Innovation, an essential skill for the Leader in the world of “living with”

Innovation, an essential skill for the Leader in the world of “living with”
2021 Innovation Blossom survey “Innovation and leader of tomorrow”

Feedback from 100 players in the world of innovation .

From one confinement to another, the idea that the world before will come back fades. “Living with” the virus, its variants and general uncertainty is gaining ground in people’s minds. To understand this development, Innovation Blossom carried out in early 2021 a study “Innovation and leader of tomorrow”  by interviewing more than a hundred players in the world of innovation. Even though 99% of respondents agree that innovation has become essential, what kind of innovation is it? What are the soft skills of tomorrow’s leaders? What are their secrets to get into their flow? Mobilize the collective flow of their teams?

1) Innovation to meet 3 major challenges

If there is one area that the virus has brought about, it is innovation. 99% of respondents agree that it has become essential to address the challenges facing businesses. These challenges identified in 2021 are mainly: digitization (55%), teleworking (50%) and the environment (45%). Regarding the nature of the innovation, opinions are divided since those who believe that they will have to do incremental innovation, improvement, are hardly more numerous (53%) than those who are preparing for disruptive or disruptive innovation (47%).

2) Innovation but “responsible” innovation

To the question “do you think that the crisis has accelerated responsible innovation”, 63% respond positively by giving concrete arguments that converge around taking responsibility. ecological awareness, teleworking even if it remains to be better organized, and people. 40% have already started a “Reason for being” initiative in their company, illustrating my last column “Covid, virus for responsible innovation” .

3) The essential soft skills to drive innovation

Specific skills correspond to each step of the innovation process. In developing the strategy, analysis prevails. For ideation it’s creativity followed by originality and decentering. For the development of solutions, it is risk taking that takes precedence over perseverance. And when it comes to taking action, agility dominates followed by decision-making, courage and collaboration. Thus the world of innovation, reigns of hard skills and technique, invites soft skills to support it. Which is new.

4) How to deal with uncertainty

The uncertainty that the Covid has plunged the world into is inherent in innovation. Innovators are well versed in the need to work in an uncertain environment and in dependence on others. Their experience has led them to believe that skills for dealing with uncertainty are primarily the ability to anticipate, followed by imagination and stress management. Believing in your luck is also one of these positive skills. Suffice to say that emotional intelligence is now considered essential.  5) enter your flow To innovate you need to access a particular state of positive inspiration called flow. For more than 65%, a particular ritual allows them to easily enter their flow. These varied tips – between meditation, mantra, or personal method – will be the subject of a future article. On the other hand, 85% of them admit that they have no ritual to promote the flow of their teams. The development of collective intelligence is therefore the next challenge revealed by the survey echoing the responsible trend of innovation.

> See the study

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