Right now, Microsoft is holding TechFest 2009, an annual event aimed at sharing its researchers' work with product teams throughout the rest of the organization. The Imperial Valley News interviews Craig Mundie, Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer, about the event.
Mundie talks about some specific innovations - from robotics to health care - and also discusses the importance of continuing to invest in R&D and innovation despite the recession. It's a good interview; do check it out.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Ph.D. in Innovation
The University of Wales has just launched a new innovation initiative: the Prince of Wales Innovation Scholarship program. The idea is to recruit 100 of the world's top students to a Ph.D. program, in which the students will be posted to research positions in Welsh companies. The scholars receive funding, research experience, and a Ph.D., while the partnering companies gain new ideas, processes, and technologies. And as a nation, Wales expects to develop and disseminate a culture of innovation, as well as the economic benefits stemming from the research.
In this turbulent economic climate, companies and countries are always tempted to cut their R&D budgets. It's refreshing to see Wales take a high-profile stance on the importance of innovation.
In this turbulent economic climate, companies and countries are always tempted to cut their R&D budgets. It's refreshing to see Wales take a high-profile stance on the importance of innovation.
Innovation in Financial Regulation
Not surprisingly, the financial crisis and global economic turmoil were the main thrust of the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. The New York Times reports that one of the more original ideas to come out of the conference is the possibility of compensating regulators with bonuses, just like the bankers they oversee.
The underlying logic makes sense. Wall Street uses fat paychecks to attract the best and brightest, so the SEC needs to do the same. And compensating regulators with bonuses would give them an incentive to discover the next Enron or Bernie Madoff in advance, preventing the crisis before it spirals out of control.
It's an intriguing idea, and all the more striking because federal regulatory agencies are not widely regarded as a hotbed of innovation. We'll see whether it goes anywhere.
The underlying logic makes sense. Wall Street uses fat paychecks to attract the best and brightest, so the SEC needs to do the same. And compensating regulators with bonuses would give them an incentive to discover the next Enron or Bernie Madoff in advance, preventing the crisis before it spirals out of control.
It's an intriguing idea, and all the more striking because federal regulatory agencies are not widely regarded as a hotbed of innovation. We'll see whether it goes anywhere.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Obama's Secretary of Innovation
BusinessWeek is calling for President Obama to create a Cabinet-level position for innovation and creativity. The Secretary of Innovation would "lead a systematic national innovation process" aimed at ameliorating the economic crisis. The Secretary's other function would be "to create a national innovation mindset, reinvigorating innovation in the private sector."
We nominate Edward de Bono. After all, he is already the EU Ambassador for Thinking. Why not a US Cabinet position, as well?
We nominate Edward de Bono. After all, he is already the EU Ambassador for Thinking. Why not a US Cabinet position, as well?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Edward de Bono's weekly message
Education is all about knowledge and analysis. There is a complete lack of 'operacy' and design. Operacy covers the skill of doing and making things happen. Design is putting together what you have to deliver the values you want.
Our traditional thinking strongly influenced by Church needs, is concerned with finding the truth. That is ebne (excellent but not enough). We have never emphasised the thinking that is needed to create value.
Education at all levels from primary school to university should have significant elements of operacy and of design. Having a wonderful road map is ebne. You also need to know how to drive and how to choose your destination.
Edward de Bono
10th February 2009
Our traditional thinking strongly influenced by Church needs, is concerned with finding the truth. That is ebne (excellent but not enough). We have never emphasised the thinking that is needed to create value.
Education at all levels from primary school to university should have significant elements of operacy and of design. Having a wonderful road map is ebne. You also need to know how to drive and how to choose your destination.
Edward de Bono
10th February 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
ASTD Economic Survival Guide
Across the country, companies are tightening their belts, and corporate training is invariably one of the first targets for budget-cutting. The ASTD Economic Survival Guide offers a number of suggestions for adapting to the recession.
Some of the ideas include:
Some of the ideas include:
- Communicating throughout your organization to create a learning culture
- Reviewing your training budget and decide how to make do with less
- Using technology to supplement your training
- Making your trainers more versatile
- Developing explicit links between your training department and corporate strategic/financial goals
The guide contains specific ways to achieve each of these suggestions. It is well worth reading.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
2009 TED prize
Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 TED Prize: Sylvia Earle (for her underwater research, exploration, and advocacy), Jill Tarter (director of the SETI project and a pioneer of distributive networking), and José Antonio Abreu (founder of El Sistema, a program for using classical music to improve the lives of Venezuelan children).
Their success demonstrates the importance of innovative thinking in all disciplines, from the natural environment to astrophysics to poverty and children's welfare.
Their success demonstrates the importance of innovative thinking in all disciplines, from the natural environment to astrophysics to poverty and children's welfare.
Problems with Brainstorming
Two Dutch researchers have published an academic study on the problems with brainstorming (How the Group Affects the Mind: A Cognitive Model of Idea Generation in Groups by Bernard Nijstad and Wolfgang Stroebe). They write, “Most people believe that idea generation is best performed in groups… However, controlled research has consistently shown that people produce fewer ideas and ideas of lower quality when they work in a group as compared with when they work alone. Thus, contrary to popular belief, group interaction inhibits the ideation process.”
The biggest problem is “production blocking” – i.e., the tendency of group members to take turns in sharing new ideas. This causes great ideas to be lost while people wait on a parade of mediocre ideas before it’s their turn again. Production blocking is closely connected to group size; it is a bigger problem for large groups than small ones.
Nijstad and Strobe offer several concrete recommendations for improving brainstorming sessions:
The biggest problem is “production blocking” – i.e., the tendency of group members to take turns in sharing new ideas. This causes great ideas to be lost while people wait on a parade of mediocre ideas before it’s their turn again. Production blocking is closely connected to group size; it is a bigger problem for large groups than small ones.
Nijstad and Strobe offer several concrete recommendations for improving brainstorming sessions:
- Use electronic brainstorming (or brainwriting) instead of verbal brainstorming.
- If verbal brainstorming is unavoidable, keep the groups small. Break up larger groups.
- Encourage participants to pay attention to each other’s ideas.
- Stay on track. Don’t allow side conversations or lengthy exposition of ideas.
- Take frequent, short breaks.
New editions of Spanish de Bono books
The Spanish publisher Paidós is launching the Edward de Bono Library, a series of new editions of Dr. de Bono's classic works. Thus far, the collection includes translations of Six Thinking Hats, The Use of Lateral Thinking, and Creativity Workout. The books are available directly from Paidós and also from Amazon.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Edward de Bono's weekly message
There is a real need for new words in language. The word 'Po' signals that a deliberate provocation is to follow and that this provocation needs to be used for its 'movement' value not its 'judgement' value. Such a word could not evolve in language until the logic of provocation in a self-organising system had been pointed out. There is also a need for the new word 'ebne' (excellent but not enough). Without such a word it is difficult to ask for a change without attacking what is. There are some other new words that I have in mind. Adjectives are always easier which is why 'lateral thinking' has easily become part of everyday language. We also need a new word for 'idea creativity' as mentioned in a previous message in order to distinguish this creativity from artistic creativity. The term 'new thinking' can help but is quite weak.
My new code which is being published on the web as debonocode.org provides a needed way of describing complex situations but there is also a need for an ordinary language term.
Edward de Bono
25 January 2009
My new code which is being published on the web as debonocode.org provides a needed way of describing complex situations but there is also a need for an ordinary language term.
Edward de Bono
25 January 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Best Books on Innovation
A few weeks back, BusinessWeek released its list of 2008's top innovation books. For those who missed the article the first time around, the winners were:
- The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
by Dan Roam
- Closing the Innovation Gap: Reigniting the Spark of Creativity in a Global Economy
by Judy Estrin
- Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns
by Clayton Christensen, Curtis Johnson, and Michael Horn
- The Endless City
by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic
- The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
by A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan
- Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
by Clay Shirky
- The New Age of Innovation: Driving Cocreated Value Through Global Networks
by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan
- The Numerati
by Stephen Baker
- The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
by Amar Bhidé
Thursday, January 29, 2009
New de Bono training sessions
De Bono Consulting has added several new dates to its training schedule:
- March 9-13 in San Diego, CA
- May 4-8 in Alexandria, VA
Attendees can enroll in the Six Thinkings Hats session, the Lateral Thinking session, or the Course in Creativity, which covers both methods.
In addition, we have a session in Mexico City on February 23-27. Note that this session will be conducted in Spanish.
See our complete training schedule to register for a course or to view other dates and locations.Innovation Lessons from the 1930s
In a nod to the current economic climate, Tom Nicholas of Harvard Business School has published a nice piece in the McKinsey Quarterly about innovation during the Great Depression and its implications for innovation today. (Unfortunately, registration is required for access to the full article, but it's free.)
Nicholas examines the number of US patent filings between 1921 and 1938 as a measure of investment in R&D (and hence innovation in general). The trend is pretty obvious: when GDP growth was positive, the number of patents increased. When the economy contracted, patent applications declined. Business leaders were clearly letting their economic concerns drive their R&D decisions.
But Nicholas also provides examples of companies that continued to support innovation despite the turbulent climate. Firms such as DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, Polaroid, and RCA developed extraordinarily successful products during this period. In the process, they became some of the most successful and admired companies of the 20th century. Had they slashed their R&D budgets, they might today be relegated to the footnotes of history.
The point is not that every company should always and everywhere maintain its R&D budget. The point, rather, is that slashing investment should not be a knee-jerk reaction to today's economic woes. In many cases, the sensible manager may decide to postpone innovative projects in the face of uncertainty. However, it's important to evaluate the company's competitive situation before making a decision. Just as we saw during the Great Depression, innovation today may create the giants of tomorrow.
Nicholas examines the number of US patent filings between 1921 and 1938 as a measure of investment in R&D (and hence innovation in general). The trend is pretty obvious: when GDP growth was positive, the number of patents increased. When the economy contracted, patent applications declined. Business leaders were clearly letting their economic concerns drive their R&D decisions.
But Nicholas also provides examples of companies that continued to support innovation despite the turbulent climate. Firms such as DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, Polaroid, and RCA developed extraordinarily successful products during this period. In the process, they became some of the most successful and admired companies of the 20th century. Had they slashed their R&D budgets, they might today be relegated to the footnotes of history.
The point is not that every company should always and everywhere maintain its R&D budget. The point, rather, is that slashing investment should not be a knee-jerk reaction to today's economic woes. In many cases, the sensible manager may decide to postpone innovative projects in the face of uncertainty. However, it's important to evaluate the company's competitive situation before making a decision. Just as we saw during the Great Depression, innovation today may create the giants of tomorrow.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Edward de Bono's weekly message
I was in Prague on January 7th for the launch of the European Year of Creativity, 2009. The Czech Republic has the presidency of the EU for the first half of 2009.
As usual one of the big problems facing creativity in the inability of language to distinguish between artistic creativity and idea creativity. Both involve creating something new which has value. The practical problem is that the Year of Creativity may tend to focus on artistic creativity because it is better known. That is unfortunate because the world needs creative thinking more than ever before. Many problems facing the world are not easily solved with our existing thinking. I am very much in favour of artistic creativity but we do need idea creativity.
It may be that people still believe that nothing can be done about creative thinking and that we just have to wait and hope for new ideas. That attitude is very old fashioned but still prevalent. Many people just do not know that there are formal and deliberate ways of creating new ideas - such as the tools of lateral thinking.
I encourage anyone reading this message to write to your government and the European Union to emphasise the need and possibility of creative thinking.
It is indeed a move in the right direction that the EU has appointed me 'Ambassador for Thinking' for the year of creativity.
Edward de Bono
15 January 2009
As usual one of the big problems facing creativity in the inability of language to distinguish between artistic creativity and idea creativity. Both involve creating something new which has value. The practical problem is that the Year of Creativity may tend to focus on artistic creativity because it is better known. That is unfortunate because the world needs creative thinking more than ever before. Many problems facing the world are not easily solved with our existing thinking. I am very much in favour of artistic creativity but we do need idea creativity.
It may be that people still believe that nothing can be done about creative thinking and that we just have to wait and hope for new ideas. That attitude is very old fashioned but still prevalent. Many people just do not know that there are formal and deliberate ways of creating new ideas - such as the tools of lateral thinking.
I encourage anyone reading this message to write to your government and the European Union to emphasise the need and possibility of creative thinking.
It is indeed a move in the right direction that the EU has appointed me 'Ambassador for Thinking' for the year of creativity.
Edward de Bono
15 January 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Toyota - Why Not?
Toyota has launched a new innovation contest called Why Not?. Via a charming little website - complete with pretty graphics, a slick, 3-D interface, and the soothing music of waterfalls and birdsong - the carmaker is inviting people to suggest ways to improve our air, land, water, and communities.
Naturally, the submitted ideas vary in their complexity and ingenuity. Some are simple but obvious in hindsight - in the sense of "Wow, why have I never thought of that?" Other ideas are far more complicated and would demand completely new technologies. Users can vote on the various ideas, share them with friends, and even make a personal commitment to a particular idea.
For its part, Toyota is using the site to promote its own environmental innovations and to gather (and perhaps commercialize) new ideas. There's also a contest element; the prizes for the best ideas include a tour of a Toyota manufacturing plant and a trip to New York to meet with influential innovators.
Naturally, the submitted ideas vary in their complexity and ingenuity. Some are simple but obvious in hindsight - in the sense of "Wow, why have I never thought of that?" Other ideas are far more complicated and would demand completely new technologies. Users can vote on the various ideas, share them with friends, and even make a personal commitment to a particular idea.
For its part, Toyota is using the site to promote its own environmental innovations and to gather (and perhaps commercialize) new ideas. There's also a contest element; the prizes for the best ideas include a tour of a Toyota manufacturing plant and a trip to New York to meet with influential innovators.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
MIT's Innovations in Teaching Methods
The New York Times has a great piece about some revolutionary work at MIT.
And no, I'm not talking about nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, or quantum mechanics. I'm talking about teaching.
The university has introduced a new approach to its traditional Physics 101. Once upon a time, the course was a stereotypical large lecture, complete with the professor droning on and scribbling equations on the blackboard, while students fell asleep or unobtrusively SMSed their friends.
Today, the course features small classes, peer interaction, and collaborative, interactive learning. And technology, of course - this is, after all, MIT.
"Instead of blackboards, the walls are covered with white boards and huge display screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related concepts in small groups. Teachers and students conduct experiments together. The room buzzes. Conferring with tablemates, calling out questions and jumping up to write formulas on the white boards are all encouraged."
Moreover, the school employs technology to provide the professor with instantaneous feedback. This allows the professor to gauge the level of student comprehension at any point in time - making it clear when students are struggling, and when to move ahead with the material.
The program was initially controversial, but the results speak for themselves. Course attendance is up, and the failure rate has fallen from 10-12% to 4%.
It's easy to think of "innovation" purely in terms of new products or technologies. However, it's equally relevant - and arguably more valuable - in areas like education, which stereotypically isn't at the forefront of creativity and therefore has more to gain from innovative methodologies and approaches.
Do check out the full article - it's well worth a read.
And no, I'm not talking about nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, or quantum mechanics. I'm talking about teaching.
The university has introduced a new approach to its traditional Physics 101. Once upon a time, the course was a stereotypical large lecture, complete with the professor droning on and scribbling equations on the blackboard, while students fell asleep or unobtrusively SMSed their friends.
Today, the course features small classes, peer interaction, and collaborative, interactive learning. And technology, of course - this is, after all, MIT.
"Instead of blackboards, the walls are covered with white boards and huge display screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related concepts in small groups. Teachers and students conduct experiments together. The room buzzes. Conferring with tablemates, calling out questions and jumping up to write formulas on the white boards are all encouraged."
Moreover, the school employs technology to provide the professor with instantaneous feedback. This allows the professor to gauge the level of student comprehension at any point in time - making it clear when students are struggling, and when to move ahead with the material.
The program was initially controversial, but the results speak for themselves. Course attendance is up, and the failure rate has fallen from 10-12% to 4%.
It's easy to think of "innovation" purely in terms of new products or technologies. However, it's equally relevant - and arguably more valuable - in areas like education, which stereotypically isn't at the forefront of creativity and therefore has more to gain from innovative methodologies and approaches.
Do check out the full article - it's well worth a read.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Ambassador for Thinking
The EU has named 2009 the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Its goals are:
- to raise awareness of importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development
- to disseminate good practices, stimulate education and research
- to promote policy debate and development
The European Union has declared 2009 to be the year of Creativity. This will be launched in Prague on January 7th. I shall be there. On December 5th. I was officially appointed 'Ambassador for Thinking' for the European Union. Among other things I shall be issuing a monthly 'World Thinking Report'. There may be occasional extra reports as required. In due course these may be accessed on the web under World Thinking Report.
Edward de Bono
22nd December 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
New York Times Year in Ideas 2008
The New York Times just released its Year in Ideas 2008. There's some very interesting stuff here, such as DNA testing on dog poop (to identify owners who fail to clean up after their pets), fast food zoning laws, kangaroos as a weapon against climate change, and plenty more. Check it out.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
MediaGuardian Innovation Awards
A public service announcement: the entry deadline for the MediaGuardian Innovation Awards is next week. The awards are "open to innovative work carried out across any media or a number of media." The list of last year's winners is available here.
The awards ceremony will be in March. We'll discuss the winning innovations then.
The awards ceremony will be in March. We'll discuss the winning innovations then.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Innovation During Recessions
The New York Times has a piece on innovation during recessions. The gist of the article is that business leaders are often tempted to cut innovation, particularly in bad economic climates. Managers see the short-term costs of innovation, while the long-term benefits (in terms of new revenue streams, new products, new practices, new customers, etc.) are uncertain. As a result, when managers tighten their belts, innovation is often the first thing to go.
But cutting back doesn’t have to mean a wholesale rejection of innovation. Rather, by embedding innovation throughout the organization, short-term necessities can be balanced against long-term goals. Call it the Goldilocks Principle applied to innovation. And in some cases, tough times can actually spur innovation by forcing managers to re-examine their own assumptions. The companies that get it right will be well-positioned for success and growth once the economy recovers.
But cutting back doesn’t have to mean a wholesale rejection of innovation. Rather, by embedding innovation throughout the organization, short-term necessities can be balanced against long-term goals. Call it the Goldilocks Principle applied to innovation. And in some cases, tough times can actually spur innovation by forcing managers to re-examine their own assumptions. The companies that get it right will be well-positioned for success and growth once the economy recovers.
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