Individual differences and performance amongst R and D personnel: Some implications for management development

The literature on age and intelligence and scientific performance are briefly reviewed as a prelude to a more detailed consideration of recent work on the characteristics of innovative people. Attention is focussed on Kirton's measure of Innovation‐Adaptation and a suggestion is made that it measures a mixture of level of creativity and style of innovation, and that future work should concentrate on developing the three sub‐scales of originality, efficiency and rule‐conformity. Some implications for the selection and development of R and D personnel are outlined.