Leading Resources
by MaxWilson@MaxInnovationGroup.com
Buy or Not to Buy? I DO NOT recommend this book.
Title: Innovative Intelligence: The Art and Practice of Leading Sustainable Innovation
in Your Organization
Focus of content: A four stage generic process to solving problems creatively- leading
to innovative solutions. A model for creating innovative
individuals and teams is also presented.
Who should buy this book: Mid level leaders, managers, innovation champions,
teams leaders- those responsible for managing
innovative processes and outputs of individuals and
teams.
Reviewer’s note: The fours stage innovative thinking process presented in this book is a generic componential view
of every creative problems solving process ever designed. For a more productive and efficient method to solving
problems creatively see CPS v 6.1- the most widely used creative problem solving process in the world.
In this resource the author(s):
Provide a clear and focused definition of innovation and other critical terms:
Provide graphic models (Venn, flow chart, etc.) to explain theories and interactive concepts:
Show how innovation is leveraged through People, Workplaces, Processes, and/or Products:
Present new content that contributes to the current field, discipline, or domain of knowledge:
Provide a notes section, a comprehensive bibliography of all references, and an index of key words:
Apply current research (external and within 5 year of publication) and/or theories to support content:
Content adequately delivers on the promise or purpose of the book as presented in title or dust jacket:
Average Rating:
My bottom line:
I would personally recommend this book as a valuable read to a CEO or senior leadership team:
*Scale
Strongly Agree
5
Agree
4
Somewhat agree
3
Disagree
2
Scale*
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2.4
No
Strongly Disagree
1
Key content I found of interest:
1. Three Innovation Challenges. (pgs. 4-5)
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Lack of a common understanding of what innovation is, how it happens, and what prevents it
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Lack of innovative leaders
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Lack of enabling organizational practices and cultures to reinforce innovation
2. Three Activities of Effective Innovation Leaders. (p. 18)
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Be skilled in using innovative thinking to respond to complex problems
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Build an organizational climate that supports the systematic use of innovative thinking by leaders,
employees, and teams
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Be able to remove obstacles that block the use of innovative thinking in the organization
3. The Four-Step Innovation Thinking Process. (p. 59)
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Framework- Understanding the business issues (pg. 81)
i. Essential tools in the framework process
- The context- understand all elements relevant to the issue
- The “How to…?” question- when clearly defining the problem or opportunity
- The boundaries- identify external (global), internal (specific) and Must Do boundaries
- The type of solution- identify requirements of the solution. See Types of Outcomes
Chart (p. 93)
- The owner or decision maker- identify the real owner
- The project charter- format to document the project and overall process. See The
Project Charter chart (pgs. 98-99)
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Issue Redefinition- surface the underlying issues. (p. 108) The five areas of issue redefinition are:
i. Clarify Assumptions (p. 109)
ii.
iii.
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Map the system (p. 111)
Break down the issue into its parts (p. 112)
Gain insight into root causes (p. 115)
Validate the redefined issue (p. 117)
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Idea Generation- discover one or more innovative solutions to the problem. (p. 126) The four
stages are:
i. Prepare thoroughly- set the objectives for the session, select the participants and define
the roles, and arrange the logistics for the session
ii. Introduce the process- introduces the questions, the boundaries, the types of solutions
expected, the goals, and ground rules for the meeting
iii. Generate many ideas through divergence- balance individual and group contributions,
clearly separate divergence and convergence, balance idea collection and free-flowing
discussion, and bypass self-censorship during the divergence stage
iv. Discover meaningful solutions through convergence- develop one new solution or range of
new solutions within the context of the framework boundaries
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Implementation Planning- confirm the preferred ideas, engage in risk analysis and develop
mitigation strategies, present the innovative solution for approval, ensure an effective handoff to
the team that focuses on change implementation
4. The Leader’s Primary Roles in Each Step of the Innovative Thinking Process. (p. 188) Here the authors
present a list of activities and deliverables for each step in the innovation thinking process.
5. The Leader’s Innovation Readiness Survey. (p. 194) Here the authors present a self assessment survey
that can be used to identify the most urgent issues that need to be addressed to improve the effectiveness
of a team.
Key quotes I found insightful:
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Innovation Gap= The difference between the stated importance of innovation and the actual results in an
organization. (p. 4)
Innovation= Applied creativity that achieves business value. (p. 6)
Innovative thinking is the process of solving problems by discovering, combining, and arranging insights,
ideas, and methods in new ways. (p. 7)
Organizations need to value thinking at work and create a climate where innovative thinking is legitimized
and valued. (p. 9)
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…there is a need for organization-wide innovative thinking that becomes part of the way of working for all
leaders and employees, at every level of the organization. (p. 13)
They [all leaders] must…be taught how to use a systematic process of innovative thinking, how to rolemodel innovation, and how to create a climate of innovation for all leaders, employees, and teams. (p. 14)
As long as executives fail to recognize the critical importance of developing innovative leaders throughout
their organizations, they will impair their capacity to respond to complex business challenges. (p. 17)
The most effective way to lead through complexity is to apply innovative thinking. (p. 18)
A leader needs to excel at facilitating innovative thinking…. (p. 23)
Akkermans, Isaksen, and Isaksen, …found that the most important role for leaders is to influence and build
an innovative organizational climate, and the organizational climate will contribute to greater innovative
productivity. (p. 27)
…it is more important to teach leaders how to lead innovation, how to create an innovative climate, and
how to facilitate innovative thinking than it is to teach leaders how to be innovative themselves. (p. 28)
Innovative intelligence is the human cognitive ability to gain insight into problems or opportunities in new
ways and to discover new and unforeseen implementable solutions. (p. 32)
Organizations …need to …invest in innovative thinking development programs for employees, teams, and
leaders. (p. 50)
Employees at successful innovative organizations have a shared definition of innovative thinking and use
the same innovative thinking process. (p. 64)
Most great ideas, inventions, and innovations are the result of combining previously existing and
unconnected facts in a new way to solve a clear problem or opportunity. (p. 125)
…culture...forms in an organization to give it stability and predictability. …. Leaders need to understand
how culture encourages or stifles innovation and how to accelerate cultural transformation. (p. 171)
Managers focus on implementation [plan, delegate, evaluate, and control]. (p. 191)
Leaders focus on innovation (think holistically and horizontally across the enterprise). They need to inspire
teams to explore and gain insight into complexities and to facilitate the discovery of new ways of doing
things. (p. 191)
If the executives panic and stop innovation activities during difficult times, employees will assume that
innovation is nice to have but not fundamental to the way the business works and what it needs to
succeed. (p. 196)
In a 2007 survey of senior leaders in large organizations, about half of the executive who said innovation
was a “top three priority” for their organization also said that their organization was effective at innovation.
On the other hand, those who said innovation was a “top 10 priority” or that innovation was “a value, and
not a priority”, were much less likely to be innovative. (p. 207)
…departments that need to collaborate every day should report to the same executive. (p. 227)
...marketing departments play a critical role in cross-functional teams, as they often manage the knowledge
about the organization’s customers and markets. (p. 234)
The sales department is essential to innovation because of the deep insights they can have about their
customers and prospects. (p. 235)
Customer service’s main contribution to innovation is their knowledge of the customer. Positive
comments, and more important, negative comments by customers and prospects are the simplest and one
of the most effective sources of knowledge for innovation. (pgs. 235-236)
…R&D innovation practices are generally not transferable to the rest of the organization. For this reason,
the R&D department should never be the starting point for an Office of Innovation. (p. 236)
HR [Human Resources] can influence innovation through people processes (recruitment, job descriptions,
compensation, performance management systems, and promotions)… and through value-add processes
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(executive development, talent management, employee engagement, and organizational development and
change management). (pgs. 237-239)
…executives should select only the innovation strategies they are ready to resource and enforce. (p. 260)
Ideally, the innovation plan should apply to the whole organization. Each department and unit can then
create their own departmental innovation plan. (p. 264)
Citation: Weiss, D. S., and Legrand, C. (2011). Innovative intelligence: The art and practice of leading sustainable
innovation in your organization. Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.
Next Step: To find out how I can help you, or your organization, be more successful in your innovation efforts,
give me a call at 724-816-4999 or email me at MaxWilson@MaxInnovationGroup.com to schedule a
time to discuss you or your organization’s innovation needs.