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October 21, 2007

Best Innovation Article ever

I loved this posting on getting real about innovation (my favourite topic). (Thanks Jane for pointing me to it.) It's another on my must read again and often list.

Propositions about innovation and change
Oct 18th, 2007 by Jack Martin Leith

Here's his list. Read the rest of the test and the comments too.

"At the beginning of January 2002 I wrote down some of my recurring thoughts about innovation and change, and these became the set of propositions that you see below. By sharing the propositions with you, I hope to stimulate your thinking, perhaps challenge some of your deeply-held beliefs, and maybe even generate some interest in my work, which is helping people think up ground-breaking ideas and bring them to life."

Here are the 33 propositions that can shake up your thinking and give encouragement.

Proposition 1: Replace desired future with desired present

Proposition 2: Realise that change is not a journey

Proposition 3: Only solve problems that can be solved

Proposition 4: Employ minimalist interventions

Proposition 5: Recognise the four genres of value creation activity

Proposition 6: Maximise stakeholder value

Proposition 7: Upgrade your worldview

Proposition 8: Innovators need motivators and enablers

Proposition 9: Be the innovation you wish to see

Proposition 10: Conversations, not messages

Proposition 11: Find the secondary idea

Proposition 12: Accept that innovation cannot be engineered

Proposition 13: Try it out as soon as you can

Proposition 14: Include everyone right from the start

Propsition 15: Ideas need godparents

Proposition 16A: Recognise the invisible world

Proposition 16: If we want our now-to-new work to be inspired and great, we must learn how to

Proposition 16B: Harness the invisible forces

Proposition 17: Accept that Worldview 3 cannot be defined

Proposition 18: Drop the idea of resistance to change

Proposition 19: Get co-creating

Proposition 20: Replace buy-in with join-in

Proposition 21: Express your highest purpose

Proposition 22: Discover what makes people’s hearts sink and sing

Proposition 23: Liberate people’s passion

Proposition 24: Make good use of people’s wisdom

Proposition 25: Speak from the heart

Proposition 26: Find out what works and do more of it

Proposition 27: Let go and move on

Proposition 28: Enable constant revitalisation

Proposition 29: Break the collusion of mediocrity

Proposition 30: Presence before process

Proposition 31: There is a new profession, as yet unnamed

Proposition 32: Making a decision is an intuitive act

Proposition 33: Move beyond the concept of cause and effect


I found this article very engaging and challenging.

Hmmmm. Change is not a journey...? Discuss.

Stephen

Posted by stephen at October 21, 2007 7:44 AM

Comments

Stephen, I'm blushing. Thank you so much for this. Re. "Change is not a journey": This metaphor is so strongly embedded in our language that it's easy to forget that it's just a metaphor. There are many other metaphors of change. Change is like a kaleidoscope. Change is like gardening. Change is like a butterfly flapping its wings. Change is like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. And so on. Each metaphor has its limitations. For example, in the "change is a journey" metaphor, if you think of the future as a place, then you can kid yourself that it's possible to create a map. But there are no maps for "getting to" the future ("to" = spatial metaphor). And if the "destination" seems to be "a long way away", then it follows that the journey will be a long - and possibly arduous - one. Whereas change is often quick. This is the beauty of the kaleidoscope metaphor. The change from Pattern A to Pattern B happens with a nudge of the cylinder. Pattern B bears no relation to Pattern A. And there's no way of returning to Pattern A. Those whose change work is based on this metaphor design small nudges - what James Wilk (http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/members/jwilk) calls minimalist interventions - rather than change programmes. I’m interested to hear what you and others make of all this. In the meantime, thank you again for your encouraging words. Jack

Posted by: Jack Martin Leith at October 26, 2007 11:37 AM