BEING A BRIGHT SPARK

Show them you’re an innovator, writes Melanie Burgess

INNOVATION seems to be the buzz word of the moment, popping up in settings from business to politics and technology. It’s especially prevalent in the world of work. In August alone, 29,580 job listings on SEEK featured the key words innovate, innovation, innovative or innovator. But what does innovation even mean and how can a jobseeker show a prospective employer they can deliver it?

Gaia and Andrew Grant, directors of consulting company Tirian and authors of The Innovation Race, say it’s about being able to not only keep up with the pace of change but also adapt and design new strategies for the future.

“(Innovators) need both an ‘ exploration’ and ‘preservation’ mindset, they are both ‘dreamers’ and ‘ doers’,” Gaia Grant says. “The exploration mindset can be demonstrated to an employer by referring to original ideas you have identified and contributed to projects, sharing about diverse work teams you have worked with successfully (and) giving scenarios demonstrating ways you have adapted to meet changing new demands.

“The preservation mindset can be demonstrated to an employer by giving examples of how you have calculated risks about new projects, explaining how you have a solutions focus (and) how you have successfully pushed new ideas to implementation.”

The Beanstalk Factory chief executive Peter Bradd says “innovation talent is pretty slim” so those who have it should demonstrate it in the job interview. “Innovation is more important today than previously because the world around us is changing so much,” he says.