BA340_D2 Strategic Thinking and Innovation- Week 6: Discussion 1: HWGTN: How Innovations Develop in
So, by this time you have completed the extraordinary video series How We Got to Now.
You have watched the process of evolution of six of the most important innovation in humankind:
Cold
Clean
Light
Sound
Time
Glass
After looking back on the information and insights you gained from viewing this series, what are your reactions, thoughts, observations, and attitudes about how innovations develop in our culture? What is your reaction to this series as it relates to the material and goals for this course?
How We Got to Now" with Steven Johnson tells the story of the astonishing ideas that made modern living possible, as well as the unsung heroes who brought them to life, and the unexpected and weird consequences that each of these inventions has triggered. My reaction to the series is that innovation takes a long time to develop. The issue is that we tend to focus on the commercialization stage, where swiftness might be a significant benefit, while ignoring all that happens before. Unfortunately, this causes us to overlook much of what is required for transformation to occur. The truth is that major breakthroughs rarely happen in weeks or months. In most cases, it takes decades to get a breakthrough with an innovation.
Every innovation effort is framed by a culture that promotes creativity. Even if the idea and the innovation team are perfect, if the culture is negative, it might stifle creativity. As a business value, innovation entails cultivating a culture in which every person believes that he or she has some autonomy with expectations to think independently and come up with novel solutions to issues. It is important to have a courteous method to challenge the company status quo that will foster greater collaboration and innovation among colleagues. Higher employee involvement leads to increased productivity in environments that encourage open communication.(Gary P. Pisano, 2018) Another important aspect to an innovative culture is that it is ok to fail. If you never fail, you're probably not innovating very much. When it comes to cultivating an innovation culture, failure is unavoidable, and that's part of the issue and the fact that there's nearly always a degree of uncertainty. While no one sets out trying to fail, realizing that it will happen and that you'll be fine when it does is a sign of a strong innovative environment.
In order to have an achieve an innovative culture, employees should be open to change. Change is an inherent part of life, and it is also unavoidable in the workplace. Even while most of us understand this, it does not mean that going through it is usually simple or pleasant. The majority of organizational change occurs at the leadership level as a result of something deemed worthy of achieving. Leaders who are good strategic thinkers and can spot the need for change early on have an advantage. Strategic leaders also have an advantage when it comes to driving change because they can articulate a compelling justification for it(Olson & Simerson, 2015).
References
Gary P. Pisano. (2018, December 31). Innovation isn’t all fun and games — creativity needs discipline. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://hbr.org/2019/01/the-hard-truth-about-innovative-cultures (Links to an external site.)
Olson, A. K., & Simerson, B. K. (2015). Leading with strategic thinking: Four ways effective leaders gain insight, drive change, and get results (1st ed.). Wiley.
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