Measurement of Innovation Mindset A Method and Tool within the Berkeley Innovation Index Framework

The Berkeley Innovation Index (BII) is a concept and an open project offering simple yet powerful ways to measure innovation capability in a holistic sense. Our work is motivated by the fact that if Innovation capability cannot be measured, then it is inherently difficult for any person or organization to improve their ability to be innovative. The approach is also intended to cover various facets of innovation: 1) Strategy and Leadership, 2) Innovation Culture from an Organization's Viewpoint, 3) Organizational Operations and Measures across functions, 4) Mindset: The Innovation DNA of the People, and 5) Tactical measures. In this paper, we focus on one particular facet, which is a person's mindset towards innovation (number 4 above). The work on this facet can be divided in four steps. In this paper we describe BII, the four steps of work, the algorithm, the learning model, and the initial results of the Innovation Mindset Instrument. The tool has been used to conduct a survey on the students attending the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a 4-day intensive class experience on innovation and entrepreneurship. It can be concluded that by the third day of the class, the innovation mindset levels have increased by half of a standard deviation, and by the final day, the class has increased its Innovation Mindset score by a full standard deviation. The Innovation Mindset score is not a test of knowledge, but instead a test of beliefs about oneself. The results are intended to measure whether entrepreneurial behaviors can be learned.