Few companies organize to walk multiple paths to re-invent themselves.
Note : if you have a stimulated feeling of "Deja Vu", it is a fair statement, driven by re-formulation techniques
Innovation is also demonstrated in this step by step skills development and building up experience between different stories. It is innovating on innovation illustration by reformulation with language and images permutations for knowledge retention.
Few companies set up the environment for individuals to experiment the power of innovating within alternance of daily exercices and contests stimulations.
This lap is answering to the "center fo gravity" question number 4 of the MIX Innovating Innovation Challenge: how do you upgrade the innovation skills of every individual ?
We add an element to the question " ...and of groups and communities (considered as social bodies with own life and personality) ?"
The full set of drills is a comprehensive development plan by itself.
Lap 4 is a center of gravity in the sense it is adressing the awareness about innovation by itself.
We said in the root story that companies would benefit from innovation talent development that is multi-faceted and whose effectiveness – and innovativeness in itself – can be measured and mapped.
We present such a program in terms of a swimming “workout” consisting of 18 Laps. We use a water and swimming metaphor – because we believe that water and its ripple effects are apt for portraying the multi-dimensional process that is innovation. Each of the 18 Laps is an effort to learn how to apply levers to everyday activities in order to unlock innovation.
In the first laps of this story, we have seen how Freestyle John Linchpin, a veteran made his way in the innovation pool of the Essilor company.
What we did not covered yet is how he had been given the chance to upgrade his innovation skills in a sustainable way.
.And how it can be organized by design at a company level as an innovation skills development curriculum.
The story describes an enlightening perspective of collective mind exploration which is naturally fuel for mind simulation. Bringing the perspective of infrared goggles into play, quite useful to learn foresee unexpected black holes on the way and train swimmers for innovative reflex gestures.
This level is revealing how to help set the pool’s water at the right temperature for best workout’s performance. Preparing athletes to detect hot spots and new innovation opportunities
As for the other laps, this story describes several initiatives that have happened around the globe and more generally a reflexion on the innovation rise. Roles of sponsors and rewards schemes. Races in solos or in teams towards 1 same goal: nurturing new ideas with the inevitable hope of creating a new tomorrow.
We are talking a 20 years period. Laps are not chronologic. Lap 4 is taken every year within the eye of a storm.
Lap 4 is yet a dew point that will hopefully give birth to bigger drops and rolling water waves.
The Essilor company where the "pool" hosted this weird swimming workout has grown from 5 to 50 thousands employees in the time. Regional to global status.
Although this organization is considered innovative, no official program has been set up for such long distance and multi experience dive and innovation skills building and shaping.
The flash interview has been inspired by the Mix Challenge.
Real field experience is analyzed as a stand-alone testimony among a chain of 18 stories.
A recurrent quote is that the core trade basics require "5 years to learn how to float".
With few written materials in a time preceeding ISO certification programs, coulpled with a fast expanding company and individuals scopes, the guy interviewed rapidly understood that problems will come up quickly without any troubleshooting guide.
This was not about firefighting. Young recruits were feeling like scouting on a "Terra Incognita". Draft maps provided not representing the territory.
Many would prefer "18 holes" for a title and the story could lead through a nice golf course.
Especially our Mix Guru.
Appealing outdoor demanding exercise.Concentration and precision skills development drive.
Diversity in the landscape. Time for mind simulation and computation.
Sorry, the journey sounds quite more repetitive, breath-taking but for no gorgeous scenery.
Against the clock.And bouncing back on a wall.
Our recruit is describing his professional experience as a swimming workout.
This lap is answering to the "center fo gravity" question number 4 of the MIX Innovating Innovation Challenge: how do you upgrade the innovation skills of every individual ?
We add " ...and of groups and communities (considered as social bodies with own life and personality) ?"
The full set of drills is a comprehensive development plan by itself. About each stroke, technique, mind-set.
Lap 4 is a center of gravity in the sense it is adressing the awareness about innovation by itself. Something you could do as an introduction and warm-up.....or after some exercise and experience (like MBA programs do benefit pros already exposed to real business cases)
Through all laps (see other special drill files), we have seen how Freestyle John Linchpin made his way in the innovation pool of the company.
What we did not covered yet is how he had been given the chance to upgrade his innovation skills and how he will continue to upgrade these skills in the near future.And how it can be done at a company level as a designed innovation skills development curriculum.
In our case, two main methods are used to stimulate innovation skills of the individuals.
The first one is a challenge which regroups Innovators to reinvent innovation.
The second is a serious game that Freestyle John Linchpin could use and that we can share here. It is called the Innov'nation serious game and is presented here.
It would be like a coach assistant specialized into dry land stroke kind of balance awareness, flexibility and muscle exercises path. An immersed exposure to the competitive game and its business rules, where swimmers define their own strokes in relationship with other swimmers, trainers, doctors, goggles suppliers, wetsuits providers, sponsors - taking into account the amount of energy resources and time-lapse they must beat-off.
Exploring different possibilities available and making choices on this basis. That’s where it becomes most interesting: innovation merges from a range of different possibilities (currents) that we can elaborate from and upon to surf the wave. Sometimes in open water and open innovation it’s well worthwhile to detour and open arms to divergent and more powerful flows than swimming straight.
Photo credits Cesar Awad 2011 Bangkok
An interesting potential partnership to prepare poolwide success. With A+class fins.
I had the idea of this “Innov’Nation” serious game when I first met a consulting company specialised in innovation in 2012. They have a very strong open-air innovation orientation...Well in line with our new Olympian discipline in open-waters. They have a very active and of course novator spirit. I will give you more details about it in the lap 17
But what is more important in this lap 4 is that I explain you how I have been coached in Essilor, with other managers also, to stimulate our innovation capacity. It’s about active propositions and fostering conditions that will lead to open collective innovation. In that way, it is also tightly linked to our upcoming lap 9.
Ant that’s really the starting point: stimulation. Bringing a refreshing and invigorating blow-nove on the pool’s shoreline, until the watercourse helps pushing the swimmers forward.
I am confident that blue-fin-thougths will help our swimmers get a deep sense of how currents and their directions will give them an advantage along the way. Olympic champions do know the power of the mind. No exception in achieving new levels. Surely previous Olympian records can be surpassed and valuable progress made through blue race of mind
LAP 4 Score : 0.5
In/in coefficient : 1
Context of this initiative:
Open-mind simulation - Credits Frédéric J. Leconte 2012
Steam-wide the essence of innovation.
Benefit 1: coaching plan. Here you can find a template and a filled example with Freestyle John Linchpin case. This can be used as a Talent Development Tool, designed for innovation exposure and experience path.
Benefit 2 : ensure several laps advance in the innovation race & learn to anticipate hidden (and more visible) sharks’ catch points.
Benefit 3: understand the means (and limitations) before you have to plunge into action
Alternating innovation reflexion and state of the art studies, with exposure to start-up or projects is an efficient development tactic for sure.
To summarize (and to play with the words of the MIX slogan), one of the main lessons of this lap is:
"It's time to reinvent Innovation. You can help!"
It is not so much at work as of today, but this a very promising and necessary lead.
Changes in the environment conditions are causing effects on the surface. Ripples or even shaking waves.
A company betting on innovation must develop progressive communities coatings (multiple design and multiple layers nano-stacks), or live information loops that can neutralize solitude.on long distance drill efforts.
.
Operators as well as experts can do extraordinary things with extra-care and a true share of voice in everyday innovation.
In a time of budget austerity, limited resources in the war for talent may be successfully used to train the individuals in the pool and those sponsors can afford to transfer.
Management innovation and Web 2.0 tools both provide great opportunities for individual growth and multiple ways to benefit the company.
This is not compliant with a patent oriented kind of innovation, but for all other moves aiming to revisit existing channels, relationships, transmission, it is a valuable low capital lab.
Collective intelligence does grow fast and bright within a social environment.
Examples of other swimmers/managers/contributors encourage less daring individuals and groups to dive .
Co-operative intelligence is the upper level where unsafe conditions are the incentive for seeking unheard proposals to go back quicker to the safe side.
Cesar's pix are back.Were lost in some MIX platform migration....more colorful!
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