Within the extremely competitive environment of higher education, professors make a conscious decision to engage in pedagogical innovation projects. Through this qualitative research, I revisit the experience of thirty-two innovators who gravitate between risks and uncertainty, particularly as they teach at a university where research prevails over teaching. The results provide us with in-depth insight into the specific conditions and processes of pedagogical innovation, shedding light on the optional stages and delineating those that appear to be fundamental to the innovation process.