Initiators

Your first stage of the innovation Flywheel is triggered by Initiators.

Initiators are cautiously excited about Flywheel's innovation as a potential solution to their business goals. They don't care about the wide range of use cases that can be addressed; they are focused on their particular business area and how they could source new solutions.

Does someone in your organization already have experience with running the Innovation-Led Growth Flywheel?

It can be a great idea to ask them for their experience and lessons to broaden and grow your company's culture of innovation.

Identify an Initiator

Even the most thought-through plans can fail without a senior executive taking an active role in a project to overcome organizational antibodies. Initiators provide executive air cover, are open to innovative thinking and hold the team accountable for learning what's most important.

An Initiator is someone senior enough to clear roadblocks but not so senior that they cannot meet with the team. They have an area that could benefit from innovation and are actively looking to innovate or can be convinced to try it out. In the end, it would not make sense to start collecting ideas if no one has the power to implement them. Innovation needs to work for someone, not just work.

Starting, the innovation team might have to look for an Initiator. Still, as the Innovation-Led Growth approach spreads, the organization's initiators will start reaching out on their own, initiating and sponsoring their idea collections.