Innovation Roles: From Souls of Fire to Devil's Advocates - International Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 37, No. 4

The innovation literature suggests a number of proactive roles (e.g., idea genera tor, idea champion, and orchestrator) that organizational members can play in the development and implementation of innovations. This study examines self-report data gathered at two points in time from organizational members (N = 90) within the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS), a geographi cally-dispersed federal government health information and education network that is piloting innovative intervention strategies to disseminate cancer information to the public. Unexpectedly, results indicate that those who have the power to cham pion innovation are also capable of challenging it, suggesting the existence of a new innovation role held by organizational members who object to innovation adoption or innovation: the devil's advocate. The discussion explores implications for research and practice that challenge traditional notions about roles that people play in the innovation process.