Advancing Innovation

CHAPTER 3Innovation Guidance for Finance and Accounting Professionals

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

—Aristotle

I have been a senior finance and accounting professional and CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) since 1992. This chapter (as its title says) is intended specifically for senior finance and accounting professionals. It offers tips, warnings, and recommendations specifically from that viewpoint—accelerating how you may react (both positively and negatively) to some of the concepts and ideas of innovation and innovation governance. Consider this to be a filter on how you could approach innovation in your company—written by a finance and accounting professional for a finance and accounting professional.

If you are not a finance and accounting professional, I nevertheless encourage you to read this chapter and ask yourself, “Which of these strengths and weaknesses apply to me, and what do I need to be cognizant of in relation to leading and supporting innovation efforts? What other strengths or weaknesses should I add to these lists that also apply to me personally and professionally?”

Regardless of your professional background or position, what is important in this chapter is the traits needed to be successful in innovation leadership and management. As you’ll ...