Great, innovative teams are characterised by their ability to move quickly, iterate fast, and learn even faster. These teams can be found in startups, but they can also exist in larger organisations as multidisciplinary teams. Such teams are often made up of individuals who possess unique skills and expertise that complement each other.

It is thrilling to see projects take off and aim for the moon, while others never make it to the launching platform in the first place. Whether the goal is to disrupt an entire industry or streamline an internal process, each experience provided me with new insights and lessons learned. Over time, I’ve noticed some recurring statements that are good indicators of underlying mindsets and potential challenges down the road. These are the top three statements that are subtle indicators for potentially big innovation blockers and my thoughts on navigating them.

When it comes to innovation and introducing change in an organisation, some people instantly embrace the journey while others resist it. It's important to me that everyone has the opportunity to get involved, as I believe that everyone has something to contribute. Sometimes, it means convincing people to hop on the train when they're already running in the opposite direction. Here are three actions that have helped me to still get them on board.

One misconception is that innovation is vague or fluffy. A wall covered in colourful post-it notes might not convey how well a team is doing or how fast a project is progressing. It may seem like nothing is happening until “suddenly” the proverbial unicorn is in the room. Traditional metrics designed for execution-driven projects often fall short of capturing the progress of innovation initiatives. The impact of innovation can take months or even years to manifest, making it difficult to assess using conventional revenue and ROI metrics. Failing to track progress effectively can demotivate teams and create a disconnect within the organisation.

It's natural to want to get started and make progress quickly, which is why a lot of first-time innovators might feel like the process of problem analysis is holding them back. But spending more time identifying the problem before jumping into solution-building mode can be a game-changer. By investing effort in understanding the root causes and intricacies of a problem, we lay a solid foundation for effective and innovative solutions design.

Sometimes it can feel like you are putting the “work” into networking but not getting the desired results. After a mentor emphasised “Your network is your net worth” and it could do wonders for my career, I attended as many networking events and conferences as my calendar could handle. And it was hard! As an introvert, I spent a lot of energy meeting new people and would come back home exhausted with a lot of business cards I didn’t know what to do with.

To make sure my time is actually spent on what is important to me, my business partner introduced me to the 24 hour grid. This has been a game-changer and a tool I keep going back to when it feels like my agenda is in charge of me instead of the other way around. I’ve become much more mindful of my own schedule, and it has allowed me to take control of my time and prioritize the things that truly matter to me.