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    The DNA of Disruptive Innovators

    Uploaded by

    Kabir Hossain Shouvro

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The DNA of Disruptive Innovators “Tanto pt dng in the univers.” i _—Steve Jobs, under and longtime CEO, Apple Inc. DOL KNOW HOW to generat innovative, even disruptive, business ideas? Do T know how to find creative people or how to tain people to think outside the box? These questions stump most senior executives, who know that the ability to innovate isthe "secret sauce” of business success. Unfortunately, ‘most of us know very litle about what makes one person more creative than another, Perhaps fr this reason, We standin ave of visionary entrepreneurs such as Apple's longtime CEO Steve Jobs, Amazon's Jeff Bez0s, snd Tesla'sFlon Musk. How do these people come up with groundbreaking ise? If were posible to discover the inner workings ofthe masters" minds, what could the rst of us leam about how innovation really happens? Ideas for Innovation Consider the case ofthe legendary Steve Jobs, who was once ranked the world’s number one best.performing, CEO in a study published by Harvard Business Review.' You may recall Apple's famous “Think Different ‘ad campaign, whose slogan sys ial. The campaign featured innovators from diferent fields, including Abert Einstein, Pieasso, Rickard Branson, and John Lennon, but Jobs face might easly have bes featured among the others. Afterall everyone knows that Jobs was an innovative guy, that he knew how te “think iferet.” Bu the question is, just how did he do if? Indeed, how docs any innovator think differently? ‘The common answer is thatthe ability to think creatively is genetic. Most of us belive that some people, like Jobs, are simply bom wih creative genes, while others are not Innovators are supposedly right bained, ‘caning that they ae genetically endowed with creative abilities. The rest of us are left brained-logical, inar thinkers, with litle or wo ability to think eeatvely, you belive this, we're going to tel you that you are largely wrong, At leat within the realm of business innovation, virally everyon: has some capacity for creativity and innovative thinking. Even you. So using the example of Jobs, let’ explore how he came up with some of his innovative ideas. Innovative Idea #1: Personal Computers Should Be Quiet and Small (One ofthe key innovations isthe Apple I, the computer that launched Apple, came from Jobs's decision that it should be quiet. His conviction resulted, in pa, from all the time he'd spent studying Zen and meditating? He found the nose ofa computer fan distracting. So Jobs was determined thatthe Apple II would have no fan, which was a fairly radical notion at the time. Nobody else had questioned the need fora fan because all ‘computers required fan to prevent overheating. Getting rd of the fan wouldn't be possible withost different type of power supp that generated less heat So Jabs went on the Hunt for someone who could design # new power supply. Through his network of contacts, he found Rod Holt a forty something, chain-smoking socialist from the Atari crow Pushed by Jobs, Helt abandoned the ffly-year-old conventional linear unt technology and erated a switching power supply that revolutionized the way power was delivered to electrons products. Jobs's pursuit of quiet and Hot’s ailty to deliver an innovative power supply tat didn't needa fan made the Apple Il he quietest and smallest personal computer ever made (a smaller computer was possible because it didn't need extra space forthe fan, Had Jobs never asked, “Why does a computer need afin?” and “How do we keep a computer coo! without fan?” the Apple computer as we know it Would not exit Innovative Idea #2: The Macintosh User Interface, Operating System, and Mouse ‘The seed for the Macintosh, with is revolutionary operating system, was planted when Jobs visited Xerox PARC in 1979. Xerox, the copier company, created the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), research lab charged with designing the office of the future. Jobs wangled a visit to PARC in exchange for offering Xerox ‘an opportunity to investin Apple. Xerox didn't know how to capitalize on the exeiting things going on at PARC, but Jobs did Jobs careflly observed the PARC computer seen filled with icons, pull-down menus, and overlapping windows—all contzlle by the click ofa mouse. “It was incomplete, some oft wasnt even tight Jobs i, "but the germ of th idea was there. And within ten minutes, it was so obvious tha every computer would work this way someday.”* He spent the next five yeas at Apple leading the design tam that would ‘produce the Macintosh computer, the first personal computer sith a graphical user interface (GUI) and ‘mouse. Oh, and he saw something else during the PARC vist. He got his first taste of object-oriented programming, which became the key to the OSX operating system that Apple acquired from Jobs's other Startup, NeXT Computers. What if Jobs had never visited Xerox PARC to observe what was going on there? Innovative Idea #3: Desktop Publishing on the Mac ‘The Macintosh, with ts Laser Writer printer, was the first computer to bring desktop publishing to the masses Jobs claimed that the “beautiful typography” avaiable on the Macintosh would never have been introduced if ‘ne hadn't dropped in on acaligraphy class at Reed College in Oregon: Reed College offered perhaps the best calligraphy insrtion in the county. Throughout the amps every poster, ‘vey label on every rower, vas beaulflly hand-alligroped.Beceuse Ia dropped out nd did hve ake ‘the noma classes, I desided to take calligraphy caso lean how tod hi I Teed note and san seri ‘ypefaces, about varying the amount of pace between diferent eter combinations aout what makes et ‘ypograpy grat. twa beautiful istncalatstiealy sable na way tat scence eat cap and fund it fascinating. None of thi ad even ahope of ny practical application in my ie Bu tn ears ltr, when we ‘were designing the fist Macinvorh compu, all ame back tome. And we designed ill ite te Mac was the first computer wih beuifl typography. IFT had never dopped in on tat single course in ole, the Mac ‘woul hve never had multiple typefaces of proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, 1 ely that no personal computer would ave them.” ‘What if Jobs hadn’t decided to drop in on the calligraphy castes when he had dropped out of college? So what do we lean fim Jobs’ ability to think differently? Well, first we sce that his innovative ideas didn’ spring flly formed from his head, as if they were a gift from the Idea Fairy, When we examine the “origins ofthese ideas, we typically find thatthe catalyst was: (1) a question that challenged the status quo, (2) an observation ofa technology, company, or customer, (3) an experience or experiment where he was trying ‘out something new, or (4) conversation with someone who alerted him to an important piece of knowledge ‘or opportunity. In fact, by carefully examining Jobs's behaviors and, specifiealy, how those behaviors [brought in new, diverse knowledge that triggered a lnuvative hey, we can tae his Innovative ideas their source ‘What isthe rroral ofthis story? We want to convince you that creativity is not just a genetic endowment and not just a cegnitive sil. Rather, we've learned that creative ideas spring from behavioral skills that you, too, can acquire to catalyze innovative ideas in yourself and in others. ‘What Makes Innovators Different? ‘So what makes imovators different from the rest of us? Most of us belive this question has been answered, W's genetic endowment. Some people are right braned, which allows them to be more intuitive and divergent thinkers. Ether you have it or you don’t. But does research really suppor this idea? Our research ‘confi others’ work that creativity skills are not simply genetic traits, endowed at birth, but that they can be ‘developed. In fat, the most comprehensive study confirming this was done by a group of researchers, Marvin Reznikeft, George Domino, Carolyn Bridges, and Merton Honeymon, who studied creative abilities in 117 pairs of identical and fraternal twins. Testing twins aged fifteen to twenty-two, they found that only about 30 percen' ofthe performance of identical twins ona battery often creativity tests could be attributed to genetics. Tn contrast, a more recent study found that roughly 80 percent o 85 percent of twins” performance on general intelligence (1Q) tests could be attbuted to genetics,” So general intelligence (at least the way stints measure i) is basically a genetic endowment, but creativity isnot, Nurture trumps nature as far as reativty goes. Six other creativity studies of identical twins confirm the Reznikoftet al, result: roughly 25 percent to 40 percent of what we do innovatively stems from genetics ® That means that ‘oughly two-thirds of our innovation sills still come through learning —from frst understanding the ski then practicing and ultimately gaining confidence in our capacity to create, This is one reason that individuals who grow up in societies that promote community over individualism and hierarchy over merit—such as Japan, China, Korea, and many Arab naions-—arc les likely to cteatively| challenge the status quo and turn out innovations (or win Nobel prizes). Tobe sure, many innovators in our study seemed genetically gifted. Bu, more important, they often described how they acquired innovation Skills ftom role models who made it “safe” as well as exciting to discover new ways of doing things ‘innovators can be made and not just bom, how then do they come up with great new ideas? Our research ‘on roughly five hundred innovators compared with roughly five thousand executives led us to identify five iscovery skills tht distinguish innovators from typical exccutives (for detail on the research methods, see appendix 8), Fist and foremost, innovators count on a cognitive skill hat we call “associational thinking” or simply “associating.” Associating happens asthe brain rie (o synthesize and make sense of novel input. It Jaelps innovators discover new direeuions by making connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems, o idess. Innovative breakthroughs often happen a the intersection of diverse disciplines and fields. Author Frns Johansson described this phenomenon as “the Medici effet," refering to the creative explosion in Florence when the Medici family brought together creators fom a wide ange of Aisciplines—scu por, scientist, poets, philosophers, painters, and architects.” As these individuals connected, they created new ideas atthe intersection of thit respective fields, thereby spawning the Renaissance, on ofthe most innovative eras in history. Pu simply, innovative thinkers connect fields, problems, or ideas that others find unrelated, ‘The other four discovery skills rigger associational thinking by helping innovators increase their stock of | building block coos from which innovative ideas spring Specifically, innovators engage te Following, ‘behavioral skillsmoce frequently ‘Questioning. innovators ae consummate questioners who show a passion for inquiry. Their queries frequently ctallenge the status quo, just as Jobs did when he asked, "Why does a computer need a fan?” They ove to ask, “If We tied this, what would happen?” Innovators, lke Jobs, ask questions to understané how things realy are today, why they are tht way, and ow they might be changed or disrupted. Collectively, thee question provoke new insight, connections, possiblities, and dliectios, We found that innovators consistently demonstrate a high Q/A ratio, where questions (Q) not only outnumber answers (A) ina typical conversation, but are valued atleast as highly as good answers, ‘Observing. Innovators are also intense observers. They caefilly watch the word around ‘hem-—ineluding customers, products, services, technologies, and companies —and the observations help them gain insights into and ideas for new ways of doing things Jobs's observation trip to Xerox PARC provided the germ of insight that was the catalyst for both the Macinosh’s innovative operating system and mouse, and Apple's current OSX operating system. ‘Networking. Innovators spend a lot of time and energy finding and testing ideas though a diverse network of individuals who vary wildly in their backgrounds and perspectives. Rather than simply doing social networking or networking for resource, they actively search for new ideas by talking to people who may offer a radically different view of things. For example, Jobs talked with an Apple Fellow named Alan Kay, who told him to “go vist these erazy guys up in San Rafse, California.” ‘The crazy guys were Ed Catmll and Alvy Ray Smith, who headed up a small computer-graphies ‘operation called Industrial Light & Magic (the group created special effects for George Lucas's ‘movies). Fascinated by their operation, Jobs bought Industrial Light & Magic for $10 million, renamed it Pixar, and eventually took it public for SL billion. Had he never chatted with Kay, he \would never have wound up purchasing Pixar, and the world might never have tilled to wonderful animated flms like Toy tory, Up, and The Incredibles. Experimenting. Fnaly, innovators are constantly trying out new experiences and piloting new ideas. Experimenters unceasingly explore the world intellectually and experentially, holding convictions a bay and testing hypotheses along the way. They visit new places, ry new things, seek. ‘new information, and experiment to lean new things. Jobs, for example, tried new experiences al his life—from meditation and living in an ashram in India to dropping in ona calligraphy class at eed College. All these varied experiences would later trigger ideas for innovations at Apple. Collectively, these discovery skills—the cognitive sill of associating and the behavioral skills of| ‘questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting constitute what we call the innovator's DNA, or the code for generating innovative busines ideas, The Courage to Innovate Why do innovators question, observe, network, and experiment more than typical executives? As we examined what motivates them, we discovered two common themes, Fis, they atively desire to change the status quo. Second, they regularly tke smart risks to make that change happen. Consider the consistency of language that innovators use to desrie thee motives eff Rezos has sid he wants to “have fun and ake history." Google cofounder Larry Fage has sad he's out to “change the worl.” Elon Musk ha said: “There Ihave tobe reasons that you getup inthe morning and you want to live, What inspires you? What do you love bout the future?”!? These innovates think big and steer entirely clear of a common cognitive trap called the status quo bias—the tendency to prefer an existing state of affairs to altemative ones. Most ofus simply accept the status quo. We may even lke routine and prefer not to rock the boat. We adhere to the saying that “ifitain't broke, don’ fix i,” while not really questioning whether “itis “broke.” In contrast, innoVators see ‘many things a5 “broke.” And they want to fx them, How do innovator break the staus quo? One way is o refuse to be dictated by other people's schedules Just glance at an innovative executive's typical calendar and you will ind a radiealy different schedule ‘compared with those of less inventive executives. We found iat innovative entrepreneurs (who ae also CEOs) spend 50 percent more timeon discovery activites (questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking) than CEOs with no insovation track record, Tht translated ito spending almost one more day «each week on discovery activites. When we asked Jeff Bezos what percent of his time he spends “forward ‘minking”—looking for ways that Amazon can innovate to change the world he replied, “Pretty much all of i" Somewhat skeptical, we followed up. Did he realy spend prety much al of his time? Bezos thought for ‘moment and said, "Yeah, [mean yeah.” (For more on how to bea forward thinker, see chapter 2 of Innovation Capital: How to Competeand Win—Like the World's Most Innovative Leaders, by eft Dyer, [Nathan Furr, and Curtis Lefrandt.) Innovative leaders understand that fulfilling their dreems to change the orld means they've go to spend a significant amount of time trying to discover how to change the word ‘And having the courage to innovate means that they are actively looking for opportunities to change the world Embracing a mission for change makes it much easier to take smart risks, make mistakes, and most of ll, eam quickly from them. Most innovative entrepreneurs we studied felt that mistakes are nothing to be ‘ashamed of In fact, they are an expected cost of doing business “If the people running Amazon don't make some significant mistakes,” Jeff Bezos told us, “then we won't be doing good jb for out shareholders ‘beeause we won't be swinging forthe fences.” In shor, innovators rely on their “courage fo innovate"™—an active bias against the status quo and an unflinching willingness to take smart isso transform ideas into poverful impact. In summary, the DNA of innovators—or the code for generating innovative ideas—is expressed inthe ‘model shown in figure I. The ke skill for generating innovative ideas is the cognitive skill of associational ‘thinking. The reason that some people generate more associations than others is partly because ther brains are just wired that way. Buta more critical reason is that they more frequently engage in the behavioral skills ‘of questioning observing, networking, and experimenting. Thee ae the eatalyst for associational thinking ‘Of course, the next question is, why do some people engage these four skills more than others? The answer is that they have the courage to innovate. They are wiling to embrace a mission for change and tae risks to ‘make change happen. The bottom line is that to improve your ability to generate innovative ides, you need to prctce associational thinking and more fequently engage in questioning observing, networking, and ‘experimenting. That will ikely only happen if you can somehow cultivate the courage to innovate. FIGURE Lt ‘The innovator’s DNA model for generating innovative ideas Courage to Behavioral Cognitive skill to innovate skills synthesize novel inputs ‘Questioning = Observing Challenging Innovative the status quo "Ss Resection [— business thinking idee Taking risks Networking Experimenting As innovators actively engage in their discovery skills over a lifetime, they build discovery habits and ‘they become defined by them. They grow increasingly confident in their ability to discover what's nex. and they believe deeply that generating creative insights isthe job It isnot something to delegate to someone else. As A. G, Lafley, two-time CEO at Procter & Gamble, decated, “innovation isthe central job of every leader—business unit managers, funetional leaders, and the CEO."!! The Innovator’s DNA ‘We've just told you that the ability tobe innovative is nor based primarily on genetics. At the same time, we're using the DNA metaphor to describe the innet workings of innovators, which suggests tha itis. Bear with us fora moment. (And welcome 1 the world of innovation, where the abilit to synthesize two seemingly opposing ideas isthe type of associating that produces novel insights) Recent developments inthe Field of gene therapy show that tis possible to modify and strengthen your physical DNA, for example, 10 help ward off diseases.” Likewise, itis metaphorically possible o strengthen you personal innovator's DNA. Letus provide an illustration. Imagine that you have an identical twin, endowed with the same brains and nateal talents that you have ‘You're both given one week to come up with a creative new busines idea, During that week, you youself ‘come up with ideas alone, just thinking in your room. By contas, your twin 1) talks with ten people—including an engineer, a musician, a stay-at-home dad, and a designes—sbout the venture; (2) visits three innovative startups to observe what they do; (3) samples five “new to the matket” product and takes them apart; (4 shows a prototype he's built five people, and (S) asks "What if tied this?” and “What would make this not work?” at leat ten times each day during these networking, cserving, and ‘experimenting activities. Who do you bet will come up with the more innovative (and usabi) idea? My guess is that you'd bet on your twin, and not because he has better natural (genetic) creaive abilities, OF couse, the anchor weight of genetics i il there, bu it isnot the dominant predictor. Poplecanleam to more capably ‘come up with innovative solutions to problems by acting in the way that your twin dd Discovery-Skill Strengths Differ for Disruptive Innovators “Tounderstand that innovative entepreneuss develo and use dierent sills ook at ise 1-2. Kshs the erent rank scores on each a the five dscavery sil forfour wel known founders sn innovators. Pee ‘Omidya (eBay), Michael Del (Del, Michel Lazard (Research In Motion, ad Seot Cook Ins), The “noninnovatos” percentile rank ndeates the average of over five thoakand excetve ino dsabase who scored lower on tat partieuar kil pariculr sil is measured bythe frequency and inensiy with which these individonls engage in activites tht compose he sil. FIGURE 12 High-profile iovators’discovery-skills profile + Cook © Dell Omidyar = Noninnovators Percentile rank ‘As you can sc, the atten foreach innovative eneprencu i diferent. For example, Omidyar i mich more hike to acquire his eas through questing (ninety fith perceatle) and observing (eighty zevetth percent), Dell though experimenting (nineteth percentile) and networking (nine'-cghth pereete), Cook though ‘questioning (ity third pecenl) and ebservng (lghty-cieth percent), anf azards though questing (binetysinth percentile) and networking (anes igs percentl), The point stat each of thee innovative ‘itepreneurs did ot score high onal fie af the discovery sill Tey cach combined the discovery sls ‘nigel forge new insights. Just seach person's phyial DNA is unique, an inovaln’s DNA comprises & ‘nig combination of sls and beavis. As figure 1-2 shows, imovative entrepreneurs rarely display across-the-board strength in observing. experimenting, and networking, and actually don’t need to. All ofthe high-profile innovative entrepreneurs in ‘oar study scored above the seventieth percentile in associating and questioning. The imovators seemed to hold these two discovery sills more universally. But the innovators we studied dn’tneed world-class, strength inthe other behaviors, It certainly helped if they excelled atone ofthe five all and were strong in at least two. Ifyou hope to bea better innovator, you will need fo figure out which ofthese skills ate more natural and comfortable for you—more baked inio your DNA. These are the skills you want to improve, ‘because they can be distinguishing skill o help you generate innovative ideas, Delivery Skills: Why Most Senior Executives Don’t Think Differently ‘We've spent the past eigh: years interviewing scores oftenior executives mostly at large ‘companies—asking them to describe the most novel and valuable strategic insights that they had generated during ther careers. Somewhat surprisingly, we found that top executives rarely mentioned an innovative ‘business idea that they had personaly generated. They were extremely intelligent and tented individuals ‘who were accomplished a delivering results, but they didn’t have much direct, personal experience with generating innovative bus ess ideas. In contrast to innovators who seek to fundamentally change existing business model, products, of processes, most senior exccutives work hard to efficiently deiver the next thing that shouldbe done given the existing business model. That i, they worl inside the how They shine at converting a vison or goal ito the specific tasks to achieve the defined goal. They organize work and conscientiously execute logical, detailed, data-driven plans of action. In short, most executives excel at execution, including the following four delivery skills: analyzing, planning, detail-oriented implementing, and disciplined executing. (We'll say mone about these skills later in the chapter and in chapter 8, but for now we need only note that they ae eritial for Aelvering results and translating an innovative idea ito reality.) Many innovators realize that they are deficient in these critical skills and, consequently, try to team up with tates who posses the. For example, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar quickly recognized the need for execution skills, so he invited Jeff Skol, a Stanford MBA, and Meg Whitman, a Harvard MBA. join him, “Jeff Skoll and i had very complementary skills," Omidyar told ws. "'d say I dd more of the creative work ‘developing the produet and solving probicms around the product, while Jeff was involved inthe more ‘analytical and practical side of things. He was the one who would Tisten to an ides of mine and then say, “OK, let's figure out how to get this done.” Skoll and Whitman professionalized the eBay website, added fixed-price auctions, drove international expansion, developed new categories such as autos, and integrated ‘important capabilities such as PayPal. I’m Not Jeff Bezos... Is This Relevant? (OK, so you'e not Jeff Bezos. Or Elon Musk. Or anyother famous business innovator. Bt tit doesnt mean you «can't Team fom thes imovators. You can gt bet at innovating, even f mos of your naovations se somewhat Incremental ie nature. We've sen t happen, and we've seen thi ican make a diffrence Weve soca 2 larmaceutial executive practice a questioning technique se chapter 3 ach day to identify Key stegic asus facing his division, Aer thre months, is boss told him that he'd become the most effective eategie thinker on bis team Within se months, he was promoted to corporate tats planing jbl jor improved my ase queston," he old us, We've seen MBA stadeats i out classes se the observing, networking, and ‘experimenting techniques fo generate entrepreneurial business ideas. One go the de for nunching company that ‘uss bacteria o et pllaton fom networking with someone he meta a peighborhood barbecve, Another served {hat the best English speakers in Brazil were people who watched American moves end television So he launched ‘company that sels svar hat eps people lara English by watching movies. Many innovative des ay Ser smal sch asa new process for effectively serening job recruits oa beter way o build customer loyalty, but thy are valuable new ideas nonetheless. And if you come up with enough of them, they wil defintely lp ou sdvanc in your carer. The point ists you dont hae to be Jeff Bezs to generate innovative ides for your tse ‘Why do most senior executives excel in the delivery skills, but ae only above average in discovery skills? Its vital to understnd that the skills critical to an organization's success vary systematically throughout the busines lifecycle. (See figure 1-3). For example, in the startup phase of an innovative venture, the founders are obviously more discovery-driven and entrepreneurial. Discovery skills ae crucial early inthe business life eyele because the company's Key task sto generate new business ideas worth pursuing. Ths, discovery (exploration) skills are highly valued at tis stage and delivery (execution) skills are secondary. However, ‘once innovative entepreneuts come up with promising new business idea and then shape that idea into & ‘bona fide business apportunity, the company begins o grow and then must pay attention to building the processes necessary to scale the idea, FIGURE 13 ‘The business- and executive-skill life cycles Decline Mature stage [Organization * Develop and * Scale thenew _* Exploit resources * Harvest, imperative” aunchnew. businessidea and eapaiies re or Business” Buld processes generated during develop idea twexecue growhstage,hernew consistent and business systematically ideas rganiztion Discovery Delivery Daivery avery Pea aa aan ciate, Sel issovery — ‘is Prsanisaton Devery Discovery Discovery increase in scondery Sle sie ‘tile importance ‘The Discovery- and Delivery-Skills Matrix: How Innovators Stack Up. ‘Totes the assertion that innovative executives havea diferent set of lle han type exseties, we weed oot innovator's-DNA assessment to measure the perceatl rank of sample of high-profile innovative enteprenears {founder CEOs of companies on Busiesrwcet's ist ofthe top one hind most ncvative companies) on bath the five discovery sl (associating, questioning, observing, netvrking, experimenting) and he fur delivery or ‘xcction sls (analyzing planing, deta-oestd inplementing, and set disiplined executing), We averaged their percentile rank sores cross the five discovery sls o get an ver perceatile rn, and then dd the same thing actos th four delivery sil to get an overall percentile rank. Wereferto the oveal percentile rak eros the five discovery sills a the "iscovery quotient” or DQ. While tlic quotient (or 10) tests are designed 1 ‘measure general nlignce and emotional quotient (or EQ) assessments measure emotion inelgene (ality to ‘enti, asses, and conta the emotions of eurselves and then), dieorery quotient (DQ) is designed fo measre tour bility to discover ideas for new venture, products, abd processes Figure 1-4 sows thatthe high-profile innovative entrepencurs score in the cighty-cghh percentile on icavery lle ht only scored inthe Bysnth percent on delivery dle short hey wersja verge at ‘exccition, We then conduced te same analysis fo a sample of nonfourder CEOs (executives who had never ‘sstd a new busines), We found that mos Senior executes i ge onaizations were the ior image of ‘innovative entrepreneurs: they scored around he cightth perce on livery slo, while scoring only above sverage on discover ails (sinty-second percentile) In shor, they ar selected primary forte exeution sil ‘This focus on exceuon is even more pronounced in busines unit anager and functiual anagss who ae ors a cover thn typical CEOs This data shows that innovative organizations oe ely ial with a ‘ery high DQ, sha even within an average orgniaton, discovery sil fend te dstingish those ‘who make ito the tighest levels of the organization So you wan to move up you'd bet lam Row to FIGURE 14 Discovery. and delivery.skils matrix 100, round CEOs a at innovative SFP woe | A eee o Discovery driven A 5 Nonounder © coat neo compare ‘score) Business unit managers Functional managers Discovery skills {percent 8 eS Delivery- ce driven °o 25 50 75 100 Delivery skills. (cercentie score) During the growth stage the innovative entrepreneur may well leave the company either because she has ‘no interest in scaling the ida (hick: involves boring and routine work, atleast to her) or because she does the skills to manage effectively in a large organization, Innovative entrepreneurs are often described ‘managers because they lack he ability to follow through on their new business ideas and are often ‘nationally overconfident in them. Moreover, they are more likely to make decisions based on hunches and personal biases than on data-driven analysis"? Not suprisingly, the conventional prescription for these ‘broblems isto replace the entrepreneurs with professional managers individuals with proven skill at

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