Leadership and Innovation Characteristics - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 66

TABLE 4.1 Personal Innovation Test

Score
1 2 3
Not at all
Sometimes
Frequently Question Description

Do you think a lot
about the future and
the potential or pos-
sibility for new ideas?

Are you wondering not about the next
calamity, but what the future will be like and
how you can impact it?
Do you find yourself trying to understand
what the emerging trends will be in an area?
Are you wondering what consumers will
want next year, next decade and beyond?

Do you find yourself
questioning things as
they are and are you
not satisfied with the
status quo?

Are you constantly trying to improve things -
even things that don't seem to be broken?
Do you want to know how to improve
things, eliminate obstacles, and offer new
conveniences?

Are you aware of
the needs of others
and are interested in
identifying ways to
meet these needs?

Do you think about the needs of others and
how ideas, products, or innovations could
change/improve their situations?

Do you have a sense
of openness to new
ideas, willing to try
new things (in a
healthy sense)?

Are you open to new experiences and
willing to “take action” in the evaluation or
consideration of an idea?
Are you willing to test and prototype, and
open to discovery?

Are you stubborn
and driven when you
believe in something?

Are you determined and driven, even in the
face of doubt and failure?
Are you committed to your ideas?
Are you committed enough to convince
others of the value of your idea?

Are you open to the
exchange of insights
and ideas? Do you
value the expertise of
others?

Do you understand that the best ideas are
emergent and based on the insights and
ideas from a broad range of settings?
Are you willing to listen, to absorb, and to
incorporate inputs from a wide variety of
sources?

Do you want to solve
real problems?

Are you interested in doing more than
“talking” about ideas?
Do you regularly think of how to solve
existing and emerging problems?

Source: Adapted from Phillips, How To Tell If You Are An Innovator.