Eli 2008 Fall Focus

Spaces to Learn Spaces to Innovate ELI Fall Focus Session 2008 Malcolm Brown Educause Learning Initiative [email_address]

“ If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’ ” attributed to Henry Ford

“ Well… how did I get here?”

“ Well… how did I get here?” North Carolina State http://www.ncsu.edu/PER/scaleup.html

“Well… how did I get here?” Columbia University Teachers College, Gottesman Libraries

“Well… how did I get here?” Georgetown University Law Center Eric E. Hotung International Law Building

Steps Educause Quarterly , No. 1, 2003, pp. 14–15

Steps

Educause Quarterly op-ed piece: 2003

ELI LS focus sessions

Classrooms Fall 2004

Informal Spaces Fall 2005

Mobile Learning Spring 2006

LS eBook: 2006

Educause LS constituent group: late 2006

Technology Learning theory (how people learn) we are here social web NetGens: students and young faculty

How did we get here? We’ve innovated

But what is innovation?

What does it “look” like? Feel like?

How does it work?

How can we be better at it?

What are all the moving parts?

It seems to be everywhere

Innovation seems cool it seems to be about ideas BMW ad here about BMW being all about ideas

Innovation seems empowering

Our LS works seems to be innovative

Apollo 13 Excerpt from the movie Apollo 13 here

a square peg in a round hole… rapidly

It feels like innovation

No formula

Adoption to rapidly changing circumstances

Working with teams

Often handed odds & ends

Funding can be uncertain

New ideas not always received well

but is innovation?

10

1 Innovation = Epiphany or does it???

Version 2: Innovation = Idea

Berkun, p. 9

“ The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas.” Linus Pauling

Implementation “ The elaboration of idea into function… [is] ‘ the one that takes up the most time and involves the hardest work.’ ” Berkun, Myths of Innovation , p. 13

1 research thinking work more work 2 “ missing link” idea 3 implementation thinking work trial & error

Also… Innovation ≠ Serenpidity Percy Spencer (1896–1970)

The microwave

Innovation Epiphany = ≠ + lots of hard work, trial and error, research, etc.

Thought “ Every innovation is difficult.” Christensen, Innovator’s Dilemma , p. 154

2 Understand the diffusion process

What influences diffusion

Relative advantage

Compatibility

Ease of use

Trialability

Observability

following Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations

Analyzing diffusion’s prospects Example 1 relative advantage very high compatibility somewhat low

Analyzing diffusion’s prospects Example 2 relative advantage modest ease of use very low

Analyzing diffusion’s prospects Example 3 compatibility very high relative advantage very high ease of use OK

Analyzing diffusion’s prospects Example 4 relative advantage moderate/high compatibility somewhat low trialability low

TED talk: Technology’s Long Tail

3 Do better brainstorming

Towards better brainstorming

Sharpen the focus

Number your ideas

Build and jump

Write it out: “space remembers”

Get physical: draw a diagram, make a model

Mental yoga & warm-up exercises

following Kelly, The Art of Innovation

Towards “badder” brainstorming

The boss speaks first

Everybody gets a turn

Experts only

Gotta do it off-site

Write everything down

No silly stuff; “we’re professionals ”

following Kelly, The Art of Innovation

4 Understand the challenges of disruption

Thought “ If, at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” Albert Einstein

“ I can’t waste my time on this stuff.” Disney exec on Pixar, c. 1987 (NYT review)

“… we just cannot divert ourselves from the business at hand.” — GM vice chair www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-01/ff_100mpg

“ Search doesn’t matter. Portals do.” Yahoo execs, 1998

Disruption is hard

Limited market capacity for disruption

Disruptive tech won’t fit

Our orgs our less flexible than we want to believe

Failure and iterative learning are keys

Reluctance to invest in disruption: not something you “can bank on”

following Christensen, Innovator’s Dilemma

Managing for disruption

Align disruptive tech with the right customers so there’s tangible demand

Align to small, independent units for small growth

Fail early and inexpensively

Search for markets not technological breakthroughs

following Christensen, Innovator’s Dilemma, p. 113–114

5 Learn to see and observe

“ You can observe a lot by just watching.” Yogi Berra

Learning to see

Don’t rely on surveys and focus groups

Focus on what they do not on what they say

Experts may know too much

Customers may lack the vocabulary to say what is wrong or missing

6 Be left-handed

“ It’s not that we build such bad cars; it’s that they are such lousy customers.” Auto executive, 1930’s

Being left handed

Customers have “jobs”

They “hire” products and services to do them

Target circumstances, not customers

Carefully observe what people are trying to achieve

Danger in asking people to “change jobs”

following Christensen, Innovator’s Solution

7 Fear not failure

Thought “ If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.” Alfred Bernhard Nobel

http://www.wd40.com/about-us/history/

8 Look for blisters and rule-breakers

“… your customers may lack the vocabulary or the palate to explain what’s wrong and especially what’s missing .” Kelly, Art of Innovation , p. 27

“ We all had cell phones. We just hated them, they were so awful to use. Everybody seemed to hate their phones.” Steve Jobs on the idea of the iPhone

9 Who’s on your LS team?

Team building

Lone genius most often a myth

Team’s charge and frame

Not about defending status quo

Sense of something is at stake

Flatter the better

Select for ability not seniority

Create energy: fun

Team motivation “ A specific performance challenge that is clear and compelling to all team members is the greatest motivator.” Wisdom of Teams , p. 269

10 Aim for the wet napkin interface

What is it? “ Open and use.”

Getting there