The idea generators are the heart of the innovation process, also known as Idea Champions. This refers to all the employees in the company who contribute with their creativity and knowledge to the solution of the innovation challenge and thus contribute to the development of innovations.
They can become active as participants in sprints or workshops or as submitters on an idea platform. In principle, every employee of a company can slip into this role. It is particularly effective if the idea contributors drive the ideas through the entire process and accompany them through to implementation.
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Requirements
- Creativity: Innovation challenges require creative problem-solving skills. This includes curiosity, but also the openness to break away from existing patterns of thought and break new ground.
- Motivation & perseverance: Idea generators should at best be intrinsically motivated to participate in the processing of a challenge. Perseverance is particularly important when it comes to elaborating the ideas further and accompanying them through to their implementation. As is always true: „Ideas are shit – execution is key!
- Teamwork: It will hardly be possible to implement an innovation alone. Therefore the idea champions should be team players and appreciate the expertise and experience of others.
Responsibilities
- Idea development: The core task of the idea contributors is to contribute to the solution of the challenge by developing ideas. This can be done in workshops or sprints, but also on their own initiative.
- Concept development: The idea provider is also responsible for turning a mere idea into a holistic concept. He does this together with his team.
- Pitch: The development of innovations requires resources in terms of time and budget. In order for this to be released step by step, the idea provider must present the concept to committees again and again and convince them of its further development.
Our overview article The most important roles in the innovation process shows what other roles there are in the innovation process.
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