Innovator’s Playbook

Successful innovation starts when you put together the right team.

Create a cross-functional team of specialists, six to 10 people of diversity in thinking, backgrounds, cultures, age and gender. Teams will vary by industry, but will likely include a project – or innovation – leader and a project manager. Involve specialists in research, marketing, sales, development/technology, packaging, supply chain, finance and design. A dedicated project manager should oversee the project so specialists can focus on their individual roles without worrying about the big picture.

Although it sounds counterintuitive, creating and innovating demand focus. Having a project kick-off builds energy and encourages cohesiveness among the new team. Discuss your “innovation opportunity” – a space for ideas to nurture. This can be a customer group or occasion, market insight, technology, trend or some combination.

For example, innovation opportunities may include an airline re-imagining how customers experience long-distance flights. Break this vague goal down into subsets with different teams that work on, for example, planning/booking trips; pre...