To innovate, hire the 'wrong' people

In a commentary, SMU Professor of Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources (Education) and Academic Director of SMU's Master of Science in Innovation programme Thomas Menkhoff wrote that innovation success is often attributed to individuals with outstanding attributes and that their role is critical as innovation implies change, insecurity, resistance and risks. However, these individuals are seldom regarded as difficult employees, as outlined by Stanford Professor Robert I Sutton in a 2001 Harvard Business Review article entitled "The Weird Rules of Creativity". Such perceptions are in contrast with their actual behaviour as they seek to foster cross-functional communication and collaboration within the organisation or ensure that scarce resources are distributed correctly in support of strategic development and commercialisation objectives.