Creativity. Entrepreneurship. Dehub. Icebreaker. How Group Dynamics May Be Killing Innovation. To come up with the next iPad, Amazon or Facebook, the last thing potential innovators need is a group brainstorm session. What the pacesetters of the future really require, according to new Wharton research, is some time alone. In a paper titled, “Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea (PDF),” Wharton operations and information management professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich argue that group dynamics are the enemy of businesses trying to develop one-of-a-kind new products, unique ways to save money or distinctive marketing strategies. Terwiesch, Ulrich and co-author Karan Girotra, a professor of technology and operations management at INSEAD, found that a hybrid process — in which people are given time to brainstorm on their own before discussing ideas with their peers — resulted in more and better quality ideas than a purely team-oriented process.
“Manufacturers prefer 10 machines with good output over one very good machine and nine really defective ones. Social Innovation BarCamp. Not So SMART: Replicating (Instead of Growing) Natural Small Organizations. Drawing by hugh mcleod at gaping void Consulting ‘guru’ Peter Drucker introduced the concept of Management by Objectives in business and government affairs a half-century ago. The idea was that if you set objectives and measure ‘progress’ against them, more will get accomplished. These objectives, he said, had to be ‘SMART’: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based. Drucker was one of the last of the old industrial model thinkers, but these ideas have caused a huge amount of damage since he introduced them. Essentially, they mistake complex environments (which most social environments — communities, enterprises and institutions — are) for merely complicated environments.
They assume you can control the elements that lead to achievement of objectives. They assume you can get a handle on all the variables that affect an organization’s success. All of these assumptions are wrong. So Management by SMART Objective leads to this ludicrous and dysfunctional dance: Where Social Learning Thrives | Learn at All Levels. Social learning is not just the technology of social media, although it makes use of it. It is not merely the ability to express yourself in a group of opt-in friends. Social learning combines social media tools with a shift in the corporate culture, a shift that encourages ongoing knowledge transfer and connects people in ways that make learning a joy. Social learning thrives in a culture of service and wonder. It is inspired by leaders, enabled by technology and ignited by opportunities that have only recently unfolded. If a culture is focused on service, the most pressing question is, "How can I help you? " How can I help you succeed?
How can I help you ask strong questions, take wise risks and deliver great content? Yet in most classrooms, young people are prevented from helping each other learn and succeed. Part of why we are not better at helping one another learn and grow is that our attention is spread thin. Think of asking someone out. [Photos: Flickr userlassi_kurkijarvi]
Education Eye - Mapping Innovations. Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time! © 2010 Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 45, no. 1 (January/February 2010): 16-29 Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams Don Tapscott ( Twitter: @dtapscott) is the author or co-author of thirteen books on technology in society, including Grown Up Digital (2008), Growing Up Digital (1997), and Wikinomics (2006). He is Chairman of the think tank nGenera Insight and an Adjunct Professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and he consults to universities in several countries. Comments on this article can be posted to the web via the link at the bottom of this page. Encyclopedias, newspapers, and record labels have a lot in common.
Yet today the businesses of encyclopedias, newspapers, and record labels are in various stages of collapse. Come to think of it, encyclopedias, newspapers, and record labels are a lot like colleges and universities as well. Yet there are troubling indicators that the picture is not so rosy. Luis M. Innovate_and_Integrate_Final_26Jun07.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Bounded Innovation. I initially considered calling this post "bound and determined" but I could not arrive at a reasonable origin for the phrase, so we won't go there. What I am interested in is defining a platform for successful innovation and ideation. Too often, teams and firms like the "boundless" approach to innovation - that is, we need some NEW IDEAS about something that will help us DO SOMETHING VALUABLE. Often, this is the direction that innovative teams and people receive. Now, there's a benefit to keeping innovation very open - it allows a significant degree of freedom when generating ideas. However, too much freedom means that the ideas can represent virtually anything the participants think is valuable and may not align to the needs or direction of the business. What we like to see is the definition of a boundary or a given, and the ability to "pivot" from that position while retaining some consistent boundaries or constraints.
Ideas in Context. One of the interesting challenges that innovation presents is that ideas are often "out of context". That is, ideas may be generated by people who are not responsible for their implementation, or ideas may appear but their scope and value are not clearly defined. When ideas are submitted with no context, they are difficult to evaluate and often don't move through the ideation process. If left without correction, eventually the idea management system becomes overloaded with interesting but ultimately useless ideas that simply sit in the system. This eventually leads to the decision that the system isn't working. There are two ways to create context for innovation. The first is to publish a challenge or problem that needs to be solved. We are losing customers to Competitor X's new online portal. By creating a defined challenge or problem, you can indicate: The second method to provide context is to ask the submitter for the context, evaluation criteria and measurement.
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