What can organizations and companies do to harness tacit knowledge and the curiosity of staff to enable innovation. The presentation includes a workshop session where participants can reflect on how their organization can improve how knowledge is used and gained to enable innovation

1. Harnessing Knowledge for
Innovation
Dr. Shawn Cunningham
sc@mesopartner.com
www.mesopartner.com

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Knowledge for innovation
 Most knowledge in organizations cannot easily be captured:
– Only small portion of knowledge is captured in formal
documents, procedures and systems
– Beyond the formal knowledge habits, routines, artifacts,
rituals, protocol and also stories all make up the tacit
knowledge in the firm when combined with the experience,
natural talent and skills of the employees
 Innovation emerge from the culture of the firm, not only out of the
mind of the entrepreneur or management
Lets look at three ways that knowledge for innovation is
created….

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Knowledge creation by tinkering &
experimentation
To do 9/10/2014:
 There must be a better way – find it
 Carefully collect evidence to convince
boss that this is a better way
 Order book "Rocket science for
dummies"

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Knowledge creation by deductive
reasoning (thinking, reading, research)
To Do list:
 Google "DIY PC Board Washer"
 Figure out what to do with the
contaminated water?
 Read the SANS standard

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Gaining knowledge through
purposeful interaction with others
To Do list:
 Find out if anybody else have this same
problem
 Find out what to call this thing.
 Call Prof about waste water
 Book tickets to electronics fair in
Germany

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Knowledge creation by tinkering &
experimentation - Exercise
Which factors
promote this form of
knowledge creation in
your organization?
Which factors inhibit
this form of knowledge
creation in your
organization?
Tinkering and
experimentation
Deductive reasoning,
research
Collaborating,
engaging with others

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Harnessing knowledge for
innovation
 Formalize and enable experimentation
– Safe to fail and naïve experiments
– Multiple simultanous experiments, combine & connect
– Measure before and after attempts
 Think of new combination of old ideas
– Scan for early signals
– Read broadly, try experiments, dismantle things & ideas
– Move experienced people into new areas
 Building networks of collaborators
– This increase the scope of search and explore activities
– Shared costs & risks
– Reduce the effect of uncertainty

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Building a knowledge factory
 Capture good ideas,
 Keep old ideas alive
 Find new uses for old ideas
 Test promising concepts or modules

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Use Systemic Insight to search and
discovery the evolutionary potential
of the system
 Start with formulating hypothesis about current beliefs,
trends, opportunities and what is not possible
 For the complex issues, design safe2fail experiments that
includes naïve experiments (cannot analyze complex system,
can only engage with it)
 For the ordered issues, design an analysis process, set quick
win activities
 Frequently reflect on “what is really going on here”?
 Learn and adapt based on “what is working better?” and
“what is not going as we expected?”
 Formulate intent as “vector” or broad direction