Invited to Judge: The MEQ Innovation Awards

Being asked to evaluate other people's work is a particular responsibility

When the MEQ, Quebec's Ministry of Economy and Innovation, invited me to serve as a judge for their Innovation Awards, I did not take it lightly.

Judging is the opposite of the work I usually do. Coaching is about drawing out what is already there, helping someone see their own situation more clearly. Judging is about applying a standard externally, against someone else's work.

Those are different skills. And they require different honesty.

What I was evaluating

The Innovation Awards recognize companies that have developed genuinely new solutions in their fields. Not incremental improvements dressed up as breakthroughs. Actual innovations with measurable impact.

The submissions I reviewed were from companies across different sectors. Some were very impressive. Some were not.

My standard was simple: does this solve a real problem in a new way, and can the company actually deliver on the promise?

That last part is often where innovation submissions fall apart. The idea is compelling. The execution capability is not demonstrated.

What I brought to the room

I have been building and running companies for over twenty years. I have made innovation investments that paid off and ones that did not. I know the difference between a technology solution looking for a problem and a problem that found its solution.

That experience is what the MEQ was drawing on when they asked me to judge.

When your peers trust your eye, it means something. You have earned the right to evaluate the work of others by doing serious work of your own.

What I took home

Seeing the innovation landscape in Quebec from that vantage point was instructive.

There is more genuine problem-solving happening in this province than the headlines suggest. The companies that impressed me most were not the loudest ones. They were the ones doing the hardest work most quietly.

That is always how it goes.