Thought Innovations
Susan Littlefield
Thought Innovations
OMM 612
Managing in Social Change
Final Assignment
February 27, 2012
Abstract
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change,” (Harris, 2011). This is what Charles Darwin wrote over 150 years ago and he knew that change was inevitable and it is up to each of us to decide how we respond to that change, new thought innovations is something that we can fear or that we can be open to new suggestions. Albert Einstein speaks to the fact that "Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else has ever thought" (Bercovitz, 2012). “Being an innovative thinker means you have a mind that does not quite work like the logical, down-to-earth mind that the majority of people have” (The Self Improvement Buffs, 2012). People who are innovative thinkers have to take risks, there is no special IQ standard that is set for someone, and failure is a large part of innovation process because it could lead to the next greatest idea. It is part of the learning process and people who enjoy chaos will be able to brainstorm and come up with great ideas because this is not a very structured process (The Self Improvement Buffs, 2012).
Thought Innovations
Creativity and Innovation
“Creativity is the mental and social process-fuelled by conscious and unconscious insight of generating ideas, concepts and associations” (Serrat, 2009). Innovation and creativity go hand and hand, it is like a missing spoke from a bicycle wheel it would not work properly if one of the spokes were missing so in order for innovation to take place we must have creative thinkers who will apply their ideas, thoughts, and daydreams. “Innovative thinking is thinking that goes beyond what you can see, it is imaginative, it is the ability to look beyond the obvious, it is creative and it is different, and an innovative thinker can look at something ordinary and see the extraordinary” (The Self Improvement Buffs, 2012). Working in networks to come up with innovative ideas allows people in the group to use creative thinking skills, the explorer has to be familiar with the idea so a certain level of direct expertise is needed, people need an inquiring mind- to see something that is old and figure out how to improve it and companies need to be supportive to maintain an innovative environment (Coffman, 2012).
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is, in short, self-awareness of “how you are thinking while you are in the process of thinking” (Heindl, 2009). Here is a list to think about that will help guide someone who is taking on a new project or trying to come up with an innovative idea to be shared with co-workers and their company. It is important to also implement the ideas that are being thought up and here are some tips from The Self Improvement Buffs:
*Being able to look at something in a new way
*Being able to look at what others have done and see a need for improvement
*Being able to weed through piles of information to get to the good stuff
*Being committed- A person who does not give up will be this
Consider This
People who ask questions like why can take the lead of children and be inquisitive, compare things and try to see how it can become more useful and think about what you want to do but that you do not have now (The Self Improvement Buffs, 2012). Some other advice that they offer are:
*Do allow yourself to get silly
*Do let your mind wander
*Do question everything
*Do try new things
*Do let your inner child take over
Some suggestions The Self Improvement Buffs offer include day dreaming, free writing, playing with clay because it is something relaxing and that can be done easily and your mind turns off from your other work and it may allow an innovative thought to creep into your mind when not really thinking about it. Some people like me get creative thoughts while driving in their cars, I have actually driven by places that I intended to go because I was thinking about something so much that I got distracted and ended up having to turn around. Innovative thinking is powerful, passionate, creative, amazing and a skill. The Self Improvement Buffs really have got me thinking about how to be a better writer and I get to create as story for my audience and hope that the information I have provided will be entertaining and not to overwhelming.
Self-Awareness
Adkar methodology was created by Prosci Research back in the nineties it is a five step acronym for Awareness - of the need to change, Desire - to participate and support the change, Knowledge of how and what the change looks like, Ability to implement it on a day-to-day basis and finally Reinforcement to keep the change in place (Hobcraft, 2012). People who are more open to change will succeed better than those who prefer to do the same task in the same manner as always, it does have to do with a certain amount risk that someone is taking when coming up with a thought innovation. “Humans get entrenched in their ways of working … and don’t like change. In yesterday’s relatively stable world, workers were trained to become very efficient in performing prescribed tasks. The worker’s mindset was to master a routine. Today, workers must respond to change and emerging opportunities with a mindset to master the process of changing the routine” (Heindl, 2009). So through self-awareness one can know that although there has been a certain pattern of thought about how to do tasks, if the chance for a new thought innovation is given it might be easier for that person to think that it is OK to try something new even though it may feel uncomfortable. Innovation needs to happen in a supportive environment for people to speak up about something that he or she would like to change, it could be as simple as how does one sign in the morning for work, do I check in with the receptionist and say “good morning” or do I go to swipe my badge in a plastic reader?
Innovation and Technology
Today we can communicate with others all around the world very quickly, people who use Facebook can make a post and wait for a friend to respond to that post, usually what happens is other people will post or comment on that idea or thought. We can talk to our friends by using the internet, this could be someone we typically would not pick up and call during the day but saying a quick hello or sharing a thought always brightens my day. People can post photo’s so that everyone can see them, people can express a thought, one of my friends is a fitness motivational speaker and she posts notes everyday on Facebook and she has even posted pictures from going out to eat and the grocery store, so fun information can be passed very quickly to a wide audience. UTube videos can be seen of our favorite singers, we can download movies or TV shows that we have missed for the week so it allows one to catch up, we can click on a link or go to a search engine and come up with all kinds of sources for our school papers. Online education is becoming popular with students because one can wake up and hop on their computer and getting working on assignments and there is no driving to a campus where parking may take 20-30 minutes to find. People get excited about learning new things and taking that excitement back to work really helps for others to become motivated to go back to school as well.
Innovative Environment
Olivier Serrat wrote an article called, ‘Harnessing Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace’, he is the Head of the Knowledge Management Center for the Asian Development Bank in Manila, and I really enjoyed this article because it provides suggestions on how to create an innovative environment. “An organizational culture that values innovation, where there is encouragement for personnel to think differently, take calculated risk and challenge the status quo” (Serrat, 2009). Companies will have to let their staff know that maintaining an innovative environment is their goal and that they will stand behind their workers and mistakes would be considered as a learning tool. Serrat suggests that, “An enriched physical workplace that enhances creativity by providing accessible, casual meeting spots, physical stimuli” (plants, pretty colors for walls and photo’s that are inspiring, comfortable couches or chairs) “space for quiet reflection, a variety of communication tools like white boards, bulletin boards, contact spaces for clients, audiences, partners and room for individual expression” (Serrat, 2009). I always thought that company’s should have a quiet room with comfortable recliners or couches which would not be a break room but a nice quiet place to take a nap or listen to music on an IPOD.
People need a place at work that he or she can go to get away from it all or just mainly their desk and I know that after I have been in a quiet space some of my best ideas come to my mind. Innovation happens when people feel safe, take breaks, are respected by their managers Serrat states that, “creative thinking cannot be turned on and off at the flick of a switch and that innovation does not occur in a vacuum” (Serrat, 2009). When people take a break and go out for a walk with others from their team, new ideas can be brainstormed in a casual environment one that is familiar to the members of the group but also providing a healthy active break instead of heading for the break room to grab junk food. “Creativity flourishes in environments that support ideas: these organizations create environments that inspire personnel and maintain innovative workplaces, those that fail are large organizations that stifle creativity with rules that provide no slack for change” (Serrat, 2009). People put their thoughts and feelings out there to an audience of their coworkers and no one wants to be rejected so being a risk taker and taking whatever advice is given is great but having an innovative environment means respecting others thoughts and ideas not just being critical.
Working in Networks
People who work in networks as opposed to the top down approach are connected to the group because they generate their own ideas, conduct experiments, document their results and they get the work done in spite of the system of command (Coffman, 2012). In a network if someone comes up with an idea for innovation, others will be able to see it because it can easily be transferred by using the internet and email, people in a network can stay connected with each other and because of technology they do not have to be in the same office together although some companies have a special intranet where people in the company can only email each other and the list of employees is confidential to the outside world. In and innovation culture, the network is embedded into everyone’s daily work: to stimulate the generation of ideas, the testing of these ideas and the sharing of the results of these tests, people in this culture strives for success and learns from failures by documenting them and hearing them from others (Coffman, 2012). This is a very interesting concept because with a top down approach the ideas remain at the top with the higher ups, in network groups people learn to trust each other and participate in five different activities: exploring, trying, testing, exchanging and documenting (Coffman, 2012).
Innovative thinking is so powerful that it can change the way you look at people, it can change the world around you and it can change you and innovative thinking can be used in every aspect of your life (The Self Improvement Buffs, 2012). People who use creativity will look at new ideas as something that is welcome and not to be fearful of, some people just like to do the same thing over and over again but not the innovator. Whether your idea or notion is big or small it does not matter, suggesting a new way to do things at work takes time for them to be implemented so it may be easier to start small and have many areas of suggestions that come off one main idea. Even encouraging people to discuss their thoughts and feelings will allow group members to brainstorm and come up with their own ideas. Trust is an important factor and having an innovative environment where people will not be taken for granted but praised for their ideas and implementing them, others will see that the ideas are good and will be inspired to make changes in how they think or attempt to do things.
References
Bercovitz, A. (2012, February 27). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.einsteinalive.com/quotes/
Coffman, B. (2012, February 27). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.innovationtools.com/pdf/Building_the_Innovation_Culture.pdf
Harris, D. (2011, November 15). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.positivelypositive.com/2011/11/15/embrace-change-to-realize-your-full-potential/
Hobcraft, P. (2012, February 3). [Web log message]. Retrieved from
Serrat, O. (2009, September 1). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.adb.org/documents/information/knowledge
The Self Improvement Buffs. (2012, February 27). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.alliesconsulting.com/downloads/innovative-thinking.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment