| News on Creativity and Innovation related
topics | |
 December 2007
| | |
News
 The domain Creative4business.com.mx has been
acquired for use in mexico and Latin America. Currently it
points to the UK site but a dedicated site in Spanish will be
created in the New Year. For the time being, details of my Mexican
partners can be found on the UK site
also. The 'rough and ready' survey of the major
barriers to creativity within organisations is still located
on my Home Page. If you currently work, or have
worked for an organisation then I would appreciate it if you
could take the time to click on two
buttons. | |
|
Dear Reader,
 Welcome
to the December 2007 edition of Innovation Matters,
the last edition of the year. A lot has happened in
2007, I have been in Mexico twice,
covered myself in finger paint and acquired a young nephew. It
has not all been plain sailing but nothing disastrous has
happened and it has given me plenty to write about.
Some readers will have heard of Change This, a concept
created by Seth Godin and carried on by a
dedicated group of people in the USA. People are asked to
submit proposals for manifestos (articles) and those selected
are professionally edited and published electronically. I was
fortunate to have mine published in November. If you would
like to download or read my manifesto on Slow
Innovation then please click on the link.
As always there are articles which I hope will give you
some food for thought and with Christmas coming soon
there are the usual end of year trivia.
I wish all
my readers scattered around the world a Merry Christmas and a
very prosperous 2008.
Happy reading Derek Cheshire
| |
 The
Confusion of Innovation
On my travels I talk to a number of people who claim that
they just don't 'get innovation'. Holistic, whole company
Innovation is an abstract concept but how complicated is it?
The answer may be more puzzling than you think.
First
of all let us consider a simple Innovation project. Typically
it consists of a number of steps from inception through,
audit, idea generation and prototyping to roll out. Add some
project management and knowledge transfer activities and you
have it nailed. So far so good, although you may question what
these steps actually are.
Now we are ready to consider
continuous Innovation. Imagine all your Innovation steps
neatly drawn out onto a Gantt chart and then wrap them around
on themselves so that your nice straight lines become a series
of concentric circles. This is but a snapshot in time so now
add the time dimension. Imagine your circles turned on their
side like a series of disks and then add time by moving the
disks from left to right. You should now be looking at a
series of concentric cylinders.
Now many companies
will have several ongoing Innovation initiatives, all at
different stages and involving different people so consider
all of your innovation projects in the manner described above
- several sets of concentric cylinders all moving at varying
rates and requiring management and resources. Would this
convince you that your organisation, and especially your
managers, need some assistance in getting to grips with the
situation? |
 Resources
for Creativity
There are many
hits to my website from people searching for 'resources for
creativity'. Goodness knows what they are actually looking
for. Some may be looking for resources for training and
workshops but many appear to be looking for a list of tools
and materials that are mandatory or desirable for getting
Creativity into an organisation.
So what is the answer
to the question 'What do I need to be creative?' For a perfect
creative situation the answer is that you need absolutely
nothing as any resources can be created from scratch. The real
truth is that organisations are not patient and do like to get
a head start. Also the mix of human resources may not be ideal
so here is the list that you need:
- External stimulus or facilitation
- An agreed set of objectives
- Internal champions/creative catalysts
- An initial embryonic framework for promoting creativity
- Time and space for employees to be creative
- Enlightened managers who will actively 'un
manage' creativity
- A light touch audit method
- A simple but effective library of techniques that
individuals can use
- A method of capturing, storing and retrieving ideas and
feedback
Seeing the above list you may be tempted
to 'go it alone' and some may find that they succeed however
the following should be borne in mind:
- Internally led idea generation initiatives often fail or
do not deliver as expected
- Externally led idea generation initiatives often fail or
do not deliver as expected
- Simply running creativity training courses will have no
beneficial effect on your bottom line
- Leaving creativity and innovation solely in the hand of
your HR department will often consign them to the
wilderness
The moral is to get some good advice,
target your scarce resources and do not commit to anyone who
wishes you to create a long lasting dependency on them.
|
 2007 End of year
trivia
Each year the folks at NORAD, the
North american Air Defence organisation provide a little fun
with their Santa tracking website. It really is quite fun to
sit for a while at your computer on Christmas Eve/Day
(depending on your time zone) and watch Santa's progress. You
will have to get ready in advance so visit the Norad Santa site in
advance to see what you need to do.
At Christmas
there are many people who imbibe a little too much and there
speech becomes unintelligible. There are also many individuals
and organisations whoe communications are gobbledegook at the
best of times. Here are some
cases highlighted by the Campaign for Clear English:
From the British Airports Authority - "Passenger shoe
repatriation area only"
Plain English Campaign translation: Get your shoes
back here.
From Fastway Couriers - "The Carrier shall not be liable
for injury or damage to or destruction or loss of the Goods or
any other property arising out of or incidental to or in
connection with or occurring during the provision of the
Services or for the mis-delivery or non-delivery of the Goods
and whether or not caused or contributed to by the default
(including negligence) of the Carrier or any agent, servant or
officer of the Carrier or any other person entitled to the
benefit of these conditions."
Plain English Campaign translation: If anything
happens, it's not our fault.
From Translink Railways - "Every Autumn a combination of
leaves on the line, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp
conditions lead to a low adhesion between the rail head and
the wheel which causes services to be delayed or even
cancelled. NI Railways are committed to minimising service
delays, where we can, by implementing a comprehensive low
adhesion action programme."
Plain English Campaign translation: We'll really try
not to cancel any more trains.
And finally, have you ever thought what would have
happened if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three
Wise Men?They would have:
- Asked for directions
- Arrived on time
- Helped deliver the baby
- Cleaned the stable
- Cooked a meal
- Bought practical gifts
- Made sure there WAS peace on earth
|
|
| |
