I recently found myself at a party with Hal Gregersen, one of the authors of The Innovator’s DNA (his daughter married one of my best friends). We were chatting and he asked me how I liked working at Accenture, and I shared my automatic response that I like how consulting exposes you to so many different companies and business models.
Later that evening it hit me that I had completely forgotten the primary lessons of The Innovator’s DNA and how it affects what I do at Accenture. Oddly, this was something I had thought about in depth when I first read the book.
The Innovator’s DNA splits skills into two camps: Discovery Skills and Delivery Skills.
Discovery Skills are:
- Associating
- Questioning
- Observing
- Experimenting
- Networking
Delivery Skills are:
- Analyzing
- Planning
- Detail-oriented implementing
- Disciplined executing
Accenture is a delivery company. I spent last week in Delivery Management School being trained on how to use my delivery skills to deliver projects to clients. That’s what we do. And while there are certainly pockets of our business that are Discovery-focused, Delivery is the moneymaker.
So, when I found myself asked by one of the authors of that framework how I liked working at a delivery company, I whiffed. I should have said, “I like a lot of things about it but I wish I had more opportunity to use my creativity and discovery skills every day”. There. Much better.
If you would like to learn more I recommend this book review.