A group of R&D leaders working with Gina O’Connor found that there are generic ability areas needed for each of the role types that were defined in the above matrix. These ability areas were selected because of their importance to the organization as well as because many R&D personnel had gaps in these areas. In the Developer area, the major ability areas needed for each of the three role types are shown in the “Ability Areas for Developers” figure. These ability areas were found to fall into five major skill areas. These were talent management, networking, execution, strategic thinking, and problem-solving.

Similar to the ability areas found for developers, there were high level ability areas for personnel filling the roles of incubators and accelerators. These ability areas are found in the “Ability Areas for Incubators” and “Ability Areas for Accelerators” figures.

In order to best assess the gaps in any one of these Skill Areas, there are five levels of Competence defined is shown in the “Competencies Versus Skill Area Matrix” figure. Once a gap has been found, and that a person wishes to work on the gap, they can access the resources available from the company or online. There is typically a Resources Guide which walks an individual towards activities which can teach them skills they need. An example of such a Resources Guide follows: