The People Side of Innovation by Stefan Lindegaard #ESOMAR #ESOdigital #MRX

Live blogging from the #ESOMAR digital conference in Stockholm. Any errors or bad jokes are my own.

The People Side of Innovation, Stefan Lindegaard, @lindegaard, Author and Strategic Advisor, 15inno, Denmark

he is a self-confessed nerd in innovation
now we need a new phone every 3 months instead of every 3 years
anything can be copied around the world within 2 months because of transparency and communications
open innovation is a philosophy or mindset of innovation
thought leadership and thought intelligence are a necessity, being an engineer is no longer sufficient
discovery is the first great idea, not necessarily the engineer but anyone
incubation, acceleration are the next steps and require the right people at the right time
figure out which of your employees are good at these different areas and put them in the place for each project
how do you get access to these people?
you need intrapreneurial skills, networking talent, communication skills, strategic influencing, adaptive fast learner, balanced optimism, tolerance for uncertainty, passion
it’s not matching people to holes anymore
financial rewards aren’t necessarily the number 1 reward, but people really crave intellectual stimulation, if there’s money that’s great too
teams need to include more and different functions now, it’s not just engineers anymore
we need job rotation program, programs to learn as you go
need virtual collaboration
networking requires direction, training, and time – few executives get this
“since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on linkedin” [i always find that funny too. i link with anyone who is a researchers, even before i know whether to trust them]
he goes to the movies at 11am so he can be by himself because he is an introvert, he’s learned to become a networker, but it helps him to focus, turn on the networking switch
innovation requires a networking culture
T-shape – two kinds of people, vertical is depth of skill which allows contribution. Horizontal disposition for collaborations cross disciplines [engineers are really taking a hit 🙂 ]
Marissa Mayer at yahoo banned working at home – more productive working alone, but more innovative working in teams
there is no silver bullet – you can’t just make it happen, you need to create the right conditions for innovation to happen
intrapreneur – a person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for innovation
it is important to spot and develop a talent
96% of all product innovation fails, too much focus on product and technology, your ROI comes from the business model and the networking
a corporate culture is carved in stone in the early years. you can’t just copy google
older people have never been trained in innovation, they don’t understand how it happens but they can execute
we need to stop rewarding only outcomes and results, we need to reward behaviours that lead to innovation
ideas are not the problem anymore, it’s getting the right people