The Four Currents of Innovation

Where Do You Fit In?

This grid reveals how different people naturally contribute to innovation. This is not about job titles. Rather, it's your instincts and mindset about how you approach change.

The horizontal axis represents your tendency to spark change or sustain it. Do you love launching new ideas and setting things in motion? Or are you at your best when anchoring change and making it last?

The vertical axis reflects whether you tend to create entirely new solutions (with an external or entrepreneurial mindset), or strengthen and improve what already exists (with an internal or intrapreneurial mindset).

Each quadrant reflects a vital way of contributing to progress:

🔱 Spearhead (Create + Spark)

Starting something entirely new energizes you, whether it’s launching an initiative, pioneering a strategy, or challenging assumptions that no longer serve. You see opportunities where others see barriers, and feel most alive when carving out a new path. If you are often the first to step into the unknown, you might be a Spearhead.

🔄 Synthesizer (Strengthen + Spark)

You make things better from the inside. You're driven to improve what already exists by connecting ideas, refining systems, and bridging gaps that others might miss. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to spark change. Instead, you develop plans to upgrade the engine. If you thrive on making meaningful improvements within existing environments, this may be your current.

🛡 Stabilizer (Strengthen + Sustain)

You bring structure, clarity, and consistency to the work of change. You focus on what it takes to make things reliable, repeatable, and real. Stabilizers ensure that innovation holds up under pressure and continues to operate effectively. You minimize disruption, reinforce what works, and protect progress as it scales. If you're the one making sure good ideas don’t fall apart in execution, you might be a Stabilizer.

❤️ Steward (Create + Sustain)

You lead with purpose, think long-term, and care deeply about how change impacts people. You bring meaning to momentum, making sure progress stays grounded in trust, mission, and shared goals. You help shape the direction and culture that guide where we’re going. If you're the one ensuring innovation reflects who we are and who we want to become, you might be a Steward.

Innovation doesn’t depend on one kind of person. It takes all four.

The Four Crosswinds of Innovation

Even the strongest teams can fail to drive change.

You can have a visionary Spearhead, a strategic Synthesizer, a dependable Stabilizer, and a purpose-driven Steward all working in harmony. But if the environment is working against them, progress grinds to a halt.

These four crosswinds are the most destructive threats to innovation. They don’t just create friction. They actively erode trust, stall momentum, and block ideas before they have a chance to take root.

🪨 Status Quo: Resistance rooted in comfort and familiarity. It appears early to block new ideas and reappears later to breed complacency. Often driven by status quo bias and the belief that change isn’t worth the risk.

⏳ Shortsightedness: The tendency to prioritize immediate wins over long-term progress. This mindset favors quick fixes and visible results, often at the expense of sustainability and strategy.

☢️ Toxicity: The erosion of trust, collaboration, and psychological safety. When people feel unsafe to speak up, take risks, or challenge norms, innovation cannot survive.

💸 Waste: The quiet killer of potential. Time, resources, talent, and lessons are lost through inefficiency or neglect. Innovation is not just about generating ideas. It’s about using what we have wisely.

Even the best ideas will stall without the right conditions. To lead innovation, you must not only spark change...you must confront the crosswinds that try to stop it.

Innovation Timeline: A Five-Stage Framework for Leading Change

The Innovation Timeline breaks the process of change into five clear stages. Each stage represents a distinct phase in the journey, from idea to impact. Whether you're starting something new or improving what already exists, this model helps you stay grounded, anticipate resistance, and lead with clarity.

But innovation is more than a timeline. It’s shaped by people and challenged by resistance.

The Forces Shape Every Stage

The Four Currents of Innovation—Spearhead, Synthesizer, Stabilizer, and Steward—represent the different roles people play in driving and sustaining change. Each has strengths that shine in different stages of the timeline. Some lead at the start, while others keep things steady later on. Together, they create the momentum innovation needs to move forward.

The Four Crosswinds—Status Quo, Shortsightedness, Toxicity, and Waste—are the hidden forces that can derail progress. Each stage of the timeline brings new risks, and different crosswinds are more likely to appear depending on where you are in the journey.

The Innovation Timeline brings it all together. It helps you understand not just when to act, but how to align the right people and prepare for the right challenges at every step.

🧭 Stage 1: Preparing the Voyage: Set the direction. Align your vision. Ideas emerge. Purpose is clarified. Early champions take the lead.

🧰 Stage 2: Equipping for the Journey: Build your foundation. The right tools, teams, and systems come together to support the vision.

⛵ Stage 3: Setting Sail: Launch and learn. Your idea meets the real world. Adjustments begin. Feedback matters.

🌊 Stage 4: Navigating the Waters: Adapt and stay the course. Change is tested. Resistance shows up. Leadership, trust, and clarity are essential.

⚓ Stage 5: Anchoring the Legacy Sustain what works. Success becomes part of the culture. Lessons shape the path forward.

Why It Works

Innovation is rarely a straight line. It moves in waves, shaped by the people driving it and the resistance it faces. The Innovation Timeline connects those patterns. It helps you:

• Match strengths to moments by understanding the role of each Current

• Recognize hidden threats by anticipating the Crosswinds

• Lead change more effectively at every stage

This is a practical, people-centered roadmap for doing innovation well...no matter where you work or what you're trying to change!