Questioning, observing, networking and experimenting are the four behaviours innovators have.

First, innovators bring forth insights through questioning, constantly challenging the status quo with “why” and “why not” questions to turn things upside-down. They often ask “what if” questions to envision a different future. Questioning gives you the fuel to power new associations and insights. Second, innovators gather new ideas by observing the environment as if they were anthropologists. They get out of their offices to watch the world around them—especially customers, products, services, and processes—to activate unique ways of doing things. Third, innovators surpass at networking, talking with people to find—or actuate a new way to solve—perplexing problems. They regularly communicate with people who do not look, act, or (most importantly) think as they do. Instead of networking simply to gain resources, they interact with diverse people to get new ideas. Finally, innovators generate insights by invariably experimenting. They test new experiences wherever they go. They disassemble products or processes to see how things work—and how to improve them.