In my experience, to drive innovation effectively, focus on fostering clarity, collaboration, resources, and adaptability: • Clarity: Clearly define and align on what you’re innovating and the purpose behind it. • Collaboration: Provide spaces for team members and stakeholders to contribute ideas, valuing diverse perspectives. • Resources: Support the team with both soft (training, methodologies) and hard (budget, personnel) resources to enable success. • Monitor and Adjust: Continuously review progress, refine the vision, and maintain alignment to ensure engagement and adaptability.

I’d start with a Whiteboard Session with all stakeholders. Once we get everyone’s definitions on the whiteboard, we’ll group them for commonality and ask the team to add SMART definitions so they can be quantified and measured. This will provide much more clarity.

What is the need that's driving the innovation? First agree on the problem. Then you can agree on the type of innovation needed. Even if you want to generally improve innovation, it's for a reason. Try dropping the word innovation... and focus on what you are really trying to accomplish. The goal isn't to "be" innovative. The goal is to... go beyond the current best practices, perform better than anyone things is possible, think outside the box in order to raise the bar, or something similar. Define what you are trying to accomplish, and you'll have a definition of innovation.

Ask the team to provide examples of innovative ideas that could help improve the business as a whole and their particular departments and job roles. Get each member of the team to vote for the best, most innovative and relevant idea.

Promover la colaboración y la comunicación abierta para asegurar que todos estén en sintonía con los objetivos de la visión 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Como líder de equipos de alto desempeño para alinear a un equipo dividido sobre el significado de la innovación hacia una visión compartida, es crucial iniciar un diálogo abierto donde todos los miembros puedan expresar sus ideas y percepciones. Facilita talleres o sesiones de brainstorming para definir colectivamente qué significa la innovación para el equipo y cómo se puede aplicar en su contexto específico. Establece objetivos claros y comunes que reflejen esta visión compartida y asegúrate de comunicar constantemente cómo cada contribución individual se alinea con estos objetivos. Fomenta una cultura de experimentación y aprendizaje continuo, donde se valoren tanto los éxitos como los fracasos como oportunidades de crecimiento.

As an Executive Director, aligning the team on a shared vision of innovation requires clear communication and collaboration. I would first facilitate open discussions to define what innovation means for our organisation. By framing it as a journey of continuous improvement, I can encourage diverse perspectives while ensuring we focus on practical, impactful solutions. Regular workshops and brainstorming sessions would be vital to engage everyone and align efforts towards a unified strategy. Together, we can create a culture that fosters creativity and embraces change.