In this part of Understanding Innovation Role Players, we're going to look at a second set of role players. We call them implementation role players. And these role players, as you can see in this list, come at the tail end of the process and they involve the technology gatekeeper, a process manager, a sponsor, a protector, and a seller. And we're going to look at each one of these roles. But first, we're going to look at what's important about implementer roles in the innovation process. Well, implementation takes the innovation process beyond the idea stage. It's one thing to have an idea, and lots of things happen. They're many, many ideas that bubble up but they don't go anywhere. And so, what's really important is to have roles that get played that help move that process along through to completion. So in order for an innovation to meet a need or to deliver value it actually has to be implemented in the marketplace. Somebody has to use it in order for it to be a way to create value. And so, implementer roles in the innovation process actually carry the process through to completion. And these roles actually have compelling organizational skills. And as we'll see as we look at each one of these roles, the dominant role is going to be how that person or that team plays a compelling role in getting the organization to do things that move innovation forward. So let's look at the first innovation implementing role. We're calling that role the technology gatekeeper. And what the technology gatekeeper does is they scan the external technology landscape for trends and new developments. Now, it's something that a team might do. It's something that an individual might do but basically it's a function to begin to see not only for new ideas, but where the idea is then found by the spotter. The technology gatekeeper begins to measure and bank on whether or not that idea is matching anything in the marketplace, or whether there's some technology thread in the marketplace of that idea. So the connection between the technology gatekeeper and the spotter is already there. The technology gatekeeper channels technology ideas between and to other innovation team members. So that person is really a funnel of technology ideas, keeping the team informed about what new technologies are out there and how those technologies might affect the innovation process. The technology gatekeeper also makes judgments, technical judgments on innovative ideas and proposals. This is a technology expert. And not only does that person or that team possess the technology expertise, but they have access to technology expertise that might be outside the team. So that's the role of the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper does bridge and boundary span between the team and other sources. And so, the technology gatekeeper in that role serves as a bridge between the scientific community, the idea developers on the one hand and prototype testers on the other hand. So another implementer role is what we call the process manager. This is different than the idea champion. The idea champion was an advocate, the process manager is the nuts and bolts, mover and shaker of getting things done in the innovation process. And this person, usually a leader, a single leader, has a sense of the big picture and orchestrates the overall innovation process. That person, process manager coordinates resources and technology needs that are there across the enterprise, whether it's a venture, whether it's a larger organization or whether it's a venture collaborating with external sources and suppliers. The process manager also moves the innovation process along from one stage to another. As we're going to see, the innovation process operates in a series of steps and stages, and what the process manager does is helps move the innovation process between stages and through them. And finally, the innovation process manager motivates and directs other innovation team members to complete their process roles. So that person is a taskmaster, an orchestrator, somebody who gets things done, and in effect very much like you might consider to be a classic project manager. Another role is a unique role in many activities that we see in projects throughout businesses and in corporations is a sponsor role. And this is a role where a person acts behind the scene to help the team get essential resources to do their job. So this is a grandfather type role, a godfather type of role where you're helping a team get what it needs to get done. And the sponsor actually advocates for the innovative idea as well. But that sponsor is in a position where that advocacy makes a difference to higher management or makes a difference to other people that might be venture investors. And so, you have somebody, let's say beyond the entrepreneurial team, who is a sponsor of your idea, but not necessarily a member of your team, but somebody who believes in what you're doing and is able to advocate for you. And finally, the sponsor provides some overall advice and mentoring to guide the process to completion. This is somebody who's been down that road before, who's been through the innovation process before, who understands what needs to be done, and can help guide the team to the end product. Another example of the implementer role is what we call the protector, and it's different than the sponsor. In this case, the protector is someone who is usually a high-level manager and has some power and influence but they're not advocating for the innovations openly and obviously, but they're protecting the people and the resources. And let's say the space, and the equipment, and all of the things that are necessary to get the innovation underway. And so, the protector actually insulates the team from external pressures, sometimes top management, sometimes from investors or other sources of influence that would be detrimental to the innovation team. The protector also defends the team and the innovation project from bureaucratic regulations and processes. This sometimes happens in larger organizations but it can happen in smaller ventures as well. Even ventures as few as a half a dozen people are going to be influenced by, and have to struggle with, some regulations be they at a federal level, Food and Drug Administration, or the Department of Transportation or the Environmental Protection Agency. All these outside sources have some form of influence on any new innovation that might have an effect that is going to be regulated by one of these agencies. And finally, the protector does protect the innovation project from talent and resource raids by others in the company. Well, in this case, if you're a small venture your protector might help you keep your staff, might help keep your talent, might help suggest ways in what you can ensure that you hold onto the essential talent that you need to get your innovation done. So at different levels that works in different ways. In a corporation it might work to protect you from others in the company, and in a small venture it might work in a way where it protects you from losing the talent that you have. Finally, the last implementer role in the process is what we call the seller. And the seller helps position the innovation in the marketplace for actual customers and users. So this is a marketeer, but also an advocate, and the seller articulates the true value of the innovation for its ultimate use, and makes a case for why customers or users would want to adopt the innovation. And the seller is able to convey stories of potential applications of the innovation to users and customers in the marketplace. So this is a very much of a marketing idea, but it's also the finishing part of an innovation process. The seller helps make the innovation work in the marketplace. So some takeaways about implementer roles in the innovation process. These roles are later in the process. We started with the creative roles and we're finishing with the implementer roles. These roles reinforce the implementation potential of the innovation. Without those roles, you would just have a collection of ideas that maybe have potential but maybe you'd never know whether they had potential. And each of these implementer roles supports a specific step in the innovation process. And implementer player roles do become boundary spanning and they bridge between creative teams and customers. And so, whereas the creative roles can be somewhat individual, these roles are very much coordinative. And it's very important that implementer roles have what we call organizational skills in order to make an innovation be complete.
