You too can be a great innovator, if you just learn to work with this

Research has shown that innovators and entrepreneurs don't take more risk than the average person. However, they are more comfortable making decisions in uncertainty.

They have a set of skills that allows them to navigate in uncertainty. These skills can be learned and practised by anyone to improve their innovation skills.

• Risk is when the factors that determine success or failure are out of your control, but the odds of success are known.
• Uncertainty is when the factors that determine success or failure are not out of your control but are simply unknown. It is playing a game that you do not entirely know the rules of.

Risk analysis is a rational and calculation-driven process, while uncertainty triggers the fight-or-flight response. Innovators don't ignore risk. They are able to maintain their analytical capabilities in the face of uncertainty.

• Delivery skills. Skills include quantitative analysis, planning, detail-oriented implementation, disciplined execution.
• Discovery skills. Theses skills are more involved in developing ideas and managing uncertain situations. It includes the ability to draw connections between ideas, questioning assumptions and the status quo, understanding a problem before trying to solve it, systematic experimentation, the ability to network and broaden a set of relationships. For innovation, discovery must come before delivery.

These skills can be learned through a combination of guidance, practice, and experience.

• P - assion: Successful innovators are passionate about the problem they are trying to solve and will share the passion with everyone.
• E - xperience: Innovators have experience with the problem they are solving, yielding valuable insight and knowledge.
• P - ersistence: Growing a business takes persistence. It takes someone willing to push uphill to make it happen.

Uncertainty and change can create opportunity and a need for innovation.

The pandemic has revealed many problems that are ripe for innovative solutions. Practices that were until recently on the fringe of acceptance are now accepted by mainstream society, such as telehealth, food delivery, e-sports, and online education.