Drive discipline: what should innovation leaders help employees do?

• A. Delay execution
• B. Identify execution implications early and align efforts
• C. Ignore implementation
• D. Focus only on ideation

Answer: (B)

Innovation leadership should help employees connect ideas to how they’ll be carried out in the real world. Encourage teams to surface what it would take to implement an idea—costs, timelines, required skills, systems, and potential risks—early in the process. When execution implications are considered from the start, efforts can be aligned across functions, priorities can be set, and resources coordinated, so good ideas don’t stall during transition from concept to practice. This disciplined approach turns creativity into tangible results, and supports faster, more reliable delivery.

Delaying execution slows impact, ignoring implementation leaves teams unprepared for real-world constraints, and focusing only on ideation misses critical feasibility and delivery considerations.