Open Visual Thinkery
“I don’t know if I even believe in innovation”. The words escaped my mouth at an event I was speaking at. We were talking about innovative uses of technology in Further Education. It seems to me that innovation is only innovation in hindsight: “Wow! That thing we made was really innovative.” Even though, at the time it might have felt like fumbling in the dark…
It’s easy for a manager to say the meaningless statement “Let’s be more innovative!”. In contrast, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a manager say the much more intentional statement “Let’s create the conditions and the processes that will allow us to be innovative.” The right mix of people. The space outside normal work routines. Time to poke and prod a problem. Nibbles and caffeine. Friendly feedback.
A friend challenged me this week on where my newsletter was going. Admittedly, I have no idea. It was meant to be an experiment, though — an umbrella for experiments, if you will…
Aha! So it’s not just me…
When I first saw this, it face-slapped me like an un-hinged double hi-five. At the time, I was pitching an e-portfolio solution to different training organisations, which was really quite hit and miss. After a while, I realised the product I was selling was actually “Change” – and that change meant pain. Potential customers varied wildly in their appetite for change, but also in their ability to change…
Scaling often doesn’t care. Outsource. Cut out the fat. A business must continually drive to be more efficient – and indeed there are many ways to do just that. On paper, it may make sense. But as a business, you are your people. Forget about them at your peril…
I’m now in the habit of carrying around a sketchbook and scribbling down a thought as it jumps around in my brain. I’ve recently noticed that being creative requires a lot of noticing (notice what i did there?…) In this instance I was noticing how decisions are rarely binary, even thought its in our nature to reduce them to a binary state in order to be able to make a decision we’re happy with.
Oh, the need for a creative process in order to ideate and innovate! In my experience, people have different strengths when it comes to thinking, and without a recognition of this (and a process), one person’s sideways idea is discounted as silly, or even worse, seen as a threat. Tom Barrett’s blog entitled “The ebb and flow between divergent and convergent thinking” caught my eye, and before long I found myself pruning trees…
I was on a train with Doug Belshaw and John Webber recently, and someone mentioned an appointment described as “director of out-of-the-box”. I suddenly realised what I had seen play out in all the businesses I’ve been involved with – the tension between Quality and Innovation. Obviously, every business needs both…
I really liked this thought from @urban_teacher, and as is so often the way, stopped everything else I was doing in order to create the half-baked version that existed in my head…
Here’s another thought emerging from a conversation at @dotcomrades – with reference to the vote for Independence in Scotland. I’m fascinated by hope – as its relationship with strong leadership…