How to support and develop innovation-oriented entrepreneurship in turbulent VUCA conditions? Ecosystem development, platform thinking and serendipity management as key drivers to improve vucability.

1.
How to Support and Develop the Innovation-oriented
Entrepreneurship in Turbulent VUCA conditions
Ilkka Kakko (in collaboration with Jari Kaivo-oja and Kari Mikkelä)
21.9.2016, Tangsel Selatan Global Innovation Forum

2. Content
Ø Postnormal VUCA Era
Ø Cyclical Innovation Model as ecosystem driver
Ø Platform thinking
Ø Serendipity management
Ø Case: Espoo Innovation Garden, Finland
Ø Vucability assessment
Ø Conclusions

3. Postnormal Era - VUCA
Postnormal Era (ref. Boyd)
=> Organizations are becoming fast-and-loose, reconfiguring
around social networks instead of business processes, becoming more
decentralized and as autonomy increases, more egalitarian. We will
belong to our networks – which are our own – and not to institutions that
require us to subordinate our interests and selves.”
Postnormal times (ref. Sardar)
=> complexity, chaos, contradictions
VUCA (ref. US Army)
=> Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambigous

4. Postnormal Era - VUCA
Other VUCA world visions include:
* Big Shift (ref. John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, Lang Davison)
* The Age of the Unthinkable -> Seventh Sense (ref. Joshua Cooper
Ramo)
* Anti-fragility (ref Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
Main characteristics:
> low or no predictability
> non-linear development
> emergence of new, unexpected combinations of competences
and business models
> legacy organizations face huge transformation challenges

5. Triple Helix ?
=> Triple Helix has been the dominant regional development theory
⇒ It has a proven track record in “Normal Era” conditions, when the
business environment:
> was predictable
> followed linear development models
> was mastered by pipeline thinking
> support and infra were funded by public means
> when regional or national approach and ambition was enough
⇒ These conditions still apply in many areas of business, but…..
An increasing number of industries around the globe will be hit with
disruption, chaos and emergence of new competition
=> And STP world will not stay an isolated island in this storm.

6. Cyclical Innovation model (CIM)
=> Cyclical model of technological entrepreneurship and innovation links
SMEs and entrepreneurship to four domains:
- (1) scientific exploration,
- (2) technological research,
- (3) market transitions and
- (4) product creation.
⇒ No linear pipeline
⇒ Innovation may start anywhere on the circle
Ref. Berkhout, A.J., Hartmann, D., van der Duin, P. & Ott, R. (2006) Innovating the innovation process.
International Journal of Technology Management, 34(3-4), pp. 390-404. See also Trott, P., Hartmann, D.,
van der Duinn, P. & Scholten, V. and Ortt, R. (2016) Managing Technology Entrepreneurship and
Innovation. London and New York: Routledge, p. 20.

7. CIM as an ecosystem driver

8. Ecosystem development
=> The competition is moving from enterprise level to
ecosystem level
⇒ To generate ‘pull’ instead of ‘push’, Gravity as the main
factor!
⇒ The evolvement of the ecosystem is based on principles of
⇒ self-organization with the help of orchestarators
⇒ bottom up approach,
⇒ grass-root level activities,
⇒ peer-to peer support and
⇒ the use of breeding environment type of platform

9. Platform thinking
“Firms that once sought advantage based on the strength of
their internal resources and channel access now face
competitors that harness armies of connected users and
ecosystems of resources.
Ø Platforms will displace high cost gatekeepers with
meritocratic crowds;
Ø Platforms will aggregate disconnected players in
fragmented industries;
Ø Platforms will unlock new value from spare resources
and user-generated content.
Ref. Sangeet Paul Choudary

10. Pipeline vs. platform - thinking

11. Talent platforms, Mc Kinsey study

12. Serendipity Management
“Serendipity is the art of benefiting from unexpected ”
“Serendipity management is a comprehensive set of
tools and facilitation methodologies, which by the help of
tailored workspace design — both physical and virtual
and through the facilitation of unexpected encounters
and collective insight, will support the emergence of new
combinations of competences and the generation of
breakthrough ideas”

13. Project management vs Serendipity management
(Ref Kakko&Inkinen)

14. Espoo innovation Garden, Finland
• Joku hyvä kuva

15. Espoo innovation Garden, Finland
• Tähän ydinasiat

16. Espoo Innovation Garden, Finland
Ø Technopolis left Triple Helix scheme => space
for new entities to emerge
Ø No more top down
Ø Loose coordination but STRONG
collaboration
Ø Gravity is enormous
Ø New entities easily added (Vertical!)
Ø Taxpayer’s money saved

17. Vucability assessment
“Vucability is the ability to prosper in VUCA
conditions – on individual, community, ecosystem,
organizational and regional levels”
=> Evaluation and monitoring tool pilot available
=> Assessment and improvement potential:
> sophistication of ecosystem development
> density of serendipity thinking
> utilization of platforms

18. Vucability assessment

19. Conclusions
⇒ Triple Helix has worked well in “Normal Era”
⇒ We are entering VUCA world in an ever increasing speed
⇒ Vucability will be the vital characteristics of a successful innovation
environment
⇒ Ecosystem development, platform thinking, serendipity management
practises and global approach essential in VUCA conditions
⇒ Case example Espoo Innovation Garden proves that new solutions
are already implemented successfully
⇒ How to transform, complement or replace the traditional Triple Helix
model is the big challenge of the near future

20. The benefits of coworking
© Lee Fleming 2004 /HBR November 2004
Yogi Berra
”The future ain’t what it used to be”

21. Thank you!
For further information:
Ilkka Kakko
+ 358 50 536 2941
Twitter: @Serendipitor
ilkka.kakko@karostech.fi
www.karostech.fi
www.respectserendipity.com