The Value in Personal Innovation Learning Journeys

If you don’t have time, how can you learn? We are in need increasingly, of faster understanding, to quickly learn or resolve an immediate need, or we have this determination or essential requirement within our innovation role to deepen our knowledge and understanding of innovation. These are usually split into two parts, called are “micro or macro learning opportunities”.

Have you ever given a thought to the value of having an innovation guide, mentor or coach helps you accelerate through both these needs and learning opportunities. I see four points of value, my value proposition, if you like, for you to achieve personal innovation growth:

1. Gaining knowledge gives you growth, impact and return. Others seek you out to understand
2. Translating knowledge into value deepens your value, increases your worth and gaining respect
3. If you are able to put the coordinates into your innovation world you have a clear compass to proceed
4. The External Innovation Catalyst prompts your thinking, accelerates your understanding and guides you on this personal learning journey of innovation understanding.

The key aspects of working with an expert in innovation are numerous. Let me provide a few:

• That person can provide you an objective view
• They introduce a fresh perspective, they shift your thinking forward
• They can help bring concepts to life
• They can solve potential gaps in your thinking or knowledge understanding
• They become your personal advisor to work with as you go.
• They can offer validation points along your journey
• As external providers, they can spot and even amplify the trends for your learning curve
• They offer a different ‘angle’ on your challenges and objectives
• They can map parts of the innovation puzzle to the whole.
• They can simply show the way or point you in ‘given’ directions
• They can advocate, guide and inform on a variety of innovation needs and your questions
• Gives navigation and feedback
• They are independent and can be detached from internal barriers to help “bunker bust” and accelerate innovation awareness

Irrespective on how you see and value an external innovation expert who can guide, advise and mentor they can take you through three steps

1. Help you discover and explore relevant innovation approaches
   
2. Enable you to generate and convert innovation understanding faster
3. They can exploit and leverage a ‘collective’ knowledge and wisdom built up over time and experience.

There is a real need to accelerate innovation understanding. The best person to deliver the innovation message is the one that is well equipped to see its value, purpose, and potential to transform “where you are” into “where you could possibly be” through the pursuit of an innovation growth strategy.

It is all about the translation points in innovation guidance and finding the time to engage with the external catalyst of innovation understanding. It can potentially offer an exponential return to you, your team and your organization’s innovation activity if you have the desire to build your innovation capabilities.

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Paul Hobcraft runs Agility Innovation, an advisory business that stimulates sound innovation practice, researches topics that relate to innovation for the future, as well as aligning innovation to organizations core capabilities. Follow @paul4innovating