The InnoCentive Insider: Making the Connection
In this week’s InnoCentive Insider, Michael provides his insight on some not-so-obvious commonalities among successful InnoCentive Solvers.
I started out to write this post about the typical winning Solver. It was going to be about “Who are the typical Solvers winning awards and why are they successful?” It did not take me long to realize there is no “typical” winning Solver. Our award winners range from heads of large research organizations with plenty of support to single consultants who work alone. Experience ranges from retirees with 30+ years of industrial experience to undergraduates who have only worked on one project. They have been in academics, industry, government, not-for-profit organizations, etc. Winners can range from Nobel laureates to guys in tin-foil hats (I have no evidence of the last statement, but I like the mental image!)
Ok, so that was not really helpful, so I said, “What traits does the typical winning Solver have?” Well, they are very bright (obviously!), they tend to be thinkers, tinkerers and often quite analytical. They love to solve problems be it in Chemistry and Engineering or Crossword and Sudoku puzzles. They want to solve “real” problems and make an impact in the world. They want to help. They like to flex their “intellectual muscles” and even show off a bit. All interesting facts, but not really valuable to you, the Solvers. If you are reading this, you probably have most or all of these traits and I really have not told you anything new.
Hopefully, you are still reading this as I have found some interesting things that differentiate the winning Solvers from all other Solvers in my opinion. (more…)
