genn001 - innovation

Genn001 – HumanitiesFall 2011

Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Humanities

Dr. Mohammad TawfikAerospace Engineering Department,

Cairo University


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Innovation


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

What is innovation?

● We often use the words "creativity" and "innovation" interchangeably but we should not. Creativity is about coming up with ideas while innovation is about "bringing ideas to life." While individuals may display creativity, innovation occurs in the organizational context only, by bringing creative ideas to life."Business Improvement Architects"


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

What is innovation?

● The term innovation derives from the Latin word innovatus, which is the noun form of innovare "to renew or change," stemming from in—"into" + novus—"new".

● Innovation generally refers to the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society.

● Innovation differs from invention or renovation in that innovation generally signifies a substantial positive change compared to incremental changes.

“Wikipedia"


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

The Idea HunterAndy Boyton & Bill Fischer


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Idea vs Thing

George Bernard Shaw

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple.

But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Learning

“There are not one but two products of the work that people do. The first is the actual thing we make or the service we provide or the process we manage.

The second product, no less essential is what we learn along the way.”


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

The I-D-E-A Principles

● Be Interested not just interesting● Diversify the hunt● Exercise hunting for ideas● Be Agile in hunting for ideas


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Be Interested not just interesting

● “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” - Albert Einstein

● “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” - Pablo Picasso


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Diversify the hunt

● “I almost never look to the existing discipline for new ideas.” - Jack Hughes

● “It is hardly possible to overrate the value... of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar.” - John Stuart Mill


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Exercise hunting for ideas

● “People learn by doing... and by reflecting on what they are doing. Training yourself to notice things is part of the observational platform.”

● “Writing down your thoughts and observations -and keeping them in a readily accessible place- are necessary habits of the Hunt.”


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Be Agile in hunting for ideas

● Agile means to move quickly and lightly, Wiki.answers.com

● Agile means quick or lively, answer.ask.com


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Where Good Ideas Come From

Steven Johnson


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Adjacent Possible

● Good ideas are not conjured out of thin air; they are built out of a collection of existing parts, the composition of which expands (and, occasionally, contracts) over time


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

How to develop good ideas

● Liquid Network● Serendipity● Slow hunches● Error● Noise● Exaptations


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Liquid Network

● Not so rigid that ideas can’t grow and develop

● Not so much space where ideas can’t reach each other.

● Free flow of ideas allows ideas to connect, grow, reconnect with others.

● Liquid networks complete ideas.


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Serendipity

● You have to set out in good faith for elsewhere and lose you bearings serendipitously.

● Go for a walk, take a shower/bath - remove yourself from the problem

● According to NYTimes, web has pushed culture toward more serendipitous encounters.


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Slow Hunch

● Hunch that developed over time is more common than sudden flash of inspiration

● Have to keep hunch alive● Keep a journal or commonplace book and

review it to refresh your hunch● Sleeping on the problem actually helps


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Error

● Spark gap telegraph led to the invention of vacuum tubes, which in turn led to computers, television, etc.

● Fleming discovered penicillin by bacteria accidentally entering his lab

● Error in reaching for a resistor led from an oscillator that recorded heartbeats to the pacemaker that regulates them


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Noise

● Albert Einstein has been considered the patron saint of useful messiness, and once stated “The cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind; what does an empty desk sign?


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Exaptation

● Defined as using a feature or structure for something other than its original intended purpose.

● Ex. In Indonesia, Timothy Prestero redesigned neonatal incubators out of automobile parts because the locals had access to and knowledge of automobile engines.


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Innovation YouJeff Degraff


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Prismatic Thinking

● Colors of Innovation● The Russian nesting Dolls● How you innovate is what you innovate● Create Capacity● Avoid the negative zone


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Colors of Innovation

● Green – Create – Influential personality● Blue – Compete – Decisive personality● Red – Control – Careful personality● Yellow – Collaborate – Social Personality


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

The Russian nesting dolls

● Look up, down, and around● You, your community, and the whole world


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

How you innovate is what you innovate

● Think through the whole picture, the colors and the nesting dolls, and change your way of thinking


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Create Capacity

● Time is limited● Money is limited● Brain capacity is limited● You have to give up something to give

room for new things


Dr. Mohammad Tawfik

Avoid the negative zone

● Too much of anything is bad● Ask friends to help you out● Think about why are you thinking this way

genn001 - innovation

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