Several Corante Network contributors have been talking about people -- specifically the kinds of people who make innovation work in corporations. A particular question: what are the skill sets and kinds of people needed to make innovation work? Joyce Wycoff at Heads Up on Organizational Innovation likens innovation to basketball and asks:

If something as fundamentally simple as basketball requires skill development, coaching, understanding strategy and playing together as a team, why do we think something as complex as innovation can be successful without any of that?

Jeffrey Phillips at Innovate On Purpose discusses the "thinkers vs doers" in a company and suggests:

"[To] shake up your organization and improve the productivity: insert a 'thinker' into each product group or business process, with the appropriate compensation and senior management backing. The thinker will create some (hopefully) creative tension within the process or product, but if incorporated into the team, will create real results."

Brent Edwards at Innovation Science discusses a recent article about Bill Gates' personal work process, in particular the way he recuirts innovative ideas from within his company. Brent notes that Gates says he's gotten better at deciding which ideas to give his time to, and wonders:

"I’m curious what has made Gates better at deciding which ideas to give his time to—is it a better process, better tools, or is he better at scanning topics?"

And Steve Hardy at Creative Generalist offers a tribute to Jane Jacobs, an innovative thinker who Steve says "[had] brilliant (yet common sense) ideas relating to a surprisingly wide range of topics. Interviews with her conveyed a sharp wit, fiery passion and unflagging curiosity...[she was] one most special generalist."