Readings

Giddens, A. - Globalisation

Giddens points out that "We live in a world of transformations, affecting almost every aspect of what we do". We cannot ignore the transformations around us that are making us into a society where Globalisation cannot be ignored. Every business guru and politician makes reference to it and it is a widely discussed issue.The meaning of the term, however, isn't always clear. Globalisation has something to do with the fact that we now all live in one world, but in what ways?

Giddens comments that globalisation, as we are experiencing it, is not only new, but also revolutionary. It is political, technological and cultural, as well as economic and has been influenced by developments in systems of communication.

The writer also states that "Globalisation is not only about what is 'out there', remote and far away from the individual." It is also about the intimate and personal aspects of our lives. Global debates about current affairs such as family values and equality between men and women show that we are living in a global revolution, where the consequences of revolutionary changes in society are being felt around the world in both work and politics.

Globalisation is the reason for the revival of local cultural identities in different parts of the world, i.e Scots wanting independence from the UK. Local nationalisms spring us as a response to globalising tendencies. 

Giddens says that is it fundamental to his argument that globalisation today is only partly westernisation, and its effects are felt as much in western countries as elsewhere.


Brown, T. - Design Thinking

Brown comments that "the greatest design thinkers have always been drawn to the greatest challenges". This chapter is about how challenging circumstances can be the most interesting to designers and how they solve the problems that are crucial to developing a society.

The old method of design thinking was to focus skills on the object in question. Brown hignlights that designers didnt focus on the user, how the product would be used, how it would be managed, and how it would support or disrupt cultural traditions.

Designers responded to problems in Nairobi and India, where they discovered that people didnt so much need money, but more the means to earn it. 

Brown says that one of the main benefits of seeking out extreme users is that inspiration can be gained from their passion, and it is not so much about designing for them. After working with the Aravind Eye Hospital in India, he commented that there is enormous potential from working under extreme constraints.

Designing for the poor begins and ends with a focus on cost, and every detail must be designed to be no more expensive than necessary. The point is to design products in an integrated manner so that low cost, entry level offerings create wealth quickly for customers. This business model is being applied a lot in the developing world, to mobile computing, communications services, clean water delivery, rural healthcare and affordable housing. These examples examine success not by profit but by social impact. This idea of working with extreme users, where constraints are unforgiving and the cost of failure is high is not just a social one. it may be how we spot opportunities that have a social relevance.

In the western world, design thinking can help to improve the efficiency of health care and can be used to explore divergent alternatives where needed. This can be done through using education, and bringing students from different fields of education together to design and solve problems. 

Brown highlights that if we are to build on one anothers good ideas, one of the key aspects of design thinking, we will need to focus on a finite set of problems.


Kelly & Kelly (2013) - introduction

Kelly & Kelly has come to see a set of misconceptions about creativity, known as "the creativity myth". It seems that people think that creativity is a fixed trait, whereas Kelly comments that everyone is creative. 

Creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you, the conviction that you can achieve what you set out to do. We think of creativity as the art of using your imagination to create something new in the world - it happens when you have the opportunity to generate new ideas.

Kelly & Kelly share an insight from the Dalai Lama's chief English Translator for more than 20 years, than there is not word in the Tibetan language for "creativity" - the closest translation is "natural". He is saying that in order to be more creative, you just need to be more natural. 

"Creativity isn't some rare gift to be enjoyed by the lucky few- its a natural part of human thinking and behaviour" (pg 6). Everyone has some sort of creativity in them, and it can be used to find innovative solutions to some of our most intractable problems.

When people forget about the fears that block their creativity, all sorts of new possibilities emerge, particularly when used in the context of innovation. 

"Creative confidence is a way of seeing that potential and your place in the world more clearly, unclouded by anxiety and doubt."


Wagner (2012) - introduction, ch 1, ch 2

According to Wagner (2012) economic and social challenges appear when countries lack creative skills needed for certain jobs. This means that careers based on innovation become off-shored, leaving counties to become dependent on consumer spending to fuel economic growth. This, however, is not a sustainable solution. Wagner informs the reader how a viable economy is one that will create jobs without polluting the planet. This may be easier said than done. But what has been agreed upon is the need for the economy to be based upon innovation. This notion, according to Wagner is all about bridging the gap between the problem and the solution, emphasising the need for creativity as problem solving without a creative element is not truly innovation. Therefore, we must develop the capacities of young people to be creative and entrepreneurial if this is to be possible.

If this happens major innovation can take place, resulting in people finding it hard to remember what life was like before, disputing the existing market and displacing formally dominant technologies e.g apple iPhones and iPads.

Furthermore Wagner identifies 7 survival skills he feels all students consequently need for their future careers. These include critical thinking and problem solving, entrepreneurship and curiosity. He comments that this list is necessary but not sufficient and doesn't include key qualities that he thinks are essential for design thinkers, like perseverance and empathy. He also questions how these innovation skills can be learned. Many assume that people are born creative but experts believe given the right environment and opportunities these skills can be unblocked in anyone.

Hal Gregerson talks about loss of creative capacity in a study he did with children who were 4 years old who he found to be constantly asking questions, and then again with the same children when they were 6 years old. At this age, the children seem to have lost this desire to ask questions because they are taught that there is only going to be one right answer.

Research by Wagner found that children who are the most innovative are the ones whose parents carefully monitor their screen time. He also discovered that thisalso have an extraordinary latent talent for and interest in innovation and entrepreneurship than any other generation in history. indeed when children are on the internet unlike in their daytime classrooms they act on their curiosity by researching and be able to teach themselves how to do certain things like blog, upload photos, make YouTube videos etc.

Annmarie Neal also believes that this generation are differently motivated, more flexible and tend to ask questions and using their connections in order to find the information. However the challenge is that this generation wants to have meaning in their work and have an immediate impact. this generation needs our guidance mentoring and support but our schools, places of work and habits of parenting need to encourage this generation to become more innovative.

http://creatinginnovators.com/

Wagner (2012) gives the example of Kirk Phelps, a high school and college drop out who's journey to where he is now, began when he was a child. He reflects on his childhood saying that study is not as important as knowing how to find the things you are interested in. Kirk talks about how his parents supported him and how it doesn't matter how he got there, it matters that he is doing what he is interested in now. His parents allowed him to choose what he was interested in by sending him to a variety of activities and picking what he liked best. Phelp's parents also gave him the opportunity to read about many creative thinkers and did not force him to stay in a school where he was not enjoying learning. The curriculum for Kirk was restricting and did not allow for innovation or for him to be challenged. They supported his unconventional and risky decisions with regards to education, not forcing him to do what they wanted or any other parent would have expected. Kirk's parents encouraged outdoor play and free reading time, to create a contrast from their restrictive, structured experiences in school. They were adamant that their children should take part in unstructured play, as they learn for themselves and use their creativity to entertain themselves. However, Kirk's parents did not simply tell there children to 'go and play' but took part, seeing play as a time to spend together as a family. These opportunities meant that Kirk was encouraged to think further than the academic constraints of a classroom and focus on the process of discovering his interests. It was then that he discovered that he wanted to be an engineer and create products that people could hold and use. It was not the theory or content of his college degree that inspired him but the team work involved in building something new.  He saw how he could add value to the process without being the smartest or most skillful person in the room.

Wagner through this example, shows how child's play can be transformed into adolescent passion and then adult purpose. In the example, Kirk's parents did not find out what he was interested in and push him towards a career,instead they focused on Kirk exploring for himself.

Kirk then became a part of the first iPhone team at Apple. He uses design thinking to go to vendors and push them to do more than they think they can, by telling them how they can do it, and using creativity to come up with solutions. Kirk comments that it was his teachers that had the real influences on his life as a young innovator. These teachers incorporated elements of competition and play in their approach to teaching and found that this made it a lot more motivational. One professor called Ed Carryer that Wagner (2012) interviews places a great importance on empowering his students. He says, "empowerment means students can go out and apply what they've learned to the problems that they've never seen before with parts that they've never used before". Ed gives a good insight into how much value hands-on projects where students have to solve real problems and learn to draw upon their academic knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve a problem. Wagner (2012) noted that it was striking to him how when Ed empowered his students he was doing two things: teaching skills by giving them experience in solving problems, and developing their self confidence. Wagner (2012) assumes that the culture of a classroom - the values, beliefs and behaviours - is what surrounds the three requirements for innovation (expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation.

Kelly & Kelly (2013) - ch 2

Bandura's work on 'self efficacy' can validate that doubts in ones creative ability can be cured by guiding people through a series of small successes, it is closely related to what Kelly & Kelly call creative confidence. The fear of failure is the biggest obstacle people face to creative success.

"The surprising, compelling mathematics of innovation: if you want more success, you have to be prepared to shrug off more failure" pg 41

Kelly & Kelly find that building confidence through experience, like Bandura's theories, encourages more action in the future, which further bolsters confidence.

"The inescapable link between failure and innovation is a lesson you an only learnt rhough doing." pg 44. If you start with failure, and address the fear of failure, the activity becomes a lot easier, and therefore brings more confidence. Creative confidence asks that we overcome fear, and allow ourselves to make mistakes so that we can learn from them.

Even after you overcome this fear of failure, you need to keep practicing and stretching yourself. "Your creative abilities will grow and strengthen with practice" pg 48.


Wagner (2012) - ch 5

"Another obstacle to educating innovators in universities is the lack of respect for disciplinary inquiry, practical knowledge and applied knowledge." p189

A new business school in Finland has taken a different approach to innovating learning. Students, instead of attending classes or lectures, are assigned teams and are coached by entrepreneurs and innovators. Graduates of this school went on to have very high employment rates and have turned out a lot of successful projects.

"Education for innovation must be constructed consciously and needs to cultivate the capabilities for collaboration, multidisciplinary inquiry, trial and error, and the creation of new ideas, products and services." p201

Kelly & Kelly (2013) - ch 4

When Ankit and Akshay looked back at their work on Pulse, some things stood out as what they did right. They started with a 'do something' mindset, necessary when wanting to be innovative. They started interacting with consumers straight away, minimising planning and maximising action. They also thrived in spite of their time constraint, showing that short projects can often bring the best results. These elements highlight how important action and iteration are to innovation and creativity.

"Innovation is all about quickly turning ideas into action"

"The most effective way i've found to practice design thinking is by showing, not telling." - John Keefe

To get something done, you need to stop trying and actually do it now. Often people are in the mindset that today is for attempts, and that the real action will happen at some point in the future.

Constraints can be good. They can spur creativity and incite action, as long as you have the confidence to embrace them.

Some ways to use constraints effectively;
1. tackle a 'doable' piece of the problem
2. narrow the goal
3. create a milestone


Darso - Chapter 6
Darso says that for most companies their solution to being more innovative is to have a specific department for innovation activities and new business development. These are the only people who are required to be innovative, but what would happen if the other people in the company were given the chance to be innovative? Would they unknowingly have the skills for this? Darso therefore suggests that all companies should have training to develop leadership and create environments for supporting the innovative skills of their employees.

"Innovation competency is defined as the ability to create innovation by navigating together with others under complex conditions"

It entails a foundation of general knowledge about innovation, an ability to define innovation, knowing examples of innovation within your own company and others, and knowledge of innovation processes. However, innovation cannot be developed through theory alone, direct experience and practice are also important.

The diamond model - the four parameters of this consist of concepts, knowledge, relations and ignorance. There are relationships between all of these which darso outlines. One that I found interesting was the dynamic between relations and concepts. these are both ingredients of communication and involve the intangible bonds between people.