nerdgirl 0 #1 January 1, 2008 Thought this was an intellectually provocative piece -- seems appropriate for the new year/new beginnings as well Bright Ideas: Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike.” Of course, everyone wants to believe that they think uniquely & differently … but what metrics do we use to assess that belief? Innovation drives the US economy, therefore it’s to the benefit of the market to foster innovation … but how does a company or an organization do that? Where is this done well? The article's conclusion reminds me of J. Rogers Hollingsworth work on “High Cognitive Complexity and the Making of Major Scientific Discoveries” -- historical precedent, while not predictive should not be ignored either, shows that revolutionary breakthroughs really do occur at interdisciplinary junctions, even if those junctions are only in the mind of the thinker. VR/Marg ----- ----- ----- ----- Excerpts “Bright Ideas: Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike.” By Janet Rae-Dupree 30 Dec 2007 “It’s a pickle of a paradox: As our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off. Why? Because the walls of the proverbial box in which we think are thickening along with our experience. “Th[e] so-called curse of knowledge, a phrase used in a 1989 paper in The Journal of Political Economy, means that once you’ve become an expert in a particular subject, it’s hard to imagine not knowing what you do. Your conversations with others in the field are peppered with catch phrases and jargon that are foreign to the uninitiated. When it’s time to accomplish a task — open a store, build a house, buy new cash registers, sell insurance — those in the know get it done the way it has always been done, stifling innovation as they barrel along the well-worn path. “It’s why engineers design products ultimately useful only to other engineers. It’s why managers have trouble convincing the rank and file to adopt new processes. And it’s why the advertising world struggles to convey commercial messages to consumers. “‘I have a DVD remote control with 52 buttons on it, and every one of them is there because some engineer along the line knew how to use that button and believed I would want to use it, too,’ Mr. [Chip] Heath [co-author “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die”] says. ‘People who design products are experts cursed by their knowledge, and they can’t imagine what it’s like to be as ignorant as the rest of us.’ “But there are proven ways to exorcise the curse. “To innovate … you have to bring together people with a variety of skills. If those people can’t communicate clearly with one another, innovation gets bogged down in the abstract language of specialization and expertise. “‘Look for people with renaissance-thinker tendencies, who’ve done work in a related area but not in your specific field,’ she [Ms. Cynthia Barton Rabe, author “Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Imagine — and What Smart Companies Are Doing About It”] says. ‘Make it possible for someone who doesn’t report directly to that area to come in and say the emperor has no clothes [emphasis nerdgirl].’” Perhaps just as important in foreign policy as business. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nanook 1 #2 January 2, 2008 QuotePerhaps just as important in foreign policy as business. It's important in all facets of life, i believe. Now when you wonder of it's importance regarding foreign policy, are you agreeing the near impossible mission of getting the average citizen to understand the smorgasborg of concerns that come with implementing one, or are you stating our policy as being very singular and narrow? Or something else?_____________________________ "The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #3 January 2, 2008 Sure, you may think this. But I don't. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #4 January 2, 2008 Quote Of course, everyone wants to believe that they think uniquely & differently … but what metrics do we use to assess that belief? "No Child Left Behind", the cookie cutter approach. I wonder how Einstein, Darwin, Churchill, Turing, Feinman, etc, would have affected the metrics currently in vogue.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #5 January 2, 2008 A very interesting piece, and entertaining as well. I can especially identify with the statement about the 52-button remote. I work mostly in the tech world; yet away from the job I like to keep things relatively simple. My remote is way too complicated. I'd like it to turn the TV on and off, change the channels, and control the volume. It has buttons on it that appear to have symbols from the Ukranian alphabet. I'm afraid to push them. My telephone is way too complicated. I'd like to get and make calls, and as a bonus get messages. I have no idea why I would want it to connect to 173 satellites. The CD player in my car is way to complicated. In a sign of real innovation (probably due to space constraints) there are some buttons that have 3 functions; I think depending on which finger you use - but I'm not sure. I'm afraid to use them. The symbols on them appear to be Romulean. Now my old Waring Blender (affectionately known as the Margharita Master 2000X) is my kind of machine. Eight buttons; from CHOP on the bottom end to PUREE on the top end. A single, nice, easy to follow continuum. No 87 page manual needed. A visiting alien would probably be able to operate it first time out - and I'm sure would be pleased with the results." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #6 January 2, 2008 This is exactly what I was talking about in conversation the other day with family. I've alluded to the problem before in my company with a specific department that--though full of experts whom no doubt have earned their tenure--could really use some fresh (less experienced)thinking. I could have written that article myself (though I'm no expert so who'd have listened to me?)! Thank you for sharing.Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdgirl 0 #7 January 3, 2008 Quote Now when you wonder of it's importance regarding foreign policy, are you agreeing the near impossible mission of getting the average citizen to understand the smorgasborg of concerns that come with implementing one, or are you stating our policy as being very singular and narrow? Or something else? Good questions. I was not thinking of either of the scenarios that you mention above, although one might argue either. My intention was speculative not a snarky one-liner. The applications which I imagine, include but are not limited to, the importance of tapping experts and sources that challenge the way something has always been done, the [over-used] ‘dominant paradigm,’ unconscious rubrics, or something that is the status quo due to interpersonal dynamics: Quote “Make it possible for someone who doesn’t report directly to that area to come in and say the emperor has no clothes.” I take it as a reminder in my own security policy work to seek pro-actively those who don’t think the way I do and whose expertise is elsewhere – minimize ‘mirror imaging.’ To ask rigorously ‘What am I missing?’ (And ‘does it matter?’) It’s the infamous “unknown unknowns” conundrum. More holistically and in the spirit of the New Year, it spoke to me of the value & importance of putting oneself into positions and situations in which one is not comfortable intellectually &/or institutionally. VR/Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nanook 1 #8 January 3, 2008 Quote I was not thinking of either of the scenarios that you mention above, although one might argue either. My intention was speculative not a snarky one-liner. Whoops. I guess i'm just too used to this place. In a very mild form the aforementioned subject(and one of the major reasons I favor SC over other forums), you have a lot of different backgrounds, professions and expierences arguing about a subject in various threads here. Though it is mainly useful for entertainment value only, you see a lot of different minds tackling the same problems; on both sides of the ensuing arguments._____________________________ "The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
