Innovation's a Pied Piper

Innovation can be addictive when you toy with an insight to shape a new reality. Innovation's often unexpected, coming in a flash. Like that Pied Piper, it's alluring and many seek after it. For those "imaginers" who are persistent to follow a vision, learn from mistakes and keep reshaping, a needed invention may result.

While innovation taps into logic and scientific facts of the left brain, it's supercharged by our right brain's ability to synthesize ideas, see the big picture, create and design.

Interestingly, Dan Pink describes a "seismic--though yet undetected--shift...moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computerlike capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what's rising in its place, the Conceptual Age." A new focus on innovation springs from this shift. To see the depth of this change, be sure to read Pink's, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.

While there's no strict formula to create innovation, here're several insights about innovation along with pointers to stir creative ideas in your right brain...

Show your destination and let your team choose the route. Empowerment, according to Paul Sloane, "is about encouraging and enabling people to solve problems, meet customer needs and seize market opportunities on their own initiatives - either individually or in groups from different disciplines."

Strive for innovation in trenches "When the highest levels of corporate executives asks 'where do we go next?'" Steve Todd says, "they should look to their innovators in the trenches." Otherwise they might miss creative employees who works on solutions outside their core job.

Reconfigure approaches to money and mind "Structures that welcome multiple approaches arise from many minds," according to Ellen Weber, "with a shared vision to increase wealth."

Share and be open Noika interprets CSR (corporate social responsibility) entirely different, Niti Bahn shows that companies like Noika take new approaches to corporate social responsibility, "from 'recycling of ideas' to ' giving back to the community.'"

Reverse assumptions "Changing the assumptions allows a business to look at a new reality," David Mork says.

Curiosity is not luxury But curiosity is imaginative thinking. And imagination fortified by knowledge is a powerful force. It is exactly what oppressive states fear. Jim Leach, new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts says. “…the future is now the province of the curious,” he concludes.

Try a little empathy "The idea that an innovator should understand the experience from the perspective of a user is called empathic design," Art Markman notes. "It might seem obvious that the perspective of product users should be part of the process of creative design, but in fact it is common for design teams to treat innovation abstractly."

Avoid managing innovation "Like an unruly pet or teenager," Bob Rosner points out, "innovation is often survived—not managed." Paradoxically, mistakes and things that don't work, can later be stars in a different context.

Cultures affect innovation The real reason why Silicon Valley is so special for innovation, according to David Kralik is that a set of values were "laid down as early as 1956 and continually reinforced, that encourage risk-taking to help people succeed and, indeed, are there to pick you back up when you've failed... In addition to venture capital funding, there is also a nurturing culture to help you get your idea off the ground by providing things like free software, hardware and even office space."

Unleash inner genius Many of us want tips to stir our creativity when we reach that blank wall. Paul Sloane offers 10:

1. Ask why, why?
2. Sleep on it
3. Talk it over with someone who has nothing to do with the situation
4. Ask how some celebrity would tackle the issue
5. Pick up any object at random and say to yourself... Be sure to check out Paul's article to see what he advises on this an the other tips!
6. Use similes
7. Imagine an ideal solution in a world where there are no constraints
8. Open a dictionary and take any noun at random...
9. Ponder the issue and then go for a walk around an art gallery or museum
10. Draw a picture of the situation showing the people and the issues in simple cartoon style

Paul notes that he hasn't found just the right one yet, so be sure to share something that works for you...

Start with your curiosity... and enjoy the journey!

Brain's Left Side - Tames and Organizes

The last post scanned an artist’s right brain hemisphere - when it brims over with colors and shapes. Leave your art there, though, and you’ll likely see chaos at best. So what’s missing?

That’s where the left brain organizer steps in. You could see it as a mental master of sorts – equipped to corral and tame.

Left brain taming is rather exciting when an artist draws on its capability. It shakes up colors and shapes as a kaleidoscope does and places them into designs of brilliance, under a master’s hand. Or it takes random words quickly jotted down in a brainstorming session to see patterns and logical order.

Peoples' left brains help them to analyze, judge, organize and choose between one good and another. Mark McGuinness reveals how creativity's grounded in a logical process.

It’s as much in the shift here, as the dance is in the hitch. Inspiration can run wild in the brain, unless the left brain taming tactics come alive. Incredible left brain booty includes:


When artists depend on their left brains for composition, they make winning choices for …

Essential elements – through infinite details that form and focus your eye on landscape or a person’s face in the finished piece.

Proportion - where rhythm creates cadence in proportions that emote pleasure, sadness, or shock

Value – in lights and darks played for different effects

Color – through selections that establish moods and integrate relationships

Texture – which shows up to the touch through heavy, soft, rough or smooth

Perspectives and angles - that point, slant, straighten up and curve to the human eye in art we love

An artist’s brain moves back and forth between the magical right and the logical left. It’s all part of the master’s polish to a final work that’s uniquely hers.

Thoughts?

Stay tuned for more on your brain's dual engines.

Intuition's Unwieldy!

Had any experiences when you realized first impressions were way off target? David G. Myers concludes that "while intuition can provide us with useful—and often amazing—insights, it can also dangerously mislead us." Here's just one example...

In July 2002, a Russian airliner's computer-guidance system instructed its pilot to ascend as another jet approached in the sky over Switzerland. At the same time, a Swiss air-traffic controller—whose computerized system was down—offered a human judgment: descend. Faced with conflicting advice, the pilot's intuitive response was to trust another human's intuition. Tragically, the two planes collided midair, killing everyone onboard.

And there's even more to this... Consider former President, Warren Harding, a man extraordinarily handsome and distinguished looking. People's appearance, their size or shape or color or sex, can trigger powerful associations, according to Malcom Gladwell author of Blink. Stereotyping, then, can shape first impressions. Not too surprisingly, Harding's looks led many to believe he was a man of integrity, intelligence and courage. Gladwell claims, "The way he looked carried so many powerful connotations that it stopped the normal process of thinking dead in its tracks." Could that enter in to your decisions about a new hire? Let's take this one step further since it greatly affects your intuitions...

Psychologists have developed IAT [Implicit Association Tests] to determine how past associations stored in the unconscious affect our beliefs and behavior. We sort out connections faster that're already stored in our brain than those new and unfamiliar. Speed is key. Here's how it works... "When there's a strong prior association, people answer in between four hundred and six hundred milliseconds," test developers discovered. "When there isn't, they might take two hundred to three hundred milliseconds longer than that -- which in the realm of these kinds of effects is huge."

For example, most of us think we are not racist, but is that really true? Try a demonstration IAT at the Harvard University Research site and see how you fare. Malcom Gladwell, author of Blink concludes that "our unconscious attitudes may be utterly incompatible with our stated conscious values." Would you agree?

Now you can see why you need the logical side of your brain, the left brain, to help you sort out your "gut feelings." That’s where the left brain organizer steps in. You could see it as a mental master of sorts – equipped to corral and tame.

Leaders' left brains help them analyze, judge, organize and choose between one good and another.

After all you might miss hiring that once in a lifetime "genius" for your position if past associations wrongly influence you.

"I'm a great believer in the power of using intuition as a powerful analysis tool and support to decision making," Dean Bennett commented in Question Train for Brain and Mind. "In this context I am interested in your thoughts on developing and actively using our intuition." Now you can see why it's necessary for leaders to consider the logic, too.

I think we might conclude then, Dean, that intuition's unwieldy since past associations influence it. Managers might want to include logic in decision making for best results. Pays to look deeper... Agree?

How does intuition affect your choices as you manage? I'd like to hear from your experiences...