What does the word 'innovation' mean to you?
The term 'innovation' is often overused in business these days and has become a buzzword many people don't fully understand. Innovation is developing new ideas, approaches, and methods to improve existing products, services, or processes. It involves looking at things from a different perspective and finding creative ways to solve problems. Innovation is a key driver of progress, and it plays a critical role in shaping the future of our world. Whether in technology, healthcare, or any other field, innovation is essential for staying ahead and achieving success. So, to sum it up, innovation means pushing boundaries, exploring new possibilities, and constantly seeking to improve and evolve.
The interviewer would like to know how you define innovation, to see if you have what it takes to work at Adyen. Include an example of a time when you witnessed an innovative change in the workplace or exercised creativity and pushed boundaries (in a good way!).
"To me, innovation means presenting a new idea or improving an existing idea. It's important to be innovative in the workplace, but often it's a misunderstood concept. An example of when I was innovative was when our company was facing budget cuts. I suggested we begin to operate as though the cuts were already made in an attempt to preemptively save funds. The concept worked well, and we were able to eliminate many unnecessary expenditures."
"I encourage my team to be innovative by asking the impossible of themselves and their coworkers. We will get together once per week and bring up situations that we think are out of our scope and then reverse-engineer these ideas to see how we could implement them. To me, this is being innovative in the workplace."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
To me, innovation means delivering new, creative solutions in an agile way. I think it's important to act fast but maintain the focus on quality. I like the this story I read about: a team was building medical VR connected gloves, but because of the heavy regulations, they pivoted and started selling the product to car manufacturers.
Rachelle's Feedback
An excellent example of innovation! By adding some storytelling to your answer, you make your interview even more memorable.
Anonymous Answer
Improve on an existing product or process.
This is often a result of deep customer/market understanding
As well as understanding how users use products and their pain points.
In my role I will be a key part of the feedback loop, gathering merchants' feedback "” then working with Solution and Technical Engineers to innovate the product.
Rachelle's Feedback
Well said! By describing so clearly how you plan to innovate with Adyen, you draw the interviewer to picture you already succeeding in the position. Smart and confident approach.
Anonymous Answer
To me, innovation means being able to solve a common or new problem in an effective and qualitative way.
An example that I can think of is what Adyen is doing well, which is taking the data generated during checkout and using the data collected to help businesses make better recommendations to help companies grow a revenue stream by making recommendations to recurring customers.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! You might also mention that being innovative means thinking outside the box and solving problems in new and creative ways. Can you provide more specifics about your example? What type of data is generated? How do you analyze this data and communicate your recommendations? What types of recommendations have you made and how have they benefited the company? The more details you can include, the more meaningful your answer will be to the interviewer. Good job!
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