Welcome to all of you in the New Year 2019! How can you skyrocket your career and improve the odds of success of your company in 2019? By innovating. After all, we’re in a new year, but we’re still in the Innovation Economy, where innovation is the name of the game.

But how can you best contribute to corporate innovation with your natural talents and unique strengths? By understanding —and innovating in harmony with— your personal innovator type. Today, allow me to tell you more about the 11 innovator profiles of  TIPS, Thinkergy’s Innovator Profiling System.

Introducing the 11 innovator profiles in TIPS

In the following (in alphabetical order), I introduce you to the 11 innovator profiles that we distinguish in TIPS. Thereby, I will briefly touch upon each profile’s preferred cognitive style to give you a better understanding on how the different innovator types prefer to think, work, interact, live and innovate. Finally, you will learn what famous leaders exemplify the base orientations and preferred cognitive style of the 11 innovator types. Here we go:

The All-Rounder:

All-Rounders are the most flexible and well-balanced among all innovator types in TIPS. They are broadly talented. They can do almost anything well, and enjoy working in many different roles and on many different projects. All-Rounders can juggle many balls at the same time without dropping a single one, which makes them a valuable and well-liked team member in any innovation project. Charles Burgess Fry, Daley Thompson and Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner represent the spirit of such multi-faceted innovator types.

The Coach:

Among all 11 innovator profiles in TIPS, Coaches are special as they are as rare as unicorns. This is because these philosophical innovators bridge a divide between the two polar TIPS bases Theories and People. Coaches care about the full development of the human potential. So, they prefer to direct their innovation efforts to the theory-based creation of educational, humanistic, or even spiritual products, services or solutions that elevate people to a higher level. Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Gustav Jung and Martin Luther King, Jr. may well represent this humanistic innovator type.

The Conceptualizer:

Conceptualizers are geeky, brainy big-picture innovators who are all about the knowledge-based creation of concepts, methods and tools. These fast learners and thinkers quickly pick-up fresh knowledge and emerging technological trends springing out of the Theories-base, and transform these into new concepts, products and solutions. Conceptualizers enjoy joining projects that aim for creating disruptive change, and rather prefer to work alone as others can’t keep up with their speed of thinking. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Albert Einstein are role models of this conceptual innovator type.

The Experimenter:

Experimenters are innovators who enjoy improving existing things (products, processes, business models, etc.) by systematically testing ideas. They love to take things apart and look “under the hood”, then gradually fix all the bugs they spot — something that doesn’t work as it should or is a suboptimal or unaesthetic design. Finally, they re-assemble the reconfigured parts into a new, improved and better whole. Henry Ford, Ray Kroc and James Dyson exemplify this experimental innovator type.

The Ideator:

For Ideators, life is all about ideas, innovation and change. Among the 11 innovator profiles in TIPS, they are the most daring, radical and dynamic innovator type. While Experimenters create something better out of something, Ideators have the drive and energy to create something new out of nothing — be it a new product, service, solution or experience, a new brand, or a new venture. They’re equally happy working on innovation alone or as part of a team for as long as the project pushes for bold, disruptive change. Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney and the older Steve Jobs are fine examples of this progressive innovator type.

The Organizer:

Organisers are hands-on, practical innovators who are all about organized service and operational excellence. Being grounded and down-to-earth, they naturally focus with all of their senses on all the small details of an operation. They prefer to innovate as part of a team, and are more adaptive in their style to innovate, meaning that they prefer to gradually and steadily improve on an existing process or service rather than creating it from scratch. Sam Walton, Fred Smith, and Winston Churchill exemplify this operational innovation type.

The Partner:

Partners are experiential, empathetic innovators who deeply care about people and relationships. Among all innovator types, Partners are the ones who best know what your customers think, say and —most importantly— feel about your value offerings and brand. They equally enjoy working on innovation projects that are more adaptive (targeting continuous or incremental improvements) or more innovative (aiming for producing an evolutionary or even revolutionary innovation) for as long as they can tackle the challenge together with others in a harmonious team. J. Willard Marriott, Lee Iacoccia and Herb Kelleher are possible examples of this most empathetic innovator type.

The Promoter:

Among all 11 innovator profiles, Promoters are the best of spreading the word about, and creating a buzz for an innovation. These creative, charismatic and witty communicators are able to find the right words that inspire people to take a desired course of action, such as rallying behind a new social or political idea, buying a new product, or falling in love with a cool new brand. Promoters enjoy working on more progressive innovation projects together with others in a team. David Ogilvy, Mark Twain and the young Steve Jobs are role models of this communicative innovator type.

The Systematizer:

Systematizers don’t IN-novate, but rather RE-novate in an orderly and controlled way. This is because they prefer stable systems and processes, cherish traditions and favor preserving the status quo. As such, they prefer to continuously or incrementally improve successful “old ideas” over creating new ones. Systematizers practice an adaptive style to innovate, pardon me, renovate, and are indifferent working on such a project alone or together with other members of a trusted group. Andrew Carnegie, Lakshmi Mittal and George Washington are exemplary role models for this preserving innovator type.

The Technocrat:

Technocrats enjoy applying bits and pieces of a well-established body of domain knowledge (e.g., financial theories, laws and legal interpretations, accounting standards and principles, etc.) in new, improved ways. These quantitative, analytical thinkers prefer to innovate alone in a more adaptive way, thereby slowly but steadily improving and fine-tuning the “rulebooks” they’re working on, be it a new policy, accounting standard, investment principle, or financial opportunity, among others. Warren Buffet, Benjamin Graham and Li-Ka Shing represent the energy of this more administrative innovator type.

The Theorist:

For Theorists, life is all about theories, knowledge and the truth. These rational big picture thinkers love to work on abstract, logical and often numerical challenges. They prefer to work alone by either adapting an existing theoretical concept, or expanding the existing base of knowledge with a new theory or technological concept. As such, Theorists operate at the front end of innovation, often inspiring new innovation initiatives of others with their theoretical, conceptual contributions. Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking and Thomas Jefferson may exemplify this evidence-driven innovator type.  

Conclusion: All people are innovators, albeit embracing their own style, speed and base orientations

What innovator type am I in TIPS? I am a clear-cut Ideator. I love change. I enjoy creating something new out of nothing — be it a new venture (Thinkergy) or new innovation methods (X-IDEA, Genius Journey, CooL and TIPS).

And you? What innovator type are you? Are you more like Bill Gates or Herb Kelleher? Steve Jobs or Warren Buffet? Walt Disney or Andrew Carnegie?

Find out which of the 11 TIPS innovator profiles fits your personality and preferred cognitive style for just USD 88.88. (Is that a lucky number? You bet. Do we ask you to surrender your next bonus to shine light on your innovator profile? Nope). Given the bearish outlook for the stock market for the year ahead, it may well be the best investment you make in 2019.

Click here to get TIPS-ed and discover your innovator type.

© Dr. Detlef Reis 2019