1. A. Innovation occurs by adding features to a product.
B. Innovation occurs by taking features out of a product.
2. A. Innovation is finding problems that are solved by hypothetical solutions.
B. Innovation is finding solutions to difficult problems.
3. A. I am more likely to innovate when I work alone.
B. I am more likely to innovate when I work in a group.
4. A. Innovation is more about creating novel ideas.
B. Innovation is more about selecting the best ideas.
5. A. When I innovate, I “brainstorm” ideas out of my head.
B. When I innovate, I follow a series of steps to find ideas.
6. A. Innovating is predictable and not risky.
B. Innovating is unpredictable and risky.
7 . A. The ability to innovate is a gift that you are born with.
B. The ability to innovate is a skill that you can learn.
8. A. I prefer ambiguity when pondering new ideas.
B. I prefer clarity when pondering new ideas.
9. A. The Post-It Note is a good example of innovation because it was spontaneous.
B. The Post-It Note is a bad example of innovation because it was spontaneous.
10. A. I feel responsible for innovating new ideas.
B. I feel others are responsible for innovating new ideas.
11. A. Innovating is a random, improvisational, back-and-forth experience.
B. Innovating is a systematic, linear experience.
12. A. Constraints on resources like time and money drive innovation.
B. Constraints on resources like time and money inhibit innovation.
13. A. Homogeneous groups are more likely to innovate.
B. Diverse groups are more likely to innovate.
14. A. Innovation can be scheduled. It can occur anytime I want.
B. Innovation cannot be scheduled. It occurs randomly.
15. A. Innovation is an unstructured process.
B. Innovation is a patterned, “templated” process.
How do you rate? Here is a general guideline:
11 to 15 points: Consider yourself an innovator. Put it in your Twitter bio.
6 to 10 points: Innovating is a mixed bag for you, but you may be headed in the right direction.
0 to 5 points: Innovation is a mystery to you. Consider formal training.
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Many of these are really focused on the ideation stage, not full innovation which has many steps and requires follow through from ideas to implementation.
Also I completely disagree with scoring one answer as innovative/not-innovative for questions1, 2, 4,5,8,9 as the "innovation" answer for these is a function of the problem being address and the stage of innovation.
I'd say if you had problems choosing only 1 answer for the above list because you saw different answers at different stages of innovation, then you are better at the multi-perspective thinking often needed for good innovation, and give your self both the points for those questions and a bonus 2 for multi-perspective thinking.
The ambiguity of 1 is obvious, while simpler is better (b), there are projects where adding features to a product to enable new functions may be the innovaiton, e.g. adding texting to a phone.
Second example, #9 may be a bad example of ideation, or directed innovation. But it is a good example of culture and follow through on undirected innovation via an innovation culture. Its an example of seeing the potential in a initially crazy idea and following though at 3M to take an idea into an innovation. Many companies could learn from it how to listen for ideas and have a process to capitalize on them. If its a good example or bad depends on the point of view being used.
Thanks, Terry. As you will see from my work in this blog, I place a great deal of importance on ideation methods. For me, that is the engine of innovation. The rest is implementation. My sense is companies struggle far more with ideation than implementation. I also make a clear distinction between ideation and several other activities that are often wrapped up in the term innovation (such as problem solving, design, development, and commercialization). This little self test is focused around one particular structured ideation method, and for that, I think it does a pretty good job. But I also agree with you overall point that this may be oversimplified to address the more broad concept of innovation as you see it. I appreciate your comments - always welcomed.