Here is a quick test of your organisation’s innovation program.

Step 1: Think of the person in your organisation that has the most responsibility for making innovation happen.

Step 2: Imagine that that person is the guy walking across the street in this video – for the purpose of illustration, we’ll call him Tom:

Step 3: If your innovation person isn’t as quick as the guy in the video, would your response be:

• A: Now that Tom is gone, our innovation program will disappear. He’s been driving everything.
• B: It’s a real shame what happened to Tom. It’s a good thing that we have lots of people that work on innovation here – that will be his legacy.

If your answer is A, you need to take steps to make sure that innovation skills and competencies are embedded throughout your organisation.

And if you’re Tom, you need to stay alert!

Don’t fail the innovation bus test.