Innovation a school of emotional intelligence

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“The challenge of going to Mars is also psychological,” repeats Thomas Pesquet, explaining that the technical limits will certainly be exceeded, but that men are confronted with their neurological and emotional limits. Technological innovation, with its new uses, creates a new reality that provokes all kinds of emotions starting with the fear of the unknown. Innovators are at the heart of emotional games that they must master in order to persevere in the face of the inevitable obstacles of innovative projects. I dedicate to emotional intelligence, demonstrated by innovators by obligation and by taste, the first chapter of my book “Knowledge-Innovation, the innovation attitude to adapt to the changing world” and whose I give you some keys in this article.

1) Identify your EQ (Emotional Quotient)

In coaching as in innovation, the first step is to clarify the problem. What is my EQ? What are the balanced emotions that make me strong and the unbalanced ones that can create my personal and relational fragility? The EQi Test and Wheel (tool link) allow you to visualize them at a glance.

There is no good or bad profile, the personality and the unique functioning of each result from education, failures and successes from the needs and deep values ​​of each, but it is certain that to face innovation certain emotional skills are necessary..

2) The emotions encountered when innovating

It turns out that the uncertainty that reigns when one innovates provokes all the range of basic emotions: fear of failure, good or bad surprise, the anger of skeptics in the face of a disruptive idea, the sadness of a abandoned, the joy of the success of the project and all the emotions of well-being when you create in your flow.

In any case, innovators ignore the sadness of “it was better before”, and even if they give in to anger like the famous outbursts of Steve Jobs, they come out of it very quickly, to focus positively on their project.

3) Practice the emotional shift

Constantly confronted with emotional mountains, innovators are used to the emotional shift, this attitude that allows you to change state, to go from an emotion that makes you negative to one that makes you positive. The example of Elon Musk, faced with the explosion of his rocket on takeoff, illustrates this ability not to be overwhelmed by anger or the sadness of failure and to positively experience it as an experience to learn and correct. . It is also necessary for any leader to be able to adopt a positive emotional state to train the teams.

4) Develop specific emotional skills

Practicing innovation therefore requires many soft skills that are essential for success. For this, in the wheel of the EQi, it is better to obtain good scores in the subscales related to innovation such as problem solving of course, but also self-realization because you have to feel good in his life to be sure of himself, and the independence to remain convinced of his idea despite all the detractors.

With co-development, mobilize the collective intelligence of your teams

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Co-development is about relying on collective intelligence to solve a problem. This method inspired by innovation is now widespread for management and more general “problem solving”. Relying on the group to find solutions, the method promotes both individual learning while creating reflexes to work better as a team. A method totally in line with the post-covid trend at a time of responsible innovation and missions related to the Reason for Being as revealed in the Innovation Blossom 2021 study .

 

1) In co-development, there is co “with”

One of the main benefits of co-development is to create a community of peers connected through a shared experience. Concretely, a workshop brings together ten participants to discuss various issues (problem, project concern, etc.) that a participant, “the client”, would like to share and explore with the rest of the group, “the consultants”.

The group decides jointly on the subject and the client and all the other participants will act as consultants. To do this, they will help the customer to better understand his problem through a question-and-answer session and by offering solutions. These sessions should be part of a series of meetings for everyone to experience the roles. It is therefore the strength of the collective that is unfolding.

 

2) In co-development, there is “development”

The framework and the conduct of the workshops are essential to remain in the efficiency studied and described by Adrien Payette and Claude Champagne. To maintain the framework, which differentiates these workshops from a discussion around the coffee machine, an external facilitator is needed, who will ensure that the different stages, timing and role of each are respected.

Co-development is akin to a training approach but is unlike traditional training. In this sense, it is innovative. There is not on the one hand a trainer carrying and depositing knowledge, a knowing who brings “the theory and the cases to be treated” and on the other hand learners.

Co-development is a learning approach that relies on interactions between participants because the consultants and the client are all considered contributors even if they are not subject matter experts.

 

3) The soft skills essential to co-develop

The group must respect a few rules which depend on behaviors to be respected, soft skills to be expressed and which will develop during the series of successive groups.

To begin with, humility is necessary in order to dare to recognize a problem and that this problem is likely to be presented by the potential customer. For the consultants, it will be a question of not trying to solve the problem but to agree to provide a solution among others, which will be chosen or not.

Then empathy must be mobilized so that the consultants can put themselves in the customer’s shoes. Kindness will allow all participants to express themselves and all questions or suggestions for solutions to be welcomed and encouraged. Finally, assertiveness is required so that everything can be expressed without aggression. Solidarity is is at the end the souvereiugn soft skills so usefull in this period of change.

A number of positive behaviors are therefore put to the test which already in themselves create value and therefore performance.