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[from THE FUTURIST, March-April 2003]

The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas by Elaine Dundon. AMACOM. 2002. 241 pages. Check price/buy book.

How to Think Ahead--And Stay Ahead

"Gone are the days when one person or one department could be focused on the future, while everyone else kept their heads down. . . . Leaders now know that they need to have every employee . . . on the lookout for innovative ideas." With these words, Elaine Dundon, founder and chief strategist of The Innovation Group Consulting Inc., summarizes the motivation behind her new book, The Seeds of Innovation.

Attempts to change an organization’s structure or routines, Dundon notes, often fail because key people cannot accept the need for change. Without widespread and enthusiastic commitment to meaningful innovation at every level, plans for innovation are likely to remain just marks on paper--never realized in practice. Dundon identifies three crucial processes necessary for successful innovation: Creative Thinking, Strategic Thinking, and Transformational Thinking. The ability to think creatively begins with a willingness to question existing forms and methods, pose alternatives, and spot new combinations and connections to explore. Strategic Transformational Thinking occurs when staff and management face up to the fears that hold them back from embracing change, become passionately committed to carefully chosen and focused innovations, and then follow through with decisive action.Thinking is the process of sorting practical and useful changes from those that are merely novel. To do this successfully, employees and managers alike need to understand how their own jobs relate to the goals of their organization as a whole and how the organization's objectives, today and for the long term, relate to the environment in which it operates. In short, everyone in an organization must become more aware of the Big Picture.

Transformational Thinking occurs when staff and management face up to the fears that hold them back from embracing change, become passionately committed to carefully chosen and focused innovations, and then follow through with decisive action.

The book features handy lists designed to ease the reader’s transition from dreamer/planner to actor/innovator. Among these lists are: Probing questions designed to stimulate curiosity. Ninety-nine great innovations of the past--try to spot what preexisting elements were connected or applied in new ways to make these innovations work. Ninety-nine trends in today’s world--consider how one or several of these could affect the project you are working on right now, or the operations of your organization as a whole. (See sidebar.) Innovative rut checklist--25 clues to identify organizations that need to make significant changes now! The main focus throughout The Seeds of Innovation is on what the author calls "Evolutionary Innovations"--changes that do more than just incrementally improve existing methods and products, but instead significantly alter the ways in which people and materiel are used to meet a recognized need. One good example of an evolutionary innovation is the automated teller machine, which changed how people relate to banks and used new technology to alter the traditional role of bank personnel by making some services available 24 hours a day. Dundon emphasizes the importance of looking ahead--anticipating the need for innovation by imagining how observable trends and possible changes could impact our goals and operations. The Seeds of Innovation is a very readable book. Practically every page can be easily skimmed, thanks to highlighted topic headings, handy lists, and memorable quotations or stories. The author also supplies a generous selection of recommended readings and a workmanlike index. Elaine Dundon may not be the most profound or

Twenty Trends to Spark Ideas Author Elaine Dundon suggests reviewing trends that help you see the big picture and thinking about how they may apply to your project or organization. A few "big picture" trends include: 1. An increased need to define "seniors" by a division into groups: younger seniors (50s and 60s) versus older seniors (70s, 80s, and 90s). 2. Antiglobalism--rebellion against organizations such as the World Trade Organization. 3. Commercialism of everything, including education and medicine. 4. Growing interest in experiences as a replacement for materialism. 5. Crisis in availability of natural resources, such as water and energy. 6. Desire for instant gratification. 7. Desire to look young forever. Interest in antiaging therapy for both men and women. 8. Distance learning, e-learning. 9. Employees wanting and demanding more participation in decision making. 10. Entertainment in everything--marrying entertainment with education, sports, etc. 11. Global shopping and purchasing via the Internet. 12. Increase in loyalty and frequent-purchaser programs. 13. Interest in extreme sports and thrills. 14. Increase in pet ownership and dollars spent on pets. 15. Quick fix wanted for everything--diets, relationships, spirituality, desire to feel good quickly. 16. Quick sabbaticals, mini vacations for rejuvenation, spa get-aways. 17. Rebellion against majority rule. Minority groups want more and more special rights. 18. Scarcity of skilled employees. 19. Smart buildings, smart homes, smart appliances, smart cards--computer chip in everything; high-tech homes and offices. 20. Shift of the green movement into the mainstream.                        From The Seeds of Innovation.

original guru of strategic management ideas, but her book, which incorporates a wealth of insights and advice gathered from many different sources, is the most sensible, straightforward, and usable tool for effective change-making to come my way in quite some time. I recommend it. Reviewed by Lane Jennings

 

 

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