Thought Pieces
Boosting innovation in the Asian Century
Thursday, 8 November 2012
According to Australia in the Asian Century white paper, the Gillard Government is emphasizing on investing in people, industry and research to create the new jobs and opportunities of the Asian Century.
Senator Evans said “”We cannot rely solely on our natural resources for future prosperity.” and “”Industry, the research sector, the workforce and all levels of Government will need to work more collaboratively to ensure we have the innovative products, services and processes, as well as the skilled workforce and solid networks, that are essential for success in the Asian century,”.
In this century it is crucial to help Australian businesses to improve their understanding of the opportunities that are available in Asia regions, create new jobs in emerging markets, build relationships and partnerships in new markets.
According to Senator Evans “”Our future prosperity will depend on innovation driven by collaboration between industry, investors, researchers and entrepreneurs who are connected to the fast growing and developing Asian region.”
This year, Creative Innovation 2012 (Asia-Pacific) will be featuring scientists, organizational leaders and thought leaders from all over the world with the theme of “Wicked problems, Great opportunities! Leadership for volatile times” . Join us Nov 28-30, Sofitel Melbourne On Collins!
Ci2012 Free eBook
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
We are pleased to offer a very special Ci2012 eBook which provides tips from the world’s leading thinkers, innovators & experts to
our Ci Global Community.
Artwork by AMEENA FALCHETTO (AMEENAFALCHETTO.COM)
5 Rules for Driving Innovation
Monday, 29 October 2012
by Nicola Smith – iMedia Connection
First of all, let’s get one thing straight. Innovation is NOT technology. Technology is often a driver and enabler of innovation, but innovation itself is more about the cultural, and behavioural shifts that occur in society as a result of a new technology, product, service or belief. And for something to be considered truly “innovative” it must drive substantial positive change, so we are not talking about the Spork here people.
Innovation also tends to arrive in clusters; at certain points throughout history, humanity has overflowed with new ideas, products services, art, literature, philosophy and technology and I believe that we are living through one of these clusters right now.
So now that we are all on the same page regarding the definition of innovation, I want to share 5 rules about innovation that will help you understand how to foster forward-looking thinking within your own businesses, or organization.
- Exposure Often Lights the Fire – Exposure to different industries, technologies, content, processes, ideas, products etc. is often the spark that drives innovation. Exposing yourself and your team to other ways of thinking and doing, even in relation to the simplest tasks can drive more innovative thinking. And today, with the access to information and content provided by the Internet and other digital technology, we have no excuses for remaining surrounded by the homogeneous nature of our daily lives.
- New Methods of Education Create Momentum– Innovative is fueled by education and we find that new methods of education in particular seem to drive more groundbreaking thinking. Today we have access to a myriad of new educational platforms and technologies. Online and alternative education is booming (and in many cases free). Start educating yourself and your team now using these new tools so that you are prepared to spot opportunities for innovation when they present themselves.
- FFTW (Failing For The Win) – Another trait of all innovative cultures is that they foster risk taking and understand that failure is a part of the game. If you’re not failing, you’re not really trying. Encourage your team to take chances and give them a safe environment in which to experiment. Also, consider putting aside a small portion of your team’s budget specifically for experimentation and make sure you have mechanism in place to keep track of what works and what doesn’t so that you can apply this knowledge moving forward.
- There is an Art to Creative Combination – Some of the most innovative ideas out there today came from creatively combining existing ideas and functionality with new and interesting bits and pieces from other products, services and ideas. Ask yourself “What are all the ways I might be able to break apart and recombine this product, service, or process? Is there something else out there that could be combined or incorporated into my product that would result in a positive substantial improvement or change?” Like most other art forms creative combination takes practice, so ask yourself these questions everyday and see what you come up with.
- If You Don’t Build It, Someone Else Will – We tend to think of innovation as existing in a vacuum; a “genius” creates something “new” in a secret lab and it is heralded as an amazing, unique innovation. But the reality is that most scientific discoveries and innovations are made independently and more or less simultaneously by multiple scientists and inventors, this is the theory of multiple discovery. Essentially, history is written by the winners and in the innovation space being first often counts more than being the best. If you have an idea for something, a new process, product or service, start bringing it to life or you will be kicking yourself when someone else does.
Harness Employee Creativity Bosses Urged
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Rachel Nickless
Australian Financial Review
US best-selling author Daniel Pink, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Telstra chief executive David Thodey all spoke of the need for freedom in high-performance workplaces at the HRIZON congress last week.
Mr Pink, a former speechwriter for Al Gore and author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, told the world human resources congress in Melbourne that employers’ approach to motivation was based on folklore or management philosophies for 19th century workplaces dominated by menial labour.
“The most important cognitive skill today is the ability to give the world something it didn’t know it was missing, something entirely new,” he said, adding that Mr Wozniak embodied the idea perfectly.
He argued that creative thinkers – from traditional artists to software engineers or entrepreneurs – have these cognitive skills, which is why a Harvard Business School study of 23 artists was so relevant.
The 1993 study asked a group of established artists to each provide one commissioned and one non-commissioned work. The academics then asked a group of art experts to judge the quality of the 46 works.
“The commissioned works and non-commissioned works in technical quality were similar – they were very, very good . . . but over and over again it was the non-commissioned works that were judged as more creative,” Mr Pink said. Asked about these results, “the artists said ‘a few constraints are fine, they help me define a project, but past a certain [point] I can do a good job, but not a great job because it’s no longer fully mine’,” the US author and former lawyer said.
“You look at almost any workplace . . . there is no non-commissioned work, and yet we have this body of evidence that says fewer constraints lead to more creativity.”
Mr Pink warned employers not to use his message to scrimp on pay. “Your aspiration should be to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table . . . get people to think about work, not the money,” he said.
He encouraged managers to set high standards and give plenty of regular, robust feedback, but also give workers a degree of autonomy and flexibility in the way they delivered work.
Companies that had embraced this freedom included Facebook, which allows new recruits to interview the different teams in the organisation and select which team they will work for, he said.
Australian-based software company Atlassian also gives employees an afternoon each quarter to work on anything related to its products, and deliver it to colleagues the next day.
Mr Wozniak, a Silicon Valley icon and now chief scientist at Fusion-io, also urged employers to give their staff time off from normal duties to pursue their own ideas, and to act as venture capitalists for staff who produced great ideas at home.
Organisations seeking to harness creativity should open up communications channels so staff can discuss their ideas with staff more senior than their direct managers, he told The Australian Financial Review.
Meanwhile, Mr Thodey, who has been running a major cultural change strategy at the telecommunications giant for more than two years, spoke of the need to give staff and managers more freedom to resolve customer issues, and to question when it was appropriate to work from scripts. “We need to take a bit more risk in what our people do and say and have confidence they will get it right,” he said.
Not every chief executive is keen on employee freedom, and one member of the audience asked Mr Pink how human resources staff might implement his ideas in their workplaces. The US author said he was a fan of “strategic subversion”. Instead of seeking to change an entire organisation, implement change in your area and talk about it only if it gets results, he said.
Skills you don’t learn in school
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: Business acumen and creativity are not skills that can be learnt in the classroom.
More often than not, these skills revolve around logic and common sense.
With this in mind, RHB-The Star Mighty Minds Challenge 2012 has included a segment dubbed “Innovation, Creativity & Business Acumen Challenge” to test participants on these skills.
RHB Banking Group group corporate services director Norazzah Sulaiman said students must be savvy in managing people and finances to make it in the corporate world.
“You need to know what customers want, then you have to think of ways to beat your competitors. These require innovation, creative thinking, business and management capabilities, all of which are skills that cannot be taught in the classroom,” she said.
“Each team will be given some money and they have to shop for the materials needed to build their models within that limited budget.
“It does not matter whether the students are going to be involved in business in the future.
“They can apply what they learn in this competition in their everyday lives, starting with how they manage their finances,” she added.
Star Publications (M) Bhd group business director Calvin Kan said the champions in the upper secondary category would win a trip to the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Ireland, sponsored by Penang Medical College, on top of the cash prize.
All 28 teams from the lower and upper secondary schools will compete in the grand finals at Cititel, Mid Valley, this weekend.
Winners in the top three places will walk away with cash prizes worth RM10,000, RM5,000 and RM4,000, respectively.
There will also be prizes of RM500, RM300 and RM200 cash through RHB Junior Savings Account for the top three models.
Winners in this category will also have their models displayed at the National Innovation Conference and Exhibition organised by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry from Nov 5 to 7 in KLCC.
Source: The Star Online
What we need to do to keep Innovators in Australia
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
by Kate Mills – BRW
Now that what we had assumed was a safe economic future – digging stuff out of the ground and selling it to China for the next few decades – no longer looks so secure, it’s time we got back to the basic tenets that drive economic growth. With terms of trade and mining exports at record highs, the large amounts of money that have flowed into the country over the past decade have drawn attention away from how to boost the keys to prosperity – productivity and innovation.
In last week’s issue, we revealed the 100 wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs aged under 41 in 2012. Behind the headlines of the new dominance of technology firms over mining magnates was a disturbing figure – that nearly one-quarter (23) of these most successful entrepreneurs now live and have their headquarters abroad. Much of this is attributable to the strength of technology firms in the list and the pull that Silicon Valley has on them in terms of talent, funding and ideas. However, it’s also a sign that many of the best people who create value and employment don’t find Australia a supportive environment. It’s a reminder that while we all know capital is mobile, so too are ideas and people. Every country wants self-starting migrants to make a home on their shores – the competition for people like this is fierce and while having a world-class lifestyle is attractive, it’s not enough.
Three areas should be the focus and two of them call for better policies on funding and regulation. As Jessica Gardner discusses in her story this week, “A hole in the road”, venture capital funding (between $1 million and $10 million) for would-be innovators is thin on the ground and its scarcity is stifling growth. There’s no easy solution for this and venture capitalists’ pleas for more backing from superannuation funds are unlikely to gain traction – and nor should it as super funds are mandated to provide for retirement needs, not to fund a particular asset class.
What is needed are ways to make venture capital a more attractive investment option or finding other ways to fund companies at that stage. Better regulation is also key, where government policy should focus on cutting red tape and essentially getting out of the way of entrepreneurs. The third area isn’t necessarily one of policy but one of attitude. We need to embrace successful people rather than cut them down because of an inbred tall poppy syndrome. In the United States, failure is seen as a necessary part of success. When someone such as Nathan Tinkler falls down, it is in all our interests to want him to stand up again.
Finally it’s too easy to ringfence entrepreneurship to the realm of start-ups and young technology companies. Those that are on the BRW Young Rich are by default start-up companies, even though they are well established, but the focus on encouraging innovation can’t just be with this group. If there’s one place that entrepreneurship is needed most it’s in established mature companies that struggle to reconcile their basic goal of making profits with that of innovation.
Larger companies have become more risk-averse since the financial crisis, particularly those in industries facing structural change such as retail. But these are the ones most in need of embracing new business models. At BRW, we don’t think entrepreneurship is just for start-ups, it must be for everyone.
