The learning roles help keep your team from becoming too internally focused and remind the organization not to be so smug about what you “know”.

1. THE EXPERIMENTER,
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

2. THE LEARNING
PERSONAS
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

3. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE LEARNING PERSONAS
The learning roles help keep your team from
becoming too internally focused and remind
the organization not to be so smug about
what you “know”.

4. THE EXPERIMENTER

5. “I HAVE NOT FAILED. I HAVE MERELY FOUND TEN
THOUSAND WAYS THAT WON'T WORK.”
THOMAS EDISON
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

6. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
The Experimenter may be the most classic role an innovator plays. Great inventors come to mind when we
think of experimenters, men like da Vinci and Thomas Edison. But when it comes to innovation,
Experimenters don't need to be geniuses. What Experimenters share is a passion for hard work, a curious
mind, and an openness to serendipity. Like Edison, they strive for inspiration but never shy away from
perspiration. We celebrate the Wright Brothers' success at Kitty Hawk, but we often overlook the fact that
they tested more than 200 wing shapes and risked their lives crashing seven different
fl
ying machines in
pursuit of a practical airplane. Few people stop to consider where the name for the ubiquitous spray
lubricant WD-40 came from, but it refers to the thirty-nine failed experiments in coming up with the perfect
water-displacement formula before the company
fi
nally achieved success. And British entrepreneur James
Dyson reports that he built 5,127 unsuccessful prototypes of his cyclone vacuum before he hit on the
design that made him a billionaire.
Experimenters love to play, to try different ideas and approaches. They put roller skates on the scienti
fi
c
method. They make sure everything's faster, less expensive, and hopefully more fun. Speed is an
Experimenter's best friend. Experimenters embrace little failures at the early stages to avoid big mistakes
later on. They work with teams of all shapes and sizes. They invite in colleagues, partners, customers,
investors, even kids to try out their works-in-process-all the possible stakeholders who might have insights
that could make the prototype better.
~ The Ten Faces of Innovation, Page 42
THE EXPERIMENTER

7. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE EXPERIMENTER
What exactly does an Experimenter do?

8. PROTOTYPING

9. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
PROTOTYPING
▸Fail Fast
▸Implementation in real-time
▸Multiple prototypes
▸Video prototyping

10. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
PROTOTYPING FOR
YOUR TEAM PROJECT

11. THE CROSS-POLLINATOR

12. LEAVE THE BEATEN TRACK OCCASIONALLY AND
DIVE INTO THE WOODS. EVERY TIME YOU DO SO,
YOU WILL BE CERTAIN TO FIND SOMETHING
THAT YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

13. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
There's magic in cross-pollination-and in the people who make it happen.
Cross-pollinators can create something new and better through the unexpected juxtaposition of
seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts. They often innovate by discovering a clever solution in one
context or industry, then translating it successfully to another. For example, it was a Cross-Pollinator
who transplanted the idea of a piano keyboard from the musical world to create early manual
typewriters in the business world, which of course, evolved step by step into the electronic
keyboards we all use today. And reinforced concrete was originally created by a French gardener
trying to strengthen
fl
owerpots, but civil engineers wholeheartedly adopted it to create colossal
dams and highway systems, while architects extended the gardener's utilitarian concept to elegant
structures from Fallingwater to the Sydney Opera House. Computer pioneers got the idea for IBM
punch cards-and arguably even the digital computer itself-from a punch-card system for weaving
complex fabric patterns on a silk loom. The concept of an escalator began life as a primitive Coney
Island amusement ride that has since grown into a billion-dollar industry. And most Frisbee players
don't know that the basic shape and even the name of that ubiquitous
fl
ying toy was adapted from
the Frisbie Baking Company's metal pie tins, tossed by Ivy League college students a century ago.
~ The Ten Faces of Innovation, Page 68
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR

14. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
What does a Cross-Pollinator do?

15. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
▸Draws connections with seemingly unrelated things
▸Curious
▸Aptitude for learning and teaching
▸Open minded
▸Reaps inspiration from constraints

16. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
How do you inspire the cross-pollination of ideas?

17. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
Cross-Pollinators retain the childlike ability to see patterns others don't,
and to spot key differences. But they've also honed the very adult skill of
applying those subtle differences in new contexts. They often think in
metaphors, enabling them to see relationships and connections that
others miss. They act as matchmakers, creating unusual combinations
that often spark innovative hybrids. Cross-Pollinators frequently
approach problems from unusual angles. They sometimes make a
practice of "doing without” - tackling a problem by considering solutions
without some key element popularly considered standard or essential.
~ The Ten Faces of Innovation, Page 75
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR

18. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
How do you become a cross-pollinator?

19. INNOVATION AND TEAMS
THE CROSS-POLLINATOR
▸Scarcity - try going without something you consider
essential
▸Increase your
fl
uency
▸Gift of giving

20. “INNOVATION IS ULTIMATELY A TEAM SPORT. GET
ALL THE ROLES PERFORMING AT THE TOP OF
THEIR GAME AND YOU’LL GENERATE A POSITIVE
FORCE FOR INNOVATION.”
Tom Kelley
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

21. CATEGORIES GAME
INNOVATION AND TEAMS

22. HOW IS YOUR FIRST PROTOTYPE COMING
ALONG FOR YOUR TEAM PROJECT?
QUESTION OF THE WEEK 2