Before I go any further in the innovation skills realm, I want to describe a systems worldview that will be the focus on my blogging from now on. Systems inquiry is three interrelated domains – systems theory, systems philosophy, and systems methodology. Systems theory is about the science of wholeness. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The new Science that Margaret Wheatley talks about in her writings falls into systems theory. Systems philosophy is a systems worldview; systems thinking is an approach to new ideas and possibilities. The systems philosophy I will use is the cultural-history school of psychology. Systems methodology are the methods used in systems investigations and the tools for application of systems theory to problems. I will use activity theory and appreciative inquiry as the systems methodology. Systems consists of both hard systems and human systems. You can not look at the world with only a hard systems or a human systems lens. I will look at the systems using a holistic approach. Systems require looking at the people, processes, and technology of the system. You also need to consider the culture and community. When I talk about systems, I will be using the community as a system in my posts. I feel that the community is central to understanding innovations and the adoption of innovations. Sometimes innovations will create a new community around the innovation which to me is a disruptive innovation or a new process and/or technology is introduced to a community which transforms the community. Activity theory is used to show activity of a community and the transformation of a community. Each individual has an unique identity in a community. The innovation skills that I have talked about up to this point focus on the individual skills needed for innovation. A person can not exist in isolation but belong to some community. Now, an innovator could create their own communities if they do not exist but they usually come from some community where their identity is formed. So, you can not isolate the innovation from a community. They coexist. To be successful, an innovation needs a community to be a successful innovation. Remember the innovation must be of value to be useful to a community. This is line of thought I will use when discussing innovation in my blog.
The last two key skills in innovation are communication and collaboration. Communication can be broken down into listening, dialogue, and discussion. You need to be able to listen which can be a hard skill to master for some. Dialogue is about an open ended conversation. Discussion is about communication that leads to a decision. You need to master both. Dialogue does require listening along with participating. Collaboration is about working with two or more people towards a common goal. Teamwork is a part of the ability to collaborate.
In this next post, we will investigate community and culture. I will treat them together because they really belong together.
A community is a group of people who share a concern, dialogue, work, and learn together. A special kind of community that I will blog about is a Community of Practice. We all belong to communities of practice and we all have our own special identities in each of these community. Identity is an important concept in a community. From newbies to old timers, each member of a community lend their expertise. A practice is always social in nature and it is a domain of expertise. Communities have histories, artifacts, and activities that allow members to participate. Identity, activities, and practice are the key terms in the community language.
The last term of importance is culture. Communities develop a culture over time. A culture has customs, tools, values, beliefs, practices, and behaviors. Members must conform to the culture to fit in. Member either buy into the culture or they do not participate in it.
In Innovation, communities and cultures are important concepts for you to master. You can not bring an idea from conception to adoption without understanding the community and culture that you are trying to introduce the innovation into. You must understand these concepts to figure out how to get members to adopt an innovation. Some innovations can cause a community to transform. Healthy communities do transform themselves over time.
We will explore curiosity today as a skill of innovation. To be curious, you need
* to be inquisitive
The ability to ask questions and use Socratic questioning in an area of interest.
* to explore
The ability and eagerness to explore a topic in detail. This includes researching and playing with ideas/possibilities.
* to investigate
As part of exploration, you need to investigate. You almost need to be an investigative reporter trying to get the details you need in the area of interest.
* to learn
You need to eager to learn more about an area of interest and get into that area in depth. You must go beyond the surface understanding of a topic. You must do a deep dive and get into depth. You must learn as much as you can.
* to experiment
You need to be willing to experiment with new possibilities and ideas to see they are of value or not. If the experiment is successful, then you move the idea forward. If not, you need to be wiling to let it go.
Here is the next installment of defining Innovation. We will explore creativity skills. Creativity is the process of imagining and generating new ideas that have value.
I have included a mind map for creativity. You will see the following skills:
* Imagination
To be creative, you need to have a good imagination.
* New Lens
To be creative, you need to be able to look at this in a different lens. This means you need to be able to look at things in a different way.
* Open Mindedness
To be creative, you need to have an open mind to new ideas and possibilities. We have a lot of people in this world that closes their mind to new ideas. They are so fixated on the past that they can not imagine the future.
* New Possibilities
To be creative, you need to able to generate new possibilities / ideas that have value. The key to this statement is “value”. You can have ideas but if they are not valuable then the ideas will never get traction.
* Risk Taking
To be creative, you need to not be afraid of failure. You need to be able to understand that not all possibilities and/or ideas will be of value which means they is a good chance you will fail with your ideas. We are so focused on the right answer in schools today that no one is willing to take a risk and fail. I find that failing are just as good learning experiences as successes. You learn alot. This takes someone who has the self confidence to fail and move on. This means that you need to be able to learn and unlearn very quickly.
* Flexible
To be creative, you need to be flexible. Change in a constant in today’s business world so you will be faced with opportunities and you need to be willing to be flexible. Just because you have a good idea does not mean you become arrogant over it and hold it close to the vest. It requires an openness and flexibility to go with the punches.
