Wysdom Consulting Blog How Innovation Is Changing Your Boss's Title (And Their Expectations Of You)

How Innovation Is Changing Your Boss's Title (And Their Expectations Of You)The easiest way to understand why companies find innovation so challenging is to imagine an artist sitting down to paint someone's portrait.When the artist first begins to paint, they don't know for sure what the end result will look like. Yes, they have someone sitting in front of them to work from, but that face or body can be interpreted in many different ways on a canvas.Similarly, companies have all different sorts of tangible goals, whether it's growing their customer base, reducing costs or developing new products, but being more innovative in how they do so requires a particular kind of interpretive skill. No wonder so many firms are creating specially-defined innovation roles and teams."Innovation can be very difficult to measure," says Alex Campbell, an advisory for Wysdom Consulting. "When it's not done well, the work can sometimes be seen as not adding much value -- people think it's a bunch of guys playing with software and having a bit of fun."As CIOs or IT directors take on chief innovation officer roles, that should change, Campbell says. However it will also mean those reporting into them will need to rethink the way they pursue their own work, an even how they prepare themselves to be hired for their next job."If you look at the interview process now for a new candidate, the initial focus is on the database, network or OS credentials they have, or the training they've pursued. It sets the barrier high. It requires a great deal of disciplined investment, which are virtual barriers," Campbell says. "Innovation is about breaking through those barriers and looking at problems in a more horizontal and holistic way."Once you've gotten the job -- or even if your current role morphs into something with an innovation mandate -- Campbell says success will be defined your contribution to the organizational culture shift. This includes how well you adapt to change, your courage to take strategic risks and your willingness to continuously evolve your skills."Learning technology is relatively new at university. The validity of those skills by the time you leave may be relatively low," he points out. "If you see yourself as being part of a development team or part of a product development or design team, you have to keep exposing yourself to multiple areas of IT and think about how you can apply them to a variety of business challenges."Whether you're developing an innovation team or want to be part of one, Wysdom Consulting can help. Learn more about our services to find out more. How Innovation Is Changing Your Boss's Title (And Their Expectations Of You) The easiest way to understand why companies find innovation so challenging is to imagine an artist sitting down to paint someone's portrait. When the artist first begins to paint, they don't know for sure what the end result will look like. Yes, they have someone sitting in front of them to work from, but that face or body can be interpreted in many different ways on a canvas. Similarly, companies have all different sorts of tangible goals, whether it's growing their customer base, reducing costs or developing new products, but being more innovative in how they do so requires a particular kind of interpretive skill. No wonder so many firms are creating specially-defined innovation roles and teams. "Innovation can be very difficult to measure," says Alex Campbell, an advisory for Wysdom Consulting. "When it's not done well, the work can sometimes be seen as not adding much value -- people think it's a bunch of guys playing with software and having a bit of fun." As CIOs or IT directors take on chief innovation officer roles, that should change, Campbell says. However it will also mean those reporting into them will need to rethink the way they pursue their own work, an even how they prepare themselves to be hired for their next job. "If you look at the interview process now for a new candidate, the initial focus is on the database, network or OS credentials they have, or the training they've pursued. It sets the barrier high. It requires a great deal of disciplined investment, which are virtual barriers," Campbell says. "Innovation is about breaking through those barriers and looking at problems in a more horizontal and holistic way." Once you've gotten the job -- or even if your current role morphs into something with an innovation mandate -- Campbell says success will be defined your contribution to the organizational culture shift. This includes how well you adapt to change, your courage to take strategic risks and your willingness to continuously evolve your skills. "Learning technology is relatively new at university. The validity of those skills by the time you leave may be relatively low," he points out. "If you see yourself as being part of a development team or part of a product development or design team, you have to keep exposing yourself to multiple areas of IT and think about how you can apply them to a variety of business challenges." Whether you're developing an innovation team or want to be part of one, Wysdom Consulting can help. Learn more about our services to find out more.