliciting and valuing others’ great ideas,” said Hal Gregersen, affiliate professor of leadership at INSEAD and one of the authors of the study. “Without C-level executives who are comfortable at innovating themselves, it’s far less likely they will honestly value innovation in their senior team — or throughout their organization, for that matter.”

Of course, there are challenges to developing the five critical skills identified by Gregersen and his fellow researchers. First and foremost, most organizations don’t place a high value on discovery skills, Gregersen said.