Encouraging Innovation David Mayle Head of the Centre for Innovation, Knowledge, and Enterprise d.t.mayle@open.ac.uk
For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. H. L. Mencken 2
Definitions The United Kingdom ʼ s Department of Trade and Industry website ( www.innovation.gov.uk ): Innovation – the successful exploitation of new ideas – incorporating new technologies, design and best practice is the key business process that enables UK businesses to compete effectively in the global environment . Wikipedia Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved idea, good, service, process or practice which is intended to be useful Harvard Business Review ʻ …we define Innovation broadly, encompassing not just brilliant new products but also distinctive operating practices, managerial tactics, and even business strategies. 3
What would you consider to be Apple ʼ s great innovation? The WIMP operating system ( ʻ borrowed ʼ from Xerox ʼ s Palo Alto Research Centre)? 4
What would you consider to be Apple ʼ s great innovation? The sexy styling of the hardware (think iMacs of any of several generations)? 5
What would you consider to be Apple ʼ s great innovation? The iPod (in all its various forms)? 6
What would you consider to be Apple ʼ s great innovation? The iPhone? 7
What would you consider to be Apple ʼ s great innovation? The iPad? 8
How about iTunes? 9
The Innovation Imperative (also known as ʻ Keep up at the back there… ʼ ) 10
An American Icon 11
The Stratocaster is now manufactured all over the world with different models at different price points and manufacturing locations have included: USA (Custom-shop only) USA/Mexico (US final assembly) Mexico Japan (mostly for domestic market) Korea China India Indonesia 12
Global Manufacture Increasingly seen as unremarkable Global Design Only now being widely recognised Global Brands RCA? Sony? Samsung? ? Motorola? HTC? ?? 13
So if Innovation is so important, how do we do it? 14
L OOKING I NWARD Variety is the spice of life. Anybody recognise this guy? 15
“The best way to guarantee a steady stream of new ideas is to make sure that each person in your organization is as different as possible from the others. Under these conditions, and only these conditions, will people maintain varied perspectives and demonstrate their knowledge in different ways.” Nicholas Negroponte (b. 1943) U.S. computer scientist, co-founder of MIT Media Laboratory 16
Different Types of Folk Psychologists have developed literally thousands of ʻ tests ʼ designed to explore aspects of personality and cognitive style. Some of the more interesting (& reliable) for our purposes are: MBTI ( ʻ Myers-Briggs ʼ ) (NEO-IPIP) The ʻ Big Five ʼ KAI (Michael Kirton) 17
MBTI psychological types (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) The MBTI, loosely based upon the work of Carl Jung, claims to measure four bipolar preferences: Extraversion How you relate to others Introversion (E) (I) and the world Sensing The way you gather Intuition (S) (N) information Thinking The way you make Feeling (T) (F) decisions Judging The way you choose Perceiving (J) (P) priorities These in turn combine to describe sixteen personality types. Being pseudo-Jungian, MBTI ʻ theory ʼ allows for people to change as they grow, and experience supports the fact that many folk do change, especially as they grow older (& maybe wiser?). A central feature of the MBTI is mutual respect for and the usefulness of the different types . 18
External, outside, E I Internal, depth, Extraversion Introversion people, do ideas, think Realist, practical, S N Possibilities, theory, Sensing Intuition step by step insights, agile Head, logical, T F Heart, subjective, Thinking Feeling reason, firm compassionate Plan, set goals, J P Spontaneous, open, Judging Perceiving decisive, organized flexible 19
Hirsch (1985) outlined the role each type inclines to when problem solving: E – communicates, acts and carries it out. I – dreams up ideas, reflects in advance and uses concepts S – creates order, practises, forms habits and applies experience. Gets things into use. N – develops theories, gets things designed, uses hunches and intuition. Applies ingenuity. T – logical, organised, reforming. Creative with impersonal data. F – stresses values & supplies meaning. Arouses enthusiasm. Is creative with personal data. J – methodological, cautious, plans, seeks closure. Has few inputs. P – fearless adventurer, seeks more data. Has many inputs. Going back to our original thesis regarding variety, it should I hope be apparent that for problem solving (& hence Innovation) you really do want access to all these talents… And yet? 20
Managerial MBTIs? ISTP ISFJ INFJ INTJ 22 8 2 7 ISTP ISFP INFP INTP 5 2 4 2 ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP 5 1 3 6 ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ 18 7 2 8 This is an old (1990) sample of ʻ traditional ʼ managers; Note the preponderance of ST types. 21
ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ 13 1 2 18 ISTP ISFP INFP INTP 3 1 3 18 ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP 2 0 4 16 ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ 7 0 1 11 This is a cohort of Creative Management students; 25% ST, 63% NT. This is a very different population! A simple MBTI-type test is available at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp 22
The Big 5 Dimension High Medium Low Openness Open to new experiences. Practical, willing to Down to earth, practical, Broad interests and very consider new ways of traditional, set in ways imaginative doing things. Balance between old and new Conscientious- Conscientious, well Dependable, moderately Easy-going, not very well ness organised. High well organised. Clear organised, sometimes standards, strives to goals but can set work careless. Prefers not to achieve goals aside make plans Extraversion Extraverted, outgoing, Moderate activity and Introverted, reserved, active, high- spirited. enthusiasm. Enjoy serious. Prefer to be Mainly prefer to be others ʼ company and alone or with a few close around people value privacy friends Agreeableness Compassionate, good- Generally warm trusting, Hard-headed, sceptical, natured, eager to agreeable, but proud and competitive. cooperate and avoid sometimes stubborn and Expresses anger directly conflict competitive Neuroticism Sensitive, emotional, Calm, able to deal with Secure, hardy and prone to experience stress, may experience relaxed even under upsetting feelings guilt, anger or sadness stressful conditions 23
Potential Problems You should note that there ʼ s a right end to each of the Big 5 dimensions . Open? Conscientious? Extravert? Agreeable? Not Neurotic? then the world is your oyster. If on the other hand you are unfortunate enough to be Closed, not Conscientious, Introverted, Disagreeable, and Neurotic… then ʻ Don ʼ t call us, we ʼ ll call you ʼ If anybody wants to try a free (but very respectable) Big 5 inventory, there ʼ s a good one at Penn State University (http://personal.psu.edu/~j5j/IPIP/ipipneo300.htm) 24
Kirton ʼ s Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) Adaptors Innovators Do it better Do it differently Work within existing frame Challenges, reframes Fewer, more acceptable solutions Many solutions Prefer well-established situations Set new policy, structure Essential for ongoing functions Essential in times of change • 32 item questionnaire (& yet excellent reliability!) • Explains communication ʻ difficulties ʼ • Emphasises complementarity (see also Belbin ʼ s Team Roles) 25
So why does all this matter? 1 It explains ʻ the guy down the corridor ʼ 2 Negroponte ʼ s plea for variety 3 Managerial rites of passage Stop recruiting in your own image Start recruiting people who disagree with you! 26
Recommend
More recommend
