ABSTRACT
This chapter intends to explore the key factors for enhancing individual innovation which is part of Individual, Community (or city), Organizational and National (ICON) innovation. It identifies and defines the role of individual traits and characteristics in innovation. The chapter explains the factors that promote and inhibit individual innovation. It also discusses the potential of innovative individuals in an organization and how organizational cultures and climates can support individual innovation. Individual innovation is informed by both cultural and organizational settings. The corporate governance and organizational structure shape and influence the climate and culture of innovation. During the 1990s, Andrew Van de Ven and colleagues studied the innovation process in organizations and concluded that the process is characterized as a non-linear dynamic system. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh's individual innovation journey has been shaped by his hard experiences as a refugee in Lebanon and as a junior employee in Kuwait.
