Ten Personalities of Innovators
Updated 2026-08-16
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A framework from the design firm IDEO describing the roles an innovation team needs: anthropologist, experimenter, cross-pollinator, hurdler, collaborator, director, experience architect, set designer, caregiver, and storyteller. Each role contributes a distinct function, such as observing real behavior, importing ideas from other fields, or removing obstacles. The key qualification is that these are functions rather than job titles, and one person can hold several. Innovation is treated as a team output rather than an individual gift.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Role audit: map which functions your team covers and which are missing entirely. - Gap filling: recruit or assign the missing function, such as observation or storytelling, before the next project. - Role assignment: let people play to their strongest role rather than duplicating the popular one.
Anchor fast decisions
Innovation requires several incompatible activities: noticing unmet needs, generating combinations, overcoming internal resistance, and persuading others to adopt the result. No single person is strong at all of them, and teams staffed only with idea generators stall at implementation. Distributing the functions across complementary people keeps every stage covered, so the path from observation to adoption stays intact.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDEOverified
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