Praise First

Thinking is an art, with its own purposes, standards, principles, rules, strategies, and precautions. And it is an art well worth learning, for every important thing we do is affected by our habits of mind.

–Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

After a recent workshop, a teacher asked me in private, “Are we SERIOUSLY serious about fostering creative thinking in our curriculum?” A student jokingly commented that teachers are ‘2 fast 2 furious’ to point out flaws and judge ideas. A colleague felt proud that she has a brilliant idea to present to her team leader but at the same time felt a sense of vulnerability.

Transformational leadership (Downton, 1973) focuses on developing others to their fullest potential. In recent developments, Northouse’s (2004) listed intellectual stimulation as one of the main characteristics of transformational leadership. Based on his description that transformational leaders “stimulate followers to be creative and innovative”, are we - leaders shaping Singapore’s education landscape - providing sufficient room to “try new approaches and develop innovative ways of dealing with organizational issues” (p.177)?

What’s wrong with MY ideas ?!@#!

Do you know that you have a reptile living in your brainstem? Our “gator brain”, like that of the entire brain of an alligator is solely concerned with survival - food, protection, turf guarding , and yes…. reproduction. Animals comfortable in their natural environment will regard any change as a threat. Thus, their natural instinct in dealing with “newness” will include the following: kill it, eat it, and run from it (or mate with it).

If you want to think creatively, then you had better break away from old mental habits - think ‘out of the box’! Many people automatically kill new ideas when they start thinking “Mine-is-better” and it does not help that our tendency to over-rationalize (even at the expense of compounding a mistake), or simply to give in to irrational prejudice by way of stereotyping. Unfortunately, they also destroy the possibility of innovation, creativity, or improving morale with such early closures.

Back to our ‘gator brain’: Thankfully, we are blessed with a neo-cortex (the “innovative brain”) which has the capacity to override the primitive instincts of the brainstem. That means, MAN can be creative by treating “newness” with curiosity, defer judgment and identify possibilities in new ideas. In short, we can be smarter than gators- if we choose to be. Instead of dampening the spirit of creativity, if you spot the “holes” in the ideas first- ideas that seem too “fresh” or dangerously too risky, use Praise First to evaluate and strengthen an idea to give it extra bite!

Praise First- Pluses, Potentials, Concerns, Overcome Concerns (PPCO)

Praise First is founded on the principle of affirmative judgment. The technique allows the expression of both positive and negative responses to an idea without crushing its potential – or its originator. Instead of jumping in to critique an idea, seek first the value in it. Express what you like about it. Think about what might be possible if it worked. THEN, present your concerns as questions to invite further thinking. Praise First is a great way to strengthen the idea (and the originator) by identifying key shortcomings and highlighting key advantages by laying the cards on the table. It is also a powerful tool for the team to brainstorm on how to overcome concerns together.

Praise First is not only a great tool to analyze and improve ideas by transforming them into workable solutions, it is also very useful to provide feedback on behaviour products or proposals. (Refer to www.think-learn-grow.blogspot.com for an example of how I used Praise First during a classroom boservation)


Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” The deliberate work to affirm new ideas is such an opportunity.

The Future is in Your Mind

I bought a shapes chunky puzzle for my 10 months old daughter. While she was toying with the pieces, my wife with all good intentions commented, “Darling, you cannot fit a round block into a square hole.” Shortly after, the baby amazingly took some scrap cloths to pad the base of the block and managed to make that supposedly impossible fit. The point is, to envision the possibility of change, evaluate ideas in an affirmative and developmental approach. As the former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

References:

Downton, J. V. (1973). Rebel leadership: Commitment and charisma in a revolutionary process. New York: Free Press.

Miller, B. J., Vehar, J. R.; Firestien, R. L. (2001). CPS facilitation: A door to creative leadership (3rd Ed.) . Williamsville, NY: Innovation Systems Group.

Northouse, P. G. (2004). Leadership: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Puccio, G. J., Murdock, M. C., & Mance, M. (2007). Creative leadership: Skills that drive change. Three Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

My Seventh P of Creativity

Definition of PROVOKE (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provoke):
1 aarchaic : to arouse to a feeling or action b: to incite to anger
2 a: to call forth (as a feeling or action) : evoke b: to stir up purposely c: to provide the needed stimulus for

Based on the article 'The internet and Malaysian politics: The perils of modernity" (http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10854822) no one can undermine the influence of the Internet- not even the government. It was reckoned that close to 60% of Malaysia flooded the internet with "an unusual combination of high internet penetration and pliant mainstream media" and influencing the 8th March 2008 elections. The internet is indeed a powerful tool to provoke people to take actions.

As a platform for community building, the internet informs, arouses curiosity and drives some people to action. Through a more interactive Web 2.0, human knowledge is expanding so rapidly students today leverage on it for endless learning at their finger tips with search engines like Google, Alta Vista, and Ask Jeeves. Ironically, many too becomes inundated with the flooding of emails and with increased time to process at rapid fire type of response needed with each mail. This invitably, creates within some an invinsible wall of apathy leading to a resistance of new ideas. While some may be provoked to making a creative difference, others nonchalently are provoked to the other extreme - indifference.

Mel Rhodes articulated the 4 P’s of creativity- Person, Press, Product, Process (1961). Simonton's 5th P-Persuasion, plays an integral part in a product (the physical manifestation of an idea) being adopted into a domain of the press. Runco (2006) identified social factors that can support, undermine, or do neither for its acceptance into a given domain. For product to gain acceptance into the domain, it then integrates as part of the press, where it becomes either internalized by the person in the form of a value or a perception of the press or as a tangible tool. (note: Runco advocated the 6th P as Potential)

Building on Simonton’s Persuasion as the 5th P, I am conceptualising the idea that Provocation may be a possible 7th P- to effect beyond persuasion to 'buy-in' an idea. To me, Provocation connotes a higher level of persuasion that strongly forces individuals to take action. This is becoming even clearer with the practical instantiation of the shift in new technologies that permit individuals greater control over the creation of content and interaction with others not confined by geographical boundaries.

On a personal 'provocative' exploration, my interest in blogging stemmed from as a journal of reflections (http://john-yeo.blogspot.com/) and propagated to several domain areas- each serving a different purpose/audience. I find blogs as an excellent way of sharing information and useful platform to build communities. As a change agent for creativity, I was glad that my workshops for creativity have built a community of teachers who are keen to learn more and for this reason, http://think-learn-grow.blospot.com/ was created. To share on innovative practices, ‘http://create-teeth-buzz.blogspot.com/, generated some energy where people were beginning to look deeper into how we sustain innovation within organisations.

Edward de Bono contributed greatly to the provocation by re-branding creativity. Yet, being dissatisfied with the term “creativity”, he reasoned that it was too broad and had a biased value judgement to what it means. He redefined creativity as a way of Lateral Thinking, which was an ability to look at things in different ways. He coined the term PO as technique to directly & deliberately provoke lateral thinking. He intended PO not just for suspending judgement, but to allow one to jump outside judgement system and conscious call to “shift” thinking. Though simply just a word to announce the desire to shift from the current track of thinking, the use of PO vocally provokes creativity.



In conclusion, I read with great interest a recent report on 'REDEFINING PEDAGOGIES FOR THE FUTURE' on how Provocation is key to impact education of tomorrow. The report was derived from a group of Singapore educators who embarked on a project to explore teaching approaches and teacher competencies necessary to engage students of the 21st century. Led by Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, Principal of Raffles Junior College, they studied the characteristics of what makes a Creative Society tick. I quote from the report

"The world, they said, has moved from being static to dynamic, from mass media
to masses of media, manipulation to relation, objective to subjective,
professional to amateur and consumer to participation. Before, we were
consumers of political messages. People these days want to participate. The role of producers and consumers has changed. In the last 5 years, trust has shifted from authorities such as media and government, to peers like you and me."

The emerging provocative forces from globalisation, transnationalism, increased connectivity with technological advances and a shift towards becoming an innovation driven economy, liberates the motivation of the creative individuals to impact new changes. From an educational angle, the above report provides evidence that Provocation will accelerate educational reform since its driven by the changing dynamics of classroom participation in this Knowledge Age.

Pictures from http://www.friendster.com/photos/38502027/1/360060383#pic=01217992268

Tapping into Personal Creativity

Profiling surveys has provided me a deeper understanding on creativity- and how it is drawn from all areas of human consciousness.

For example,

• MBTI: Extraverted Intuition with Feeling (ENFP): Allowed me to see how I relate spontaneously and flexibly with the outside world and enjoy using imagination and feelings to see new possiblities;.
  
• Emergenetics: My bi-modal profile for social thinking (47%) and conceptual thinking (42%) allowed me to appreciate why my wife is God-sent with a perfect complementary profile of Structural thinking (63%) and analytical thinking (30%). Behaviourally, her firmness and level of assertivness synergises my animated expressiveness and open-minded flexibilty, and we usually make very balanced decisions together as a team. (Of course, you do recognise the potential for conflicts too!)
  
  
• Foursight: My energy invest naturally as an ideator and developer-intuitive, global and conceptual in thoughts, which allows me to understand how I can best contribute to a team and the need to stay focused, apply affirmative judgement while keeping the novelty alive
  

I have recognised that creative processes are neither strictly cognitive nor are they wholly affective. An individual’s creativity often proceeds “intuitive leaps” precisely because it draws from the different faculties of ‘our mind and consciousness that are not wholly regulated by rational thought’ (Robinson, 2001, p154).

Creativity can be framed as an interactionist model- not a purely cognitive intellectual process, and that it may be enriched by other personal capacities or experiences and in particularly by feelings, intuition and by a imagination (Woodman & Schoenfeldt, 1999). Thus with a heightened awareness of my inner resources, abilities and limitations, I can then better develop my creative potential and inspire others to explore their inner search for creativity.

References

Robinson, K. (2001). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone

Woodman, R.W, Schoenfeldt, J.F. (1990), "An interactionist model of creative behavior", Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 24, pp.279-90.

A creative video of being a Singaporean Hero

Singapore celebrated our 43rd National Day on 090808 and the National Heritage Board created a very creative yet genuine video of the hero in being a Singaporean... a candid twist of the less 'propagada-ish' national day songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLqVWEI7ovc

Its good to laugh at ourselves, and yet, give ourselves a pat on the good job done. A nice product of the many years of national education and campaigns. Ha3.

We are truly a FINE country- and I mean well! :)

Wonders of Human Creativity

The MILLAU VIADUCT is part of the new E11 expressway connecting Paris and Barcelona and features the highest bridge piers ever constructed. The tallest is 240 meters high and the overall height will be an impressive 336 meters, making this the highest bridge in the world.

Parking in Germany

First air-conditioned bus station in Dubai

World's Fastest Elevator installed in World's Tallest Building

Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp announced the installation of the world's fastest passenger elevator just exactly where it is needed - in Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. The elevator runs at a top speed of 1,010 meters per minute when ascending (600 meters per minute on the way down), which works out to 60.6 kilometers per hour. The Elevator can go from the 5th floor to the 89th floor in 39 seconds.

The world's fastest elevator offers the following new technologies: The world's first pressure control system, which adjusts the atmospheric pressure inside a car by using suction and discharge blowers, preventing those riding inside the car experiencing 'ear popping'

The World's First All-glass Undersea Restaurant

The World's First All-glass Undersea Restaurant Opens at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. It will sit five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views.

Keep it Engaging & Crisp with Pecha Kucha

I am excited.

Tomorrow (15/7/08) night I will be going down to watch Pecha Kucha http://www.pecha-kucha.org/ here in Buffalo, NY after class.

To keep it short... its a presentation with powerpoint show for any presenters talk within 6min 40s with ONLY 20 slides. I think its a very post-modern creative approach to Torrance's Beyonder Skill of 'Hightlight the Essence'. Its amazing how such a simple concept by two architects in Tokyo who desire to have a performance space to talk about ideas in a most concise manner has exploded to a regular stint in more than 20 Cities. Powerful rules to rein in 'excessive redundant talk'.

Even one of my favorite writers- Daniel Pink (readto my entries on his 'Whole New Mind') did a presentation on SIGNS. In shared his presentation on how signs more emotionally intelligent- 'Demonstrate empathy; Encourage empathy'. Very insightful indeed.

In this age where we are overloaded with far too much information, and people in this fast-paced age hunger for whats most essential- its worth checking it out. If I am so inspired by tomorrow night, I will make my first 6minutes 40s speech when I get back to Singapore. Thats visionary thinking for someone who loves to 'talk'... the challenge for me- KISS: Keep it Sweet & Short

Developing Neuroleadership

As I start to conceptualise my own leadership vision, study of transformational, transactional, servant leadership showed me that the heart of leadership ultimately leads to a deep awareness of self and influencing others to create change.

Yet, evidence of a fresh approach, new science that is emerging is. Neuroleadership- Another study of human functioning that may impact organisational change that infuses cognitive and social nature of change. I guess in the light of globalisation and competition, there is an urgency to develop new skills and new mindsets.

If one can grasps the following big ideas , I think "you've got it"

• Be better, be different – compete on value (intellectual property, design)
• Strong on ‘soft skills’ – communication, flexible, collaboration, cross-cultural sensitivities
• Ability to manage complexities, unstructured, open-ended and novel situations

For those interesting in Neuroleadership and its related field, check out the following:
- Global Neuro Leadership Summitshttp://www.neuroleadership.org/
- First summit in Italy http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2007/01/the_first_global_neuroleadersh.html
- North American sumit in NY http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/6/prweb952424.htm

Maybe I should dig deeper to see if I can write a paper for the first publication of the Neuroleadership Journal! No pain no gain!

The High Concept & High Touch Whole Mind

When wabbit just introduced me to Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind, she said, just read the first chapter and you'll be excited. Pinks introductory chapter started with "The future belongs to a different kind of person.... Designers, inventors, teachers, storytellers — creative and empathetic right-brain thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't." The idea that those people who "Think different" may be valued even more than ever instantaneously got me hook onto the book!

Mind map on Daniel Pink's book from http://www.learning-tech.co.ukwhole_new_mind.htm.gif/

Below is a fine piece of how Garr Reynold's combined Pink's aptitudes of Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. with the mastery of great presentation.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2006/08/from_design_to_.html
In Reynold's words, "these are not the last word on the aptitudes needed by the modern presenter, but mastering these along with other important aptitudes such as strong analytical skills will take you far as a communicator in the "conceptual age."" (And yes, Reynold's blog is simply one of the coolest, well-dated and much wisdom waiting to discover!)

From an educational standpoint, since the ability to see connections require cognitive engagement, brain-based theory recommends that educators ought to engage both sides (hemispheres) of the brains to learn.

“Today the left brain capabilities that powered the information age are
necessary but no longer sufficient. The “right brain” qualities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness and meaning – increasingly determine who flourishers and who flounders. …professional success and personal fulfillment
now requires a whole new mind.” (Daniel Pink, p3)

With these in mind (now that our mind has “expanded”) how do we leverage on the instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning:

1. Creating learning environments that fully immerse students in an educational experience (Orchestrated immersion)
   
2. Eliminate fear in learners, maintaining highly challenging environment (Relaxed alertness)
   
3. Allow learners to consolidate and internalise information by actively processing it. (Active processing)

Highly recommended website (learning theories on curriculum design and student engagement) http://www.funderstanding.com/right_left_brain.cfm

Libraries of Tomorrow

Just as we are cracking our brains thinking the importance (or non-importance) of how design is changing schools, I was deeply impressed on Bosch & Fjord's "point of view" approach of co-creating on actual projects that his company has managed to execute. They have recently launched their new project "The Library of the Future".

This was one of the most 'core' words I heard from Rosan Bosch as she explained why designing to bring out the individuality in all aspects of work, play and chill means a great deal. "You need to have room for your personality at work otherwise you cannot be creative."

Their amazing works brings together "opportunities, common to all of humanity, for experiencing a new sensibility, tactility, and sociality - by also investigating the various codes and games in which the body takes part, and the spaces established around such games, be it in financial, cultural, or social terms." http://uk.bosch-fjord.com/content.asp?page=text&ID=164

Do catch a glimpse of this on http://www.bosch-fjord.com/ Check out the mind blowing pictures on the Library of tomorrow!

Ambidextrous Organisations & Other processes

Innovation can be an extremely chaotic and messy business. Many theories, many alternatives, many views. Yet, the real thinking needs deepen to understand what works for us and be well contextualized for innovations for tomorrow.

One article that I was greatly inspired is the ‘Ambidextrous Organisations’. It pointed the different models of organizations that deals with both incremental and radical innovations well.

"... these kinds of companies "ambidextrous organisations", and we believe they provide practical and proven model for forward-looking executives seeking to pioneer radical or disruptive innovations, while pursuing incremental gains. A business does not have to escape its past, these cases show, to renew itself for the future."

On why Singapore Quality Assessment is still key to put organizations ‘in place’ people need understand that the difference in the process of SQA and innovation is in the extent of turbulence created by the external environment. An organization need have an understanding of how to respond to changes around. Theodora Tan, Supt of E5, extracted the concept from the book by Brent Davies and Linda Ellison entitled 'Strategic Direction & Development of the School’. It explains the differences between emergent strategy, intraprenuership, strategic planning and strategic intents.

The SQA process assumes that there is a high level of understanding of how an organisation should respond to the challenges it faces. Hence it plans and puts in place processes in a systematic manner. However, when the level of understanding is low, which is essentially the work that we do and what innovation is all about - breaking new ground, the process is messy and a lot more fluid.

Can all the approaches co-exist in an organisation? In my mind, the answer is 'yes'. It just depends on what aspect of the work we are talking about and the level of understanding of how we should be approaching it.

Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?

Christophe Vorlet

The New York Times
by JANET RAE-DUPREE
Published: May 4, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/business/04unbox.html?ei=5087&em=&en=12f4319f96a5d073&ex=1210737600&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1210583527-C/L6paCiUVnguCtJ9hBl4w

"HABITS are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative connotation."

Author suggest that it seemed antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. Yet with the advances in neuroscience, brain researchers have discovered that with conscious development of new habits, parallel synaptic paths are created and even allows new neurons to 'jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.'

"Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners noted “the first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder ... But we are taught instead to ‘decide' ... and to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

Whats interesting is that: researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. The argument goes on to say that with standardized testing in schools, analysis and procedure that is highlighted would then disallow people to use their "innovative and collaborative modes of thought."

New personal mastery can come by developing new habits. "If you’re an analytical or procedural thinker, you learn in different ways than someone who is inherently innovative or collaborative. Figure out what has worked for you when you’ve learned in the past, and you can draw your own map for developing additional skills and behaviors for the future..... If you have a pathway to learning, use it because that’s going to be easier than creating an entirely new pathway in your brain.”

Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova identified 3 zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. "Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs."

When we enter the stretching zone, “it helps keep your brain healthy. It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. ... but scientists speculate that getting out of routines makes us more aware in general.”

Interestingly, the May 08 issue of Harvard Business review interviewed John J. Medina and sought his views on how 'The Science of Thinking Smarter' can show managers way to improve productivity.

• He stated that scientists still know very little about how to apply the new knowledge of neuroscience to real-world settings.
• Whats for real though, would be that by "unpacking the neuroscience of stress, companies can dramatically improve the productivity of their knowledge workers and thus gaining a competitive edge."
• Also, it is established that the brain is highly sensitive and can respond very differently to external experiences and thus implies that we can "literally rewire it through exposure to cultural influences."
• How learning is fixed is unclear and he notes "memory is not fized at the moment of learning, and repetition improves the odd of retrieval."
• What is common knowledge is that the brain, like a muscle, gets larger and more complex with increased activity and experience.
• Oh, and that exercise-known to be improve cardiovascular system enhances blood flow and blood vessels in the brain and thus, reduce chance of contracting Alzeheimer's disease
  

Ms Ryan proposed the practice of kaizen, a Japanese technique that calls for tiny, continuous improvements. “Whenever we initiate change, even a positive one, we activate fear in our emotional brain,” “If the fear is big enough, the fight-or-flight response will go off and we’ll run from what we’re trying to do. The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness.”

Ms. Markova suggests that by taking a look at how colleagues approach challenges, it brings about intellectual diversity in the business. "We tend to believe that those who think the way we do are smarter than those who don’t. That can be fatal in business, particularly for executives who surround themselves with like-thinkers."

They encouraged that by churning through the initial confusion state with new activities, the brain then starts organizing the new input, leading to the creation of new synaptic connections if the process is repeated enough. But if, during creation of that new habit, the “Great Decider” steps in to protest against taking the unfamiliar path, “you get convergence and we keep doing the same thing over and over again,” she says.

“You cannot have innovation ..... unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.”

The Cognitive Age

New York Times By DAVID BROOKS
Published: May 2, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/opinion/02brooks.html?ex=1367467200&en=cc3f18b330bcead4&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook

Brooks argue that we need look beyond the globalization paradigm Although most agree that globalization is the chief process driving our age and that our lives are being transformed by the increasing movement of goods, people and capital across borders.

The changing of historical narratives shows that what used to determining boundaries are blurred where capital flows freely and technology levelling the playing field allowing for fiercer global competition.

Yet the globalization paradigm has evolved and is no longer the central force driving economic change. "Pankaj Ghemawat of the Harvard Business School has observed, 90 percent of fixed investment around the world is domestic. Companies open plants overseas, but that’s mainly so their production facilities can be close to local markets."

Brooks identified that the chief force reshaping manufacturing is technological change. "Thanks to innovation, manufacturing productivity has doubled over two decades. Employers now require fewer but more highly skilled workers. Technological change affects China just as it does the America."

The central process driving that is changing the ecomomy landscape is no longer globalization but a skills revolution - a more demanding cognitive age.

"In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. But the most important part of information’s journey is the last few inches — the space between a person’s eyes or ears and the various regions of the brain. Does the individual have the capacity to understand the information? Does he or she have the training to exploit it? Are there cultural assumptions that distort the way it is perceived? .....

But the cognitive age paradigm emphasizes psychology, culture and pedagogy — the specific processes that foster learning. "

How Google Fuels Its Idea Factory

CEO Eric Schmidt describes the simple principles driving the company's steady stream of innovations http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_19/b4083054277984.htm

Think like a CEO: Imagine if you were the CEO, what would you say?

• Do companies have to manage innovation differently in a downturn?
• Can other companies emulate Google's famous model of letting engineers spend about 20% of their time on projects outside their main job?
• Why aren't many other companies doing this, too?
• What obstacles does Google face in continuing to innovate?
• So you still need that face-to-face contact?
• Google has a reputation for doing a lot of R&D in-house, as well as buying companies to bring in other technologies. Are you shifting that toward getting outside talent to contribute in a bigger way than they have?
• So we're likely to see even more acquisitions by Google?
• Does this mean it's tough for people to adjust, and will that limit the number of companies you can comfortably buy?
• How does Google make sure it's producing innovations that change the game enough to create big new markets but also continue to appeal to its main customers, who might not want so much disruption?
• How do you make sure all these Google engineering projects actually turn into useful services?
• How much of a concern is it that Google has seen both executives and engineers depart for other companies or startups?
• Can innovation really be managed, or is it a case where you have to keep the company and its managers out of the way?

Innovation Matters

In one of my earliest blog entry on No-big-deal Innovation http://create-teeth-buzz.blogspot.com/2008/03/innovation-is-no-big-deal-really.html after being so inspired by dining with thoughts leaders of the different fields, bringing the learning back home, I am increasing sensing the great disjoint.

I think my exasperation lies in this observation- that Singaporeans are only hung up over "innovations is good to have, we believe its the next tipping point, we know it drives change,...." and the wonderful list goes on. YET, it leaves many to wonder, what worked for the thriving firms on innovation or why didn't it work for us? I wish to probe deeper then that we need to re-examine- how many truly embraces this level of change? What does this change management entail? How can we contextualise innovation for ourselves?

A paradigm shift: Straits Times (April 30, 08) carried the article 'Clash in Innovation Incentives' by Richard W. Carney and Loh Yi Zheng that highlighted the conflict that I am grappling with. It identified in bold the root of the problem-

'Singaporean managers and employees may be exceptionally creative. But Singaporean institutions foster conflicting innovation styles, their efforts do not produce any sustainable innovation activities of either type.'

Some food for thoughts...

• Singapore face a 'considerable difficulty in building a durable base of entreprenuerial activity- despite being richer than France, Germany and Japan on per capita basis and numerous government efforts to spur innovation.
• Is our culture is simply too risk adverse or do we lack creativity? Or could the writers rightly identify it as the fault of institutional arrangements?
• What are the types of incentives of institutions that will allow both incremental (or small scale improvements to products or services) AND radical innovation to take place?
• For long term focus, incremental innovation matters most. It involves cumulative learning with specialised training of workers to prevent other companies from "poaching" these skilled workers. With clients and major suppliers, investment into specific physical assets in important. Such practices establish a culture of 'trust, certainty and camaraderie throughout the value chain'- thus spreading the benefits of costs, benefits and risk of R&D for all to grow in the process and generally uninterupted by the 'occasional difficulty of the individual firms'.
• Role of dominant owners: shield from short-term capital market pressures and producing long term productivity goals. Impact on managers: focus on 'low-risk strategies and continous improvements on established products, ... to build a competitive edge.'
• Conversely, radical innovation focus on the short term- 'hit and miss' of seeking the next 'blockbuster' product, which would 'recover the cost of all other unprofitable endeavours'.

SO here's the big argument...

Firing of employees with the requsite skills and the knowledge after if a product does not materialise, essentially is no big deal! In fact, writers opined that 'arm-length relationships also enable such firms to poach the highly valuable 'drop-outs'. The writers argue that since fast evolving sectors' success depend on speed and flexibilty, our strong commitment of inter-firm relationship is thus a reliablity.

Paradoxically, since the nimbleness to mandate only fall on managers, and require little consultancy with the workers OR even the owners, the tendency for managers to 'wield greater powers' disperses the ownership. This frees up firms with 'liquid and virbrant equity market' to better to 'coping with novelty and catering to investors with heterogenenous risk appetite'. On investment, the stock market then allows venture capitalist to exit easily after IPO. It then suggest that this key to driving a bigger thrust for innovative companies to emerge with this constant flux of knowledge spillover to renew itself through the formation of new firms and new R&D competencies. In fact, some of my friends that visited US recently commented that the park/garage of temp 'car-stayers', was a highly regarded as anyone in there could be jolly well the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

Our BIG problem then would be....

when we want encourage both incremental and radical approaches, we are at a fix then with how to set the incentives for innovation. Also, since coporate ownership is so high, we also then tend to focus more on the low risk strategies for improvements.

The authors thus challenges companies to either choose ONE of the following:

• Create longer term employment and stronger inter-firm relationships
• Disperse coporate ownership and cultivate a thriving venture capital market

Which then would be approach that best suits our 'unique cultural and economic circumstances'?

Learning Spaces

Space is a constraint in Singapore.

A man who parked his bike illegally stirred the media last year when he revengefully locked the doors of the National Library after his bike was locked couple of times. NLB said that it posed a danger as a fire hazard, he refuted the argument. Now, NLB brought in the bicycle rakes for users who decide to go green by not using petrol/diesel. hmm...a situation where opportunity arised from conflict perhaps.


On the other hand, one of the first mega schools in Singapore- Anderson Primary School, merged 3 primary schools together was not exactly 'mega' in size. Yet the tiny plot of land in Ang Mo Kio has caused the management to innovatively optimise the use of space/lack of space :) I was marvelled by the use of the white overhead beam along the walkway into the courtyard of the school. Most schools would have installed a overhead television to screen programs, announcements, or other edutaining purposes. They cleverly converted that space into a wide screen projection area. Definitely well utilised to capture attention, many times better than a large screen TV. A simple, little frills, but highly economical innovation.


I recently shared the article "Design of the Learning Space" from Educause Review (July/August 2005) with the Innolab team and DCPD circulated it to rest of directors. Some importants questions as school leaders need to re-think.

What were the "formal" spaces of learning yesterday? How have we changed the use of space today? What do we envision for learning spaces tomorrow?

In my earlier blog entry, I shared how Hellerup Skole in Denmark reshaped learning spaces to be more student centred (rather than activity/schedule centred). I like to challenge educator then to ask: how can we consider the instructional implications of these spaces along our corridors, hall ways and even canteen (would blog about my mini PBL project in next entry) One thing is for sure, our students are increasingly becoming digitally literate (and believe me , I lost countless games on maple story when I play with my 9 yr old niece-her ability to multitask and strategise online is something worth carrying out an enthnography). How should we be concerned then with creation and support virtual learning spaces? Brown stated "Learning spaces encompass the full range of places in which learning occurs, from real to virtual, from classroom to chat room".


To me, there is a pressing need, especially with our small size land area, to study about the driving force within the design process and set our own new benchmarks for progress to be measured. In the article, the authors suggested 4 areas t consider aspects of change- life-cycles, how people learn, technologies for teaching, and students themselves. I would just like to focus on 2 key areas:

How people learn-

1. How would expert learners differ in the way they are engaged as compared to novice learners?


2. How does that impact deeper learning?

The article suggest that expert learners have a more developed scaffold of experience and knowledge that allows them to assimilate and process new information. In contrast, novice learners will "fare better if they reconcile new information with prior knowledge." For educators, I believe this has implication on how we differentiate our instruction in a mix-ability class. When novice learners may struggle with transferring of "problems and data from one context to another", expert learners have greater ease with "reflecting on learning, or metacognition".

As I always encourage teachers to purposefully question the our students learn, it is evident that deeper learning implies a "disciplined perspective" of a practitioner. And beyond the knowledge management, teachers as facilitators need be highly midful that deeper learning occurs when learning is social, active and promotes student ownership. I sense many teachers today are less comfortable with ambiguity in the classroom. I agree that I previously insisted that my teachers have a clear lesson plan. However, that to me is a prerequsite to a good lesson preparation. But beyond that, the teacher needs to clear the collaborative atmosphere in class can only be established if teachers provide prompt and ongoing feedback. To balance between skill set and mind set of a teacher facilitator, a good teacher needs be a reflective practioner! It boils down to unravelling the principles behind PBL, TfU, UbD- which is to identify the meaningful learning experiences and study how we could shape this environment to promote learning. In essence, I think as educators, we need to ask ourselves beyond looking at the instructional needs, do we also consider the learning needs of our students?

The Net Generation -

Face it, I know my students are so much more comfortable with technology than with their teachers, yes, even Mr Yeo :) My ex-students are so much freer to communicate with me via MSN, facebook or even their blogs then to pick up their phone and greet:"Hello Mr Yeo..." (sigh...) Except when one called to say, Mr Yeo, can you attend my wedding! Ha3. The kids today are of the Net Generation and this IS their preferred modes of interaction, communication and socialisation. Our kids love to "augment" with 'formal and informal small groups and discussions". In fact, recalling the first national award that I mentored in 2003, was a group of Sec 3 students who designed a Biology game on SEX-the human reproductive system. Yes, apart from a sexy biology teacher, they had all the skills of designing and programming a splendid digital story- while I had none of their mastery and competence. What I had (then..ha3) was my ability to advise on the content, story board and suggest ideas to make the game more sex-citing. Needless to say, we got first!

I guess it leaves me to ask "What technology skills and preferences do students currently have?" "What skills do they have in future?" "What skills do they need?" and "How will we meet these needs?" Much room for thought.

I welcome post for comments/concerns. For the teachers in Anderson, please share with me how these ideas would change the way you go into your classroom next week? I look 4ward to your thoughts....

Bird : Innovation & Creativity, Team Dynamics, Leadership 1

In an article from the McKinsey Quarterly (April 2008): 'Innovation lessons from Pixar: An interview with Oscar-winning director Brad Bird' by Hayagreeva Rao, Robert Sutton, and Allen P. Webb
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Innovation_lessons_from_Pixar_An_interview_with_Oscar-winning_director_Brad_Bird_2127

Although stimulating the creativity of animators might seem very different from developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs, Bird’s anecdotes are powerful to stir the imagination of innovation-minded executives in any industry.

These were some of his other creative insights from the interview-

Creativity and Innovation

Great ideas come from unexpected places. Who could have predicted that bicycle mechanics would develop the airplane or that the US Department of Defense would give rise to a freewheeling communications platform like the Internet. Seek inspiration in surprising sources.

Fear becoming complacent. Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter said, in effect, “The only thing we’re afraid of is complacency—feeling like we have it all figured out. We want you to come shake things up. We will give you a good argument if we think what you’re doing doesn’t make sense, but if you can convince us, we’ll do things a different way.”

Value failure. Bird joined Pixar after coming off a film that was a highly regarded financial failure. Yet, for a company that has had nothing but success, they invited him to "Go ahead, mess with our heads, shake it up". "I worked on a number of badly run productions and learned how not to make a film."

Provide room to experiment ideas - "the heads of Pixar gave us leave to try crazy ideas."
Be 'dirty' In order to do things differently, he had to shake the purist out of those who are things really well—"essentially frighten them into realizing I was ready to use quick and dirty “cheats” to get something on screen if they took too long to achieve it in the computer."

Embrace inequality. "Not all shots are created equal. Certain shots need to be perfect, others need to be very good, and there are some that only need to be good enough to not break the spell. "


Team Dynamics

Importance of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones, encouraging dissent, and building morale.

Get the "involved" for better innovation. Don't just go for the passionate folks; pick people who are involved and engaged- "what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” If you had thermal glasses, you could see heat coming off them."

Value of “black sheep”—restless contributors with unconventional ideas. When managed opined that the production of Incredibles would need 10 yr and US$500 million to shoot, he then built him team with "artists who are frustrated", "have another way of doing things that nobody’s listening to" and probably "headed out the door”. He noted "a lot of them were malcontents because they saw different ways of doing things, but there was little opportunity to try them, since the established way was working very, very well."

Synergise diversity. "... find a way to get them to put forth their creativity in a harmonious way. Otherwise, it’s like you have an orchestra where everybody’s playing their own music. Each individual piece might be beautiful, but together they’re crazy."

Innovation takes TIME to make and break, & vice versa. "By the end of the film, that animation team was much stronger than at the beginning, because we had all learned from each other’s strengths. But it took two months for people to feel safe enough to speak up."

Be transparent, even to conflicts. When project failed, instead of working with the individual teams(as previous directos had done), he brought them together and created magic "... we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we can interconnect all our strengths, we are collectively the greatest..Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together. If there is a solution, I want everyone to hear the solution, so everyone adds it to their tool kit. .... if you see something different, go ahead and disagree. I don’t know all the answers.” "I saw directors systematically restricting people’s input and ignoring any effort to bring up problems. As a result, people didn’t feel invested in their work, and their productivity went down. " "..... but the money gets on the screen because we’re open in our conflict. Nothing is hidden."

Face challenges ...humbly. A staff said to Bird, “I want to know why you’re doing this.” Bird thought:" And there was a part of me that wanted to say, “Because I’m the director, that’s why. Do you want to take this problematic thing over?” After a pause, he explained his rationale. He noted that once he gave that answer, everyone felt, “OK, we’re on this ship and we’re going toward a definite destination.”

Work on the morale. "In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget—but never shows up in a budget—is morale."

Reach for the impossible dream. "The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. ...You don’t play it safe—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. "

Encourage people to upgrade. Pixar calls thier optional classes “PU,” or Pixar University- to basically encourage people to learn outside of their areas, which makes them more complete. "Sometimes, people even move from one area to another."
Weed out the passive agressive people - people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away—are poisonous (toxicity in organisations)

Leadership
Innovative leaders are subversive. "I think the best leaders are somewhat subversive, because they see something a different way. "

Be open minded to change. "They(the old animators) were masters of the form, but they had the attitude of a student."

Bird : Design of Physical Space 2

Someone recently commented that we do not need to add 'meaningless' structures or objects in the passage way, just to make people interact more. She questioned how much would it then make the workplace a more creative space, leading to a change in the 'dry' culture. I appreciate her concern. Based on the profiling tool of Emergenetics, I can understand such people whose minds are wired with a strong structured thinking(versus one with high social/conceptual thinking) would consider the photos of my earlier entries as superficial (( = superficial, superfluous, or even Silly). My gut feel, has always been, structures/sytems change behaviours. I remain true to this.




Its subheadings says: What does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? A lot. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Innovation_lessons_from_Pixar_An_interview_with_Oscar-winning_director_Brad_Bird_2127

Brad's thoughts on the design of the physical space:

The Quarterly: What does Pixar do to stimulate a creative culture?
Brad Bird: If you walk around downstairs in the animation area, you’ll see that it is unhinged. People are allowed to create whatever front to their office they want. One guy might build a front that’s like a Western town. Someone else might do something that looks like Hawaii. Steve Jobs initially didn’t like this idea, but John Lasseter said, “We’ve got to let it go a little crazy where the animators are.” John believes that if you have a loose, free kind of atmosphere, it helps creativity.

Then there’s our building. Steve Jobs basically designed this building. In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. He realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.

My thoughts: Perhaps we then need to address, how can we help people to learn to USE these spaces, more comfortably perhaps?

The key to Schooling FOR the Future- Projects

All these talk about preparing students to be well equipped for the 21st Century. What are the distinguishing attributes of their program that separate them from the rest of the world?

Project Management—A 21st Century Skill
KaosPilot International
International School of New Business Design and Social Innovation -Training entrepreneurs and project leaders with a creative edge and a global mind.


http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/27/most_unusual_college_in_the_world

Their incredible Tibet Project that has a documentary produced on it. http://www.tibet.net/en/flash/2003/1103/261103_1.html

Their website with their big projects http://www.kaospilot.dk/docs/HotProjects.asp

Some thoughts: Although Kaospilot is really one of its kind, in general, the Danish education system and the philosophy of teaching does provide foundations for development of creative minds in people. The focus of education is on problem-solving, emphasizing on analysis and application. Diversity that comes with not banding pupils according to abilities builds acceptance that there will always be different ways that people learn and relate, and allows for people to bring ‘different things’ to the table.

New Tech Foundation
Extracted from: http://www.newtechfoundation.org/press_articles.html

December 2007 Real Projects in a Digital World, Principal Leadership Magazine
By Suzie Boss & Jane Krauss

Managing a complex project is the stuff of real work. In the business world, a good project manager is a master communicator, an efficient time manager, a careful budgeter, and a
tireless troubleshooter. These skills can be applied to the world of teaching and learning, too. Few teachers have received formal training in project management.... help teachers think about the tools and strategies they can use with students for managing time, collaborating with team members, and assessing progress.

For example, teachers will need to:

• Communicate with students and others about the project
  
• Make milestones and events visible and notify students of changes
  
• Get resources to students


• Assess student work from many angles and give just-in-time


• Feedback on student work as it develops, not just when it’s completed.
  

Students will need to:

• Manage their time and flow of work


• Manage materials and control work drafts


• Collaborate with team members and experts
  
• Get and use feedback on their work (through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice)


• Work iteratively and see how parts add up to the whole.

Some thoughts: In the face of NCLB in US, the opportunity to bring forward different school models help to free up the public school system to raise quality. A visit last March to San Francisco allowed me to see how New Tech Foundation transformed schools through the pervasive practice of Problem-based learning. An honored opportunity to meet Bob Pearlman, Director of Strategic Planning and his team showed us that technology could be a very powerful way to drive learning as students articulate the problems posed by teams of teachers, using internet to gather their information and synthesize their learning in a truly authentic manner. The foundation's philosphy is anchored on making the 21st centuries literacies embedded and enlivened in their curriculum design.

For more info on Bob and the New Technology Foundation and the schools: http://www.bobpearlman.org/

In Singapore, the papers highlighted an interesting project that was shared during the 10th Hwa Chung Institution's Students’ Research Symposium commended by SMS Lui for their creativity. The team had conducted surveys, organised other secondary school students to watch the movie "A beautiful mind", as well as produced their own musical, to educate students on the history, research and symptoms of mental illness, culminated into a handbook distributed to almost 300 students.

CNA Online noted SMS Lui commented that R&D was a driver for economic growth and a strong pillar for our long-term competitiveness. To succeed, we(Singapore) needed to attract and grow a sizeable crop of research talent that would enable us to sustain a critical mass of advanced research activity over the long term. He added that we could not wait til the university level to interest our youths in research and innovation. Thus, a need to start them young and allow them to experience the thrill and excitement of being part of a team that was involved in carrying out research that was deeply meaningful and truly significant.

Report noted SMS Lui as saying that it was not hard to conduct research for a project, but by incorporating the topic into reality, it was able to bring about changes.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/343879/1/.html(Posted: 26 April 2008)

A possible flipside to making Mathematical problems too problematic???

Students ‘learn better with symbols’ (Straits Times, 26/4, P48)
Report, taken off Reuters and New York Times, on a research conducted in the United States on maths teaching methods.

Report noted researchers’ argument that maths concepts taught in abstract symbols and various formulae registered better than when students were taught with real-world examples. The research also found that students who first learnt maths concepts using abstract symbols were better able to transfer that learning to other problems when tested. Report also noted that adding extraneous details in story problems made it hard for students to extract basic mathematical concepts and apply them to new problems.

Report additionally noted that the findings cast doubt on the widely used practice of using concrete examples to teach abstract maths concepts, although some mathematicians warned against over-generalising the findings.

Even Standard has an adapted version of PBL- Its called P5BL. http://pbl.stanford.edu/index.html

Of Trust, Respect, Assumptions, Co-creation TO Innovation

I see 1: Build a culture of trust and respect between people; people feel safe about challenging assumptions

Danes and Swedes are bold in conceiving ideas and trying them out.

Nacka Community: children encouraged to question actively and respect diversity and individuality. Teachers are facilitators of learning and comfortable learning from children.

Lars Kolind, CEO of Oticon, removed the hierarchical middle management. Officers were allowed to choose or bid for projects to work on, people whom they like on their team, and mentors to seek guidance from.



I see 2: Co-creation

Design is core Danish strength
Key design principle: include perspectives of customer/ end-user.

IT-University: Inputs from alumni, students, employers and faculty members gathered to inform curriculum development. This spawned the idea of virtual collaboration with Peking Uni.

MindLab: Policy formulation includes conducting ethnographic studies before concept development. Users are also engaged to validate relevance, value and interest of ideas before full implementation.

Bosch & Fjord: Consultants have a process to understand user-needs when designing spaces and a process to help users to learn to use spaces differently.



I see 3: Collaboration and network as multiplier, not burden. Permeability of boundaries breeds innovation

Collaboration helps to overcome size constraints, tap into expertise of others, and provoke alternative ideas.

Hyper Island and Kaospilot: Collaborative behaviours and competencies emphasised. Hyper Island: 4 weeks of team-building); Kaospilot (close ties among graduates across the globe to collaborate on projects)

INDEX: Overcame budget constraints to host delegates in Danish homes instead of conventional ballroom.

LEGO: allowed fans to modify Mindstorm products; fans helped in product development in lean times.

Galvanising a vision that allows people to Act Through with a Bifocal Lens and Optimising Use of Space

Example of an orgnaisational culture that is open and boast of freedom to test ideas. Current team in US study trip. Photo by Dee Chia.
Tagline "Ask Forgiveness, not Approval" - The spirit of the Silicon Valley.... almost everyone we spoke to....those in IDEO, Plug and Play and even the NUS undergrads at Stanford said the hallmark of the Silicon Valley experience is rewarding failure. Fail early to succeed sooner!




I See 4– Innovate from the core; define an organizational vision that galvanizes and identify areas for innovation

Draw on strengths, rally staff around meaningful vision and channel resources to work on key strategies aligned to vision.

LEGO: Core competency is designing toys for independent learning and vision is simple and powerful: Learn through play.

Kaospilot: To be the best organization for the world. Focus on developing skills and mindsets to enable positive contributions to society.

Carlsberg: 7 areas for innovation (beer packaging, beer experience, social and environmental responsibility, consumer health and well-being, easy access, connecting people and brand image.


I see 5 – Act through, not just think through; no need to be perfect
Leave sufficient uncertainties in plans to allow things to evolve and change in execution. [ Contrast with our approach of having a detailed and perfect plan prior to execution.]

Trust in the people doing execution, but also have good monitoring mechanism in place
ITU, SKUB and INDEX are experimental projects set up to explore feasibility of such schools; all had no detailed blueprints provided by government.

Specially identified CEOs brought in to co-create the plan with stakeholders.


I see 6 – Dilemma for big organizations: creativity vs systems, seed vs scale
Operation model (efficiency and accuracy) vs innovation model (experimentation and risk-taking)

LEGO: Dichotomy is between creativity and systems lens
- Systems: take care of current business and run things efficiently
- Creativity: Spot future trends that could bring organization to new heights and invest in experimentation
Bifocal leadership development program to help managers use both lenses depending on context.



I see 7 – Optimal and creative use of space to influence behaviour

Bosch & Fjord: Humans are creatures of habit and we must change environment to trigger desired behavioural changes.

Hellerup Skole: Spaces designed to encourage students to explore new learning and discourage teachers from frontal teaching.

Breaking barriers to create more interactions:

Such a fabulous Blop!

Check it out: More photos in earlier post on Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I found this on the web: SImply AWESOME! http://www.designverb.com/2006/08/22/red-bull-hq-london-whoohoooo

http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/10-seeeeeriously-cool-workplaces/

http://positivesharing.com/2007/03/12-ways-to-pimp-your-office/