Working in innovation, as in my case, is a mixture of scouting, planning, vision, execution and uncertainty management. So I can say metaphorically that, in that cocktail shaker, I try to put the ingredients in a very orderly way… so that, when I mix them, the results are such that we discover new flavours (new services and technological solutions for our clients).
My daily tools
I always rely on a fairly common set of tools: connectivity + PC + smartphone and, on top of that, email, calls and document creation to move projects forward. Everything 100% in the cloud to have the information accessible from anywhere, securely.
On that basis, and depending on the projects and their state of maturity, I rely on more specialised tools such as data visualisation portals, purchasing and project management portals, generative AI tools or network resource and device management consoles.
Let’s remember that in Innovation each project is different, sharing all of them a management base (base tools) added to a specialisation part (network tools, data tools, AI tools, etc). In all phases of a project it is very important to know how to transmit complex information in a very simple and understandable way, so I always try to give a visual and structured coherence to everything I do (relying on the tools mentioned above).
My moment of the day
To tell you the truth, I couldn’t pick just one. Not because they are all good, but because every day is different. There are days when your best moment is a presentation you have made to a client or to the students of a university degree, days when your best moment is a coffee with colleagues in an area where you were a few years ago, or days when your best moment is unlocking a highly complex technical issue.
In other words, I don’t stick to one moment but to several, and in that variety is the result of never getting bored. If the best moment were always the same, it would cease to be the best.
My tricks and tools for organising myself
There are tricks, of course. But I think organisation also comes by default… that is, in the way you are. In my case, it certainly does. I’m organised by nature: it helps me to have my ideas, documents and projects very structured and organised, being able to call on information very quickly when I need to consult it, share it or bring it together.
Tools? I don’t need many: an orderly structure of folders and projects, which applies to both documentation and emails. On top of that, a good notebook or OneNote where I can jot down key ideas. For me, order is fundamental, and my best advice would be to understand very well and mentally structure everything you do: a tidy head is the basis for structured, coherent, consistent and conscious decision-making.
As an additional point, I have friends who rely on Kanban tools (visual tools, usually related to Agile methodologies) to have their tasks and their status very well defined. Methodology that I share, either by writing down those tasks in a ‘mind map’, in a notebook, in a ‘to do’ folder or in your Outlook agenda to reserve a space and time for them.
