A great book to read is The Medici Effect, which provides a unique way of looking at a situation from a foreign perspective and finding the best way to find an innovative solution.
Author Frans Johansson eloquently offers a perspective that “when you step into an intersection of fields, disciplines, or cultures, that you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary ideas.” His thesis is that our odds increase at sourcing innovation when we are no longer focused on concepts within the field - but are generating ideas that leap in new directions.
He calls this result - the “Medici Effect” - after the Renaissance creativity in 15th Century Italy that followed the funding by the Medici banking family. Examples he cites in his book include - Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins finding an intersection point when he connected the field of genetic evolution with that of cultural evolution - suggesting that ideas - the building blocks of our culture evolve and propagate like genes. He called these building blocks “memes” and that notion is today the base for marketing strategies seeking to ignite fads that might spread like viruses through a population of minds.
The book is a helpful reminder of the brilliant work of Edward de Bono which reinforces the importance of thinking from different perspectives in striving to solve a problem. The value of divergent thinking and a strong willingness to break down associative barriers - reverse assumptions - and allow your mind to view a situation from a completely different perspective - clearing the path to an intersection are critical leadership skills for executives to master to be successful in the idea economy.
The most competitive advantage will be driven from the collaborative capabilities of a organization’s workforce to over come the difficulty of mobilizing new ideas and taking the risks to help ensure they are successful.
The power of new ideas to drive a business forward have been referred to as “lightening in a bottle”by David Minter and Michael Reid in their book on innovation generation capabilities. They look at how to develop ideas for new products, services and market programs. I did not find any major new insights in reading this book but it did serve as a strong affirmation of wise perspectives. Practical insights like - Less Ideas are More - the point being large organizations can only execute a few large change initiatives at a time, and for smaller organizations - going beyond one can be a major risk given scarce resources. Less People is More - Focusing talent to go from concept to execution without complexity is a key message and from my own experiences in complex change programs - less is for sure more. The other reminder is Less Words is More — Shooting for the Post it Size ideas - short and simple with three second messaging - is a good tenant but at the same time - dumbing things down to such a low level message may also not stir the soul. There is always a balance - but getting the order to being to execute a new idea is always the prize we are striving for.
In summary, Great Ideas Meet Great Ideas at the place most cannot see the new pattern. This is why the power of disruptive innovation is so top of mind to CEO’s around the world. Unfortunately innovation is not something that can be bottled up, or found in how to cook books — more organizations need to focus on the health of their organizational culture which is the soul bed of nurturing curiousity, taking risks, and appreciating diversity in all its rich forms.
Innovation Farming is a lot of very hard work and it simply starts with sowing great talent and helping them all strive to be the best they can truly be.