Here is an article written by Donna Fenn for BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network.

Ignore the dumb title. Only Steve Jobs can train himself to be the next Steve Jobs. He remains a work-in-progress, exploring and embracing (sometimes celebrating) whatever intrigues and delights him in ways and to the extent his circumstances permit. Jobs demonstrates the wisdom of Oscar Wilde’s advice: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” So, I suggest, train yourself to become the next you, whoever and whatever that proves to be.

In this article, what Fenn offers is essentially a book review. Keep in mind that, although she refers only to Jeff Dyer,  the insights she shares have joint ownership by Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clay Christensen, co-authors of a brilliant book, The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators.

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Are innovators born or made?

Most people believe that you are either born innovative and creative, or you’re not. But a growing body of evidence suggests that you can learn creative problem-solving and, with practice, hone your innovative abilities. “Studies show that when identical twins were separated at birth and given IQ tests from ages 16 to 24, that 80% of performance was based on genetics,” says Jeff Dyer, co-author with Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen of The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators.“But on creativity tests, only 30% of performance was based on genetics.”

Dyer says that what we learn from role models and how we’re taught to ask questions directly impacts our ability to be innovative. “If you understand the behaviors that bring in new knowledge, you’re much more likely to trigger new ideas related to problems you’re trying to solve in your life or in your company,” he says. So what exactly are the behaviors that spark innovation?

[Fenn discusses behaviors. Here are the first to. To read the coimplete article, please click here.]

1. Ask the right questions. “We all know that questions are important as a catalyst for creative thought,” says Dyer. “But some people are much more inclined to question the status quo, and they tend to ask ‘what if?’ kinds of questions.” One technique that can be used to ask more provocative questions, says Dyer, is to impose constraints. “If you’re looking for innovative ideas on how to grow, you might ask ‘what if we were legally prohibited from selling our projects to any of our current customers?  How would we make money next year?’” Or, you might take the Steve Jobs approach and  try eliminating constraints by asking “what kind of product would we create if money were no object.” Either way, says Dyer, “creativity loves constraints.”

2. Observe what others don’t see. “Some of us do it better than others,” says Dyer. “The kinds of observations that seem to make a difference for business owners are observations of customers and competitors.” Scott Cook of Intuit, for instance, always paid special attention to behavior that was in some way surprising. “The anomalies are the key,” says Dyer. “When you find the surprise, that may lead you to observe something no one has ever seen before, and that can trigger ideas for new businesses.” The best observers, he says, are people who have lived in multiple countries for three months or longer. “You more naturally tend to observe because things are different.”

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Dyer says that the more time you spend engaging in the above four behaviors, the more likely you are to trigger the fifth skill of disruptive innovators — “associational thinking.” That’s what the brain does when it attempts to make connections across seemingly unrelated problems or ideas. “Innovative breakthroughs often happen at the intersection of diverse disciplines and fields,” notes Dyer. “We found that founders and CEOs who ranked among the top 100 innovative companies by BusinessWeek spent 20% more time on these behaviors than a typical CEO.” And, he adds, those innovative leaders imprint the behaviors that fuel creativity into their organizations so that everyone becomes an innovator.

What do you think?  Are innovators made or born? What are you doing at your company to foster a culture of innovation?

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Donna Fenn is the author of Upstarts: How Gen Y Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success and Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become A Leader of the Pack. She has more than twenty years experience writing about entrepreneurship and small business trends as a contributing editor at Inc. magazine, an expert on Business.com, and a featured expert on SBTV.com. From 1988 to 1992, she lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she was a correspondent for The Associated Press and covered business, culture, the economy, and the Gulf War. To check out her website, please click here. You can also follow her on Twitter: @donnafenn