To innovate, hire the 'wrong' people

Business leaders must use diagnostic frameworks to examine the extent to which entrepreneurialism, creativity and continuous learning is promoted within their organisation.

Published Fri, Mar 13, 2015 · 09:50 PM

Creativity

INNOVATION success is often attributed to individuals with outstanding attributes. Examples of such so-called innovation champions include Rudolf Wanzl Senior who started the corporate success story of the world leader in shopping carts and airport baggage carts (Wanzl) as a locksmith in Giebau (Sudetenland) in 1918; Nespresso's former CEO Jean-Paul Gaillard who turned (n)espresso into a very profitable luxury brand; and the "Father of the Digital Revolution", Steve Jobs.

The champion concept can be traced back to MIT professor Donald A Schoen who observed in a 1963 study on radical military-related innovations that they were often…