The Best Interview Questions for Innovation

To thrive on any fast-growing, ambitious team, innovative thinking is a necessity. Testing a candidate's innovation skills during the hiring process ensures that they're creative, forward-thinking, and willing to push boundaries. Here are some interview questions to help you uncover a candidate's approach to innovative thinking.

• Tell me about a time when you thought of a better way to do something in your job.
• What’s one of the most creative ideas you’ve ever had at work?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to think outside the box to solve a problem?
• How do you come up with new ideas?
• Can you share an example of a time where you took a risk to pursue an innovative idea?
• How do you inspire or encourage innovation in your team?
• Have you ever faced resistance to innovation within a team or organization? How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time when a team member came to you with an innovative solution that you supported implementing.
• How do you keep up with trends in your industry or field?
• How do you think your industry or role will be different in 3/5/10 years?
• What do you think has been the most notable or impactful change in your industry in the past year?
• Tell me about a product or solution that you find especially innovative.

Personal innovation and creative thinking

First, you'll want to understand a candidate's general bias towards innovation and creative thinking. You should dig into an individual's ability to generate creative ideas, think outside the box, and implement these ideas into action.

Innovation interview questions:

• Tell me about a time when you thought of a better way to do something in your job.
• What’s one of the most creative ideas you’ve ever had at work?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to think outside the box to solve a problem?
• How do you come up with new ideas?
• Can you share an example of a time where you took a risk to pursue an innovative idea?

What to look for in answers:

In candidate responses, look for examples of creative solutions and strategic thinking. The examples the candidate shares should not only show creativity for the sake of it, but creativity to further business goals and have a real impact. In answering these questions, do they naturally talk about the impact they had? You'll want to see evidence that they don't just settle for the status quo, but have a natural hunger to seek out new ideas and better ways of doing things, even when it requires persuading key stakeholders of the necessity.

By understanding what types of projects they speak about when asked these questions, you'll also uncover valuable insights about how the candidate defines innovation. You can then assess whether how they think about innovation is aligned with your own organization's approach.

Fostering inovation in a team

Particularly for candidates in management or leadership positions, you may want to assess how a candidate encourages others to think creatively and how they've advocated for innovation within the wider context of an organization. These interview questions delve into how candidates inspire others to push the boundaries of their thinking, balance creativity with practicality, and handle resistance to new ideas.

Innovation interview questions to ask:

• How do you inspire or encourage innovation in your team?
• Have you ever faced resistance to innovation within a team or organization? How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time when a team member came to you with an innovative solution that you supported implementing.

What to look for in answers:

In candidate responses, you'll want to look for evidence that they have supported and encouraged innovation amongst team members. If they can't come up with specific examples, that's your first sign that innovation might not be at the forefront of their approach. It's also good to see that they're willing to push for innovative solutions even when faced with obstacles from key stakeholders.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate how they've used strategic thinking to decide when and how to execute creative ideas that further business goals. Do they have a reasoned framework for thinking through when it's the right time to advocate for creative new approach? Or do they follow shiny new ideas without the data or impact to back them up?

Industry trends and predictions

Another good way to understand a candidate's bent towards innovation is to understand how they keep up with trends and future predictions in their own industries or fields. These interview questions will delve into a candidate's understanding of and perspective on the future of their industry, including changes, trends, and predictions.

Innovation interview questions to ask:

• How do you keep up with trends in your industry or field?
• How do you think your industry or role will be different in 3/5/10 years?
• What do you think has been the most notable or impactful change in your industry in the past year?
• Tell me about a product or solution that you find especially innovative.

What to look for in answers:

The key here is to validate that the candidate has an educated opinion on these topics. You want to look for signs of enthusiasm, curiosity, and interest in the innovation that's happening in their world. They should demonstrate that they stay up-to-date on current trends shaping their work and have developed a point of view on what forces will shape the future of it.

You don't need to look for expert-level knowledge here—rather, a sense that the candidate has an appreciation for innovative ideas shaping their professional world and a practical approach to understanding how these shape the day-to-day of their own work.

Summary

These interview questions collectively address the multifaceted nature of innovation, from personal creativity and risk-taking to fostering an innovative culture among others, and understanding industry trends. Testing a candidate's ability to demonstrate innovative thinking during the interview process will give you the confidence that they can push forward your company's innovation strategy.