At the heart of successful corporate innovation lies the establishment of a central group dedicated to designing, building, and evolving an enterprise-wide innovation system. The pivotal first step for a leader spearheading this initiative is to assemble a support team. But how does one navigate this process effectively? The answer lies in a methodology that provides a structured approach to identifying the essential jobs, roles, and proficiencies required for the team.

A Framework for Building an Innovation Team

Central innovation groups hold a unique mandate – to develop strategic innovations that extend beyond sustaining existing ventures. The challenge is to identify opportunities that fall outside the immediate strategic focus of business units but align with the company’s overarching mission. The journey of building such a group within a large organization is complex, requiring a diverse set of proficiencies and personalities to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty.

Two critical factors for an effective innovation team are striking the right mix of people and ensuring a sufficient number to achieve the company’s goals. The interplay between roles and proficiencies becomes crucial. A matrix linking roles to jobs, coupled with defining proficiencies as critical, important, or nice-to-have for each role, creates a profile for ideal team members.

Achieving Mission Synergy

Determining if the team has the right mix revolves around Mission Synergy and Team Synergy. Mission Synergy entails having the appropriate mix and distribution of proficiencies to accomplish the necessary jobs. Team Synergy involves individuals working cohesively as a team. For now, let’s focus on achieving Mission Synergy.

Framework Components: Jobs, Roles, Proficiencies (J-R-P)

1. Jobs to Do:

• • Futures: Shape informed futures, scenarios, and forecasts influencing strategy.
  • Opportunity Creation: Establish processes for creating compelling, transformational opportunities.
  • Experience Insight: Observe and understand relevant experiences to influence opportunity design.
  • External Relationships: Build and expand a network of connections with community members.

2. Roles:

• • • System Conductor: Ensures harmonious coordination within the team to achieve mission objectives.
    • Opportunity Designer: Central role in creating and designing significant, acceptable opportunities.
    • Business Developer: Codifies the work needed to create new businesses within and outside the company.

3. Proficiencies:

• • • • Strategic Agility: Adapt strategic direction based on changing circumstances and priorities.
      • Actionable Empathy: Understand and describe motivations underlying behaviors of interest.
      • Mental Duality: Navigate ambiguity, connecting abstract and concrete elements seamlessly.
      • Cognitive Bias Resistance: Mitigate cognitive biases in observation, interpretation, and decision-making.
      • Organizational Agility: Navigate organizational structures and influencers for goal accomplishment.

Using the Mission Synergy Framework

The framework involves creating a matrix linking roles to jobs and developing profiles for each role based on critical proficiencies. Team members’ proficiency profiles are then matched against role profiles to identify gaps and ideal matches.

In conclusion, building an optimal innovation team requires a deep understanding of the necessary jobs, roles, and proficiencies. Recognizing existing team dynamics, individual proficiencies, and loading factors are additional crucial steps. While constraints may exist in position descriptions and corporate culture, leveraging the Mission Synergy framework enhances the process of building a high-performing innovation organization.