Is Innovation Getting Harder?

Does it seem at times that finding novel solutions to design challenges is getting more difficult for your organization?  Well, maybe that’s because it is.

It’s not so much that the basic process of innovation has become more difficult, nor is it the case that today’s design challenges are inherently more difficult that those that great innovators of the past tackled.  It is simply the case that many of our system have evolved away from the traits that are supportive of innovation.

How so you ask?  There are a number of ways in which this phenomenon can be observed.  Here, let’s consider one counter-innovative trend: technical specialization.

Technical specialization is supposed to make engineers, scientists, and technical designers better at what they do by ensuring they have an appropriately deep understand of their areas of expertise.  That makes perfect sense, and if you approach a modern engineer and ask them a question about their craft you will be instantly impressed at the deeply considered answer they are able to provide.

However, this deep and narrow focus on a tightly defined area of expertise which is the strength of modern engineers is also their Achilles’ heel when it comes to innovation.  The most inventive solutions to innovation problems are often found in the application of knowledge from outside the immediate domain of the problem.  But, if the innovation worker sees the world through such a narrowly focused lens, the ability of the worker to correctly identify the optimal solution is greatly impeded.  In effect, our focus on specialization has placed blinders on our innovation workforce.

So, what then is a company to do if they wish to have their innovation workers excel when faced with the need to find new, breakthrough concepts?  The answer is simple.  Arm them with tools they need to complement their expertise with cross domain knowledge.  However, finding the right way to do this is not so easy.

An engineer in one field may not be familiar with the jargon of another discipline.  The innovation worker may not think to ask if there is a solution in area with which they are unfamiliar or unaware.

This is why contextual design-intent based knowledge tools are import for today’s design organization.  These tools provide cross domain concept retrieve in the specific context of the knowledge workers need.  When knowledge workers are able to see the full universe of available solution paths, they are able to achieve their innovation potential.  Leading high-performance innovation organizations deploy such technologies as part of their sustainable innovation strategies.

Comments

[Navneet Bhushan]

I think one way to circumvent this highly focussed knowledge inertia is to create informal or formal social networks of engineers with very different deep skills. As we know, it is in the links of the network - innovation germinates. Thats why web 2.0 is becoming so crutial for the Enterprise 2.0.

with warm regards
Navneet

[James Todhunter]

Hi Navneet,

You are right. Collaboration networks are very helpful in expanding one's insights. However, I think we can use technology more persuasively to inspire innovation. Specifically, there is an important distinction to be drawn between the active collaboration network we associate with Web 2.0 and other precedent technologies, and passive collaboration.

In the active collaboration model, an interaction must be intentionally initiated. Either the person needing the information must seek out those who might have knowledge, or the knowledge holders must have a way to identify where their knowledge could be of value. While this is a very helpful and valuable, the passive model offers some very interesting benefits.

In the passive model, we disassociate the knowledge from the knowledge holder, and use technology to match the knowledge with knowledge consumers who may have a need for which the knowledge is relevant. I term this method "passive" because neither knowledge holder nor knowledge user need do anything for the knowledge exchange to happen.

In effect, the knowledge itself becomes the active participant in the exchange. In a high performance innovation organization, the use of such technology is important as you don't want your innovation outcomes to be reliant on the change encounter of knowledge holder and consumer. You want to drive the process of innovation by creating a constant and purposeful flow of knowledge.