Innovation is the hot topic in many arenas: politics, economics, business and not the least, our own cultural field. Financial Times writer Philip Delves Broughton (former and now part-time journalist, fiction writer and somewhat regretful Harvard MBA) reviews Michael Raynor's The Innovator’s Manifesto. The author notes leading thinking on innovation has cleaved (emphasis mine): On one side are those who embrace the ideas of collaborative consumption and fast failure, who argue that innovators need to experiment with their potential … [Read more...]
Creativity! Innovation! Right Brain! I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? Or, why we desire but reject creative ideas.
The gents at Freakonomics point to a fascinating study - and paradox: The irony is that as a society, we’re constantly talking about how much we value creativity. And yet, the study implies that our minds are biased against it because of the very nature of its novelty. Going forward, perhaps it’s not that we need to get better at producing creative ideas, but at learning how to accept them. Freakonomics » Why We Desire But Reject Creative Ideas The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas. (original study) … [Read more...]
St. Stevens Day, or, How Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator’s Dilemma
At the risk of piling on the beatification bandwagon, an interesting post from the good folks at Harvard Business Review. The author argues that Jobs solved (Clayton Christensen’s) Innovator's Dilemma upon returning from the wilderness, citing the radical changes he made at Apple. You know the ending: the case of Jobs and Apple is an excellent illustration of the difficulty, rarity and reward of “solving the dilemma.” I was equally struck, however, by some of the language employed. He notes (emphasis mine): Apple talks a lot about its … [Read more...]
Finding Your Funding Model
In a follow up to their 2009 article 'Ten Nonprofit Funding Models,' Peter Kim, Gail Perreault and William Foster of the Bridgespan Group argue organizations often have a clearer vision of what their programs will be in five years than of the funding that will support them. They offer a road map for leaders seeking to develop appropriate funding models for their organizations: Getting a deep understanding of one’s own fundraising approach and history, learning from peers, tallying the likely costs of change and weighing them against expected … [Read more...]
The Innovator’s DNA, or More Disruption
From Clay Christensen and friends, of Innovator's Dilemma fame. In a new book, Christensen and coauthors Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen investigate what characterizes innovative individuals and how these traits transfer to the organization. Five habits of mind...characterise disruptive innovators: associating, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting. Innovators excel at connecting seemingly unconnected things...companies that have the highest “innovation premiums”...display the same five habits of mind as individual innovators. … [Read more...]
Who Is Governing Whom? Senior Managers, Governance and the Structure of Generosity in Large U.S. Firms
Interesting new research from Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee at Harvard Business School on key structural drivers of corporate philanthropy: gender of senior managers, CEO tenure and board structure all have an impact on a firm's generosity...and you may find some of them counter-intuitive. Corporate philanthropy is highest in corporations with new CEOs, and decreases with the length of CEO tenure. The greater the proportion of female senior managers in a company, the greater the corporate philanthropic contributions will … [Read more...]
A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Making Complex Decisions
Giving our minds time to process information when not consciously focused on the decision facing us can result in better outcomes, especially for more complex decisions. A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Making Complex Decisions - Harvard Business Review … [Read more...]
Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide
Creativity is not a trait reserved for the lucky few. By immersing your people in unexpected environments, confronting ingrained orthodoxies, using analogies, and challenging your organization to overcome difficult constraints, you can dramatically boost their creative output—and your own. Of greatest interest are 'create constraints' paragraph ending article (natch) and sidebar on technology with Ray Kurzweil. Imposing artificial constraints (not unrelated to scenario planning) can be an especially powerful tool given the nature of change … [Read more...]
A New Type of Hybrid
In an article in the Spring 2011 Stanford Social Innovation Review, the author (an attorney) explores the shortcomings for the social entrepreneur of traditional commercial and non-profit models. He is quick to point that hybrids are nothing new and examines relevant facets of many existing models: B corporation, benefit corporation and low-profit limited liability company (L3C). Of note is that the models are all accorded different levels of recognition by Federal and state authorities and one (B corporation) isn't a legal status at all, but … [Read more...]
“That’s the Way We (Used to) Do Things Around Here”
In an interesting article in Strategy + Business, the authors explore the cognitive barriers at the individual level to change and suggest a more effective way to work with the brain's wiring rather than against it. And have no fear: mind control is really not on the menu, it's mostly benevolent. With a little knowledge of neuroscience, reframing behavior can be the essence of organizational change...New behaviors can be put in place, but only by reframing attitudes that are so entrenched that they are almost literally embedded in the … [Read more...]
Business has much to learn from the arts
A wry, brief paean to the arts and what the world of business has to learn from them. Many businesspeople, for their part, assume that artists are a bunch of pretentious wastrels. Bosses may stick a few modernist daubs on their boardroom walls. They may go on corporate jollies to the opera. They may even write the odd cheque to support their wives’ bearded friends. But they seldom take the arts seriously as a source of inspiration. Studying the arts can...help companies learn how to manage bright people. Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones of the … [Read more...]
Disrupting College
Clay Christensen and his team at Innosight Institute apply Christensen's model of disruptive innovation to higher education. It is a compelling presentation of the systematic barriers that keep the higher education sector from meeting its mission, the role that online learning technology and new providers are playing in changing the sector, and the way the business models of established institutions stop them from responding effectively. So why do we care in the arts and culture sector? I see powerful similarities between the structural issues … [Read more...]
Stop Blaming Your Culture
An article of interest on an-oft used whipping boy for failed change efforts. The authors argue one is most likely to succeed using an organization's existing culture to help change behaviors in the shorter-term. These behaviors can in turn change the culture in the longer run. When a new leader’s strategy puts the culture of a company at risk, the culture will trump the strategy, almost every time. There are good reasons for this. Every company’s identity — the body of capabilities and practices that distinguish it and make it effective — … [Read more...]
The Lowdown on Arts Downloading
Further adventures in the arts - online and in HD. Not the digital arts, but the performing arts. Is your organization making its performances available outside your 'regular' venues? Do you think this will bring new audiences into your venue...or just let them see your work from afar? The Lowdown on Arts Downloading - WSJ.com. … [Read more...]
Time to lose control
An interesting piece in The Art Newspaper on art museums' recalcitrance - as a field - in embracing all things digital. This reluctance is ascribed in part to museums' inherent conservatism and object-oriented practice. Not a Cassandra, the author's tone is hopeful and catalogs progress made by several museums and commercial galleries. Museums have a long history of exercising total command over their content. That’s over. “Museums in the future will still be reliable sources of information, and a curator will continue to be the authority on a … [Read more...]