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Resources for Innovation – The Power of Constraints

The wise stewardship of resources is the task of any organization. How those resources are deployed for maximum gain is the key responsibility of organizational leadership. The only problem with this concept is what happens when wise stewardship comes up hard against the necessary risking of resources for the material benefit of innovation? Unfortunately, in the present “economic unpleasantness” as a dear friend keeps calling the train wreck that is this great recession, stewardship of resources has digressed to hoarding of resources. Save for one notable exception – human resources.

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Innovation Is Not Clockwork – The Challenges of Innovation Systems

A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without the aim, there is no system. - W. Edward Deming Ignoring the interconnections between organizational subsystems causes havoc when innovation is demanded of all areas of the business, instead of one function, and the competition for resources becomes fierce.

Asides

• The first ever Ignite Princeton event was held on March 2nd at the Nassau Inn in downtown Princeton, NJ. For more information on the event go to the Ignite Princeton event site. To see the eight presentations from the evening go to the YouTube IgnitePrinceton channel. #
• Picked up a great comment from Princeton Scoop here. "“Ignite” presenters share their personal and professional passions on life’s imponderables, improbables, and the decidedly offbeat, from orbiting garbage to the intersection between art and commerce. The whole thing sounds like it could be a tad overwhelming, but consider the event’s overarching theme: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.” Public speaking on Red Bull? Brilliant." #
• What if we take another run at the idea that everything has a life beyond its immediate life? What if we decided that things must be reparable, recoverable, recyclable, re-purpose-able? How different would then be our innovation and design approaches? Our disposable society must be disassembled. Afterlife: An Essential Guide To Design For Disassembly, by Alex Diener - Core77. #
• Gates: This is my second annual letter. The focus of this year’s letter is innovation and how it can make the difference between a bleak future and a bright one. 2009 was the first year my full-time work was as co-chair of the foundation, along with Melinda and my dad. It’s been an incredible year and I enjoyed having lots of time to meet with the innovators working on some of the world’s most important problems. I got to go out and talk with people making progress in the field, ranging from teachers in North Carolina to health workers fighting polio in India to dairy farmers in Kenya. Seeing the work firsthand reminds me of how urgent the needs are as well as how challenging it is to get all the right pieces to come together. I love my new job and feel lucky to get to focus my time on these problems. The full letter is here. #
• Seth's mini-post "Why Ask Why?" on curiosity may not evoke an "A-HA" moment. But I bet it certainly provokes a "YES!" moment or two. I've always said that at the center of innovation lies intellectual curiosity. Without it, you'll never get beyond the notional boundaries (both real and self-imposed) that good problem-solving and creative-thinking directly address. #