What topics would you like to discuss in this group?

Sherri...I think one of the topics to be discussed here comes out of the emergent field of 'business and the arts'. To date...companies have sought out 'artists' to jumpstart creativity/innovation, but these ventures are mostly focused on the 'methods and metaphors' of the artisitic world. I think there is more to learn...and that learning is the culture of the performing arts that creates an environment that faciliates experimentation without punishment, interdependency rather than individual contribution, shared outcomes and feedback. Keith Sawyer calls this 'group genius' and his work is based on studying theatre ensembles and jazz groups for 10 years. He describes these groups as the 'purest form of group genius'. Similar to Keith, I see the emergence of 'Aesthetic Intelligence', that capacity which defines the world of performing arts. These, and similar, mindsets challenge colloquial thinking that creativity/innovation is the result of individuals, or individual prototypes. Quite the contrary, creativity/innovation is the result of group work, incremental, almost invisible group work, which despite most organization's rhetoric, does not exist. I think this would be an compelling topic to explore. Rochelle Mucha

There are a lot of areas for exploration within the topic of innovation. Such as: *How can I learn how to be more innovative *What are the steps to being innovative *How do you recognize innovation when it happens - either by chance, design or accident *How do you measure innovation *How do you get an culture ready for innovation *How do you incorporate innovative thinking in your personal life *How do you encourage creativity and innovation *How do you determine how much risk you should take *Should everyone have an innovation budget and goals - front line employee to the ceo *Are there major differences between service, product and process innovation *What are the best practices when "innovation" is the project and many more

I agree with the suggestions provided by Rochelle and Natalie, but would like to also add: How do we identify and capture value out of the innovative ideas we see? I would also like us to think about how we recognize innovation since it can take multiple forms and how we can determine which areas of our worlds could benefit most from innovative thinking.

I think `innovation and entrepreneurship' by Peter F. Drucker provides a good foundation for us to discuss innovation.

Sherri - I would like to add a "me too!" to Rochelle's sugestion - i thas a lot of facets and would be interesting to explore-

Sherri, I do share Natalies topics and we went through the same questions and probably are still in the middle of this.... Maybe it would be heplful that everybody describes her/his situation, the cycle went through, the findings and possible solutions. That would create a round table discussion... Robert

Sherri, I'd like us to divide this Innovation forum into four parts: products, services, process, and culture. Products would be, well, all about product innovagtion. Services would be about service innovation. Proces would be about stage gates, software tools that enable innovation, innovation analytics, and the like Culture would be about getting ideas to stick, winning mindshare, moving the mainstream a few degrees so that more innovations can flow through.

Referring back to Natalie Jenkins' suggestions from Jan 16, I would like to work on the "How do you get a culture ready for innovation?" subject. Right now I am leading an in-house initiative to explore the meaning of innovation and how we can get managers in our technology group to adopt design thinking in their work. I'll share the program we develop to discuss the program with the managers, and I'd love to get feedback from the members of this group.

Sherri I would like to add to Natalie's list. How to innovate? most organizations know they have to innovate but the problem is they dont know how to?

Sherri, I would like to discuss how the benefits of innovation can best be communicated to employees, customers, stakeholders and management.

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