Innovation at the Intersections: Many-To-Many Connections

Timothy Chester identified in his blog The Accidental CIO that the nature of collaboration has shifted, it has shifted from one-to-many exchanges to many-to-many exchanges (Chester, MOOCs, 2013). The examples used for one-to-many was the traditional classroom setting in which the teacher presents knowledge to students. In the corporate setting the same could be said of certain hierarchical levels in which the upper levels dictate to the lower levels.

Competing in this complex environment requires new knowledge, innovative ideas, and exchanges that take place within the organization as well as outside of an organization. In their blog on Social Capital, TNT - The Network Thinkers discussed this same idea in the framework of social capital: “Creating competitive context requires social capital - the ability to find, utilize and combine the skills, knowledge and experiences of others, inside and outside of your organization” (Social Capital). Having the ability to utilize and find knowledge requires many-to-many exchanges.

As explained by TNT - The Network Thinkers, “Innovation happens at the intersections” (Social Capital). The intersections refer to the numerous connections made between the many, as opposed to the intersections in a one-to-many connection. You can see that more connections are possible in a many-to-many connection compared to a one-to-many connection. As these connections increase the number of intersections increase, and the potential for new knowledge and innovative ideas grow exponentially.

Expand your current network so that you are taking full advantage of the many-to-many connections rather than utilizing the one-to-many connections. To do this TNT - The Network Thinkers offer some steps to take in their article Community Networks. First, identify your current structure. Know where there are gaps, bridges, linchpins, and identify who is the core of the network and who is in the periphery (Community Networks). Secondly, begin closing the gaps by inviting and including all members within the network to contribute.

References:

Chester, T. (January 18, 2013). Why MOOCs are like Farmville. The Accidental CIO. Retrieved from www.accidentalcio.com/2013/01/why-moocs-are-like-farmville-html

Community Networks (October, 12, 2012). TNT-The Network Thinkers. Retrieved from www.thenetworkthinkers.com/2012/10/community-networks.html

Social Capital: the key to success in the connected age (July, 04, 2012). TNT-The Network Thinkers. Retrieved from www.thenetworkthinkers.com/2012/07/social-capital-key-to-success-in.html

Innovation - Organization and Human Resources

Traditionally, organizations designed their training and transfer of knowledge to their employees on an as-needed basis, or what management thought was needed for their employees.  This type of system has become to be known as a 'push' system, directions coming from the top-down.  As organizations are experiencing globalization, more complex working environments with an ever-expanding resource of information, they are being forced to adjust to what is termed a 'pull' system (Hagel III, Brown, & Davison, 2010), representing a flatter organizational hierarchical structure.  

This age of complexity has also been referred to as the knowledge economy (macro), or the knowledge organization (micro) as termed by Drucker (2007). This knowledge organization is designed to focus more on contribution rather than on power, is structured according to the flow of information, and is multidimensional - breaking traditional organizational silos (Drucker, 2007). 

With a flatter organizational hierarchy structure the organization fosters innovation from both top-down and bottom-up communications.  To better foster innovation from the bottom-up communication chain McFadzean (1999) recommended the following to motivate employees to think creatively:

1. Motivate employees: reward employees for good practice.
2. Motivate think: give employees time to think about their own pet projects.
3. Motivate creative: train employees in how to think more creatively.
4. Employees creative: encourage the use of creative problem-solving techniques during meetings.

When conducting team and/or collaborative activities for innovation, Hunter et al. (as cited in McFadzean, 1999) offered the following guidelines:

1. Get to know the other people.
2. Be clear about the group purpose, values, ground rules and practices.
3. Contribute to discussions, group decision making and task allocation.
4. Share thoughts, ideas, feelings and concerns.
5. Listen generously to other people.
6. Speak concisely and to the point.
7. Maintain focus and ensure that the process will lead to the fulfillment of the meeting's goals.
8. Be proactive. Make suggestions, propose alternatives, look at what's missing in the discussion and add it.
9. Be flexible. Avoid taking a fixed position. 
10. Ensure that you understand the conversation that you are contributing to.
11. Do not avoid conflict. Disagreement and conflict are an important part of the development of the group.
12. Keep to the ground rules and encourage others to keep to them as well.
13. Fulfill the commitments that have been promised in the appropriate time frame.

Encouraging and fostering ideas from employees will be required more as the organizational hierarchy changes from a top-down structure to a more bottom-up structure.  Drucker (2007) described that innovation needs to come from "the places that control the human resources and the money… from the existing large aggregate of trained people and disposable money" (p. 152).  The guidelines presented above will assist with the human resources portion of innovation.  Innovation is an organization function, consisting of all employees, stakeholders, and shareholders. "The innovative organization manages to innovate as an organization, that is, as a human group organized for continual and productive innovation (Drucker, 2007, p. 154).

Reference:

Drucker, P. F. (2007). People and Performance: The Best of Peter Drucker on Management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Hagel III, J., Brown, J. S., & Davison, L. (2010). The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. New York, NY: Basic Books.

McFadzean, E. (1991). Encouraging creative thinking. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 20(7), 374-383. Retrieved from Emerald. 

America is Still Exceptional: As Long as Others are Copying Us

You hear some critics of Steve Jobs claim he didn't invent his creations, he only made someone else's creations better.  This may be so, up to a point, but it doesn't diminish Job's creativity, vision, and innovation.  Job's, and others at Apple, made the mouse better than what Xerox was able to do.  This collective innovation process, from Xerox to Apple, provided users with an interactive computer experience that changed the computing industry forever.  The rest is history, which has led to the Apple we know and love today.

Copying American innovations is a daily occurrence in some parts of the world.  Fletcher (2010) highlighted that "piracy has made China one of the world's most frustrating markets for software companies…. IDC estimated that 79% of the PC software installed in China last year was pirated" (p. 1).  Samsung has been accused of copying the Apple iPhone and iPad with their Galaxy line of products in which Apple filed a patent law suit against the company.  Apple claims that "Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging" (Fried, 2011). 

Online attacks that targeted a number of U.S. Corporations originated at two Chinese Universities: Jiaotong University and the Lanziang Vocational School (Packowski, 2010).  Sources are not clear on whether these attacks are government driven or rampant students just playing around on their computers.  Either way, the security of U.S. Corporations and their privacy has been violated.

The examples provided above are only a few of the copyright, piracy, hacking, security breaches, patent infringement, examples that can easily be found in newspapers on a daily basis.  These examples are clear evidence that America is still exceptional, still provides innovative products, and still provides a product desired from around the globe.  One question would have to be made: What if no one wanted to copy American products anymore?  What if everyone wanted to copy Chinese products, or Japanese products, or India's products instead?  The point is simple: American products are still clearly innovative and America is still Exceptional!

Moving into the future we need to consider what needs to be done to continue our technical and innovative advantage.  Are we producing an educated work force to operate in and to move beyond the Web 3.0 environment?  Are we leading the technology summits around the globe, or are we participants.  Where are most of the technology students coming from in the next 20 years (U.S., China, India, etc…)?  Where are the most innovated students coming from in the next 20 years?  Is America positioned to be the clear leader in innovation and new technological products for the next generation?

References

Fletcher, O. (October 26, 2010). Fighting China's pirates: Software makers try lower prices to lure users away from illegal copies.  Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704300604575554701758669106.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

Fried, I. (April 18, 2011). Apple files patent suit against Samsung over galaxy line of phones and tablets.  Retrieved from http://allthingsd.com/20110418/apple-files-patent-suit-against-samsung-over-galaxy-line-of-phones-and-tablets/

Paczkowski, J. (February 19, 2010). World war WAN: Google hack traced to schools in China.  Retrieved from http://allthingsd.com/20100219/google-hack-traced-to-schools-in-china/