Formalizing a new Innovation learning-as-a-service is complicated, far more than I originally thought. Still, a certain course has been set and it is now working through much of its structure, learning much myself on the way to fit this within the innovation puzzle we all have.
When I was thinking through this concept I fell back onto one of my most valuable techniques to work through, clustering a set of questions and capturing all the different thinking through the use of Mind Mapping techniques. Such a valuable tool.
A selection of maps that included: what a curator can do in innovation, of painting a picture of a strong advocacy practice, of working through a guiding approach, the need to reflect on the whole facilitation process, etc., and each brainstorm takes a time to work through, build and formalize. The end result becomes a much richer landscape of what I can offer and what equally might be needed.
It is such a pity we can’t really reproduce mind maps, apart from the original mind map in better ways as one thing I have constantly seen, one person’s mind map can be very hard for others to relate too, so we revert to other means to explain how we got to a given point.
I started my thinking on the premise of being an “Innovation Knowledge Provider“, something I have been working on for a number of years. This has been progressively built up in content provision and offering views on innovation alternatives. It has also been mixed in with some emerging solutions that seemed to fit the gaps I often found missing in innovation structures or thinking. The need was to solve problems and challenges both in my mind and the mind of the person(s) engaged in innovation practices on a consistent daily or project basis.
In this knowledge acquiring, I wanted to maintain a more impartial position, even when at times I ‘screamed’ at some comments I was reading, as they seemed so naive or incomplete, so I kept going, consistently building this innovation intelligence. By being an avid collector of innovation intelligence, relating to it and shaping it’s worth further, when and where necessary, or simply ‘passing it on’ with my ‘own take’ as a practitioner of innovation.
Actually, I recently realized I’ve been at this collecting, dispensing, absorbing innovation for over fifteen years in an increasing dedicated fashion. So I believe this ‘collected knowledge’ should be unlocked and advocated in even more focused ways, so it can be designed and built around the individuals’ innovation learning journey, so as to advance and support their role in innovation delivery.
The ultimate messages I wanted to arrive at were eight keyframing points
- Be seen as a specialist for innovation understanding. Someone who can be seen as a trusted authority, who can separate the noise from the research-based intelligence.
- Narrow the field of vision. I have wandered far and wide in understanding innovation and its management and often go on many of my own ‘walkabouts’ to broaden out my understanding. Most people do not have the dedicated time or focus, or clarity of purpose that I wanted to put into this to get to get this innovation into clearer fields of vision as a given as-a-service point.
- Finding the true purpose. How do we design, explain, explore and unlock the knowledge within all this? Recognizing innovation has a purpose, it is to improve, advance and succeed in finding solutions to go beyond what we have. How can I draw these out and deliver the value needed?
- Develop the power to persuade. Getting to a mutual point of relating and learning and delivering ‘digestible’ innovation knowledge insights, so as to help others who are often starved of time, yet have the interest and need to listen and learn in focused ways. Equally to test and find out if my working principle will work: “if you wish to have value for money would you give money for value“
- Discovering what are your Challenges? Wanting to find the ways and means to overcome barriers and challenges and resolve these in ‘multiple ways (coaching, mentoring, advising, guiding, facilitating) and accelerating the learning to break through these immediate “moments of need” or deepen the specialized focus, as appropriate.
- Structuring the Exploring Process. How to build synthesis and analysis along with divergence and convergence, just as design thinking proposes to work through in any discovery, design, and delivery, offering a dedicated space to truly learn.
- Structuring a transforming process of a person and their team. The ultimate goal is to both impart and then transform what is known, alongside what is unknown or not recognized, into something potentially (so) radically different that it often changes perceptions and understandings. A goal is to achieve those breakthrough moments of recognition and empowerment, to allow for innovation to break out of the incremental trap it is often stuck in, as one of the barriers to learning and recognizing a different thinking pathway.
- Recognizing each of us has a personal and unique innovation pathway to travel. How do you scale uniqueness, how do you deliver in discreet bespoke ways, how do you identify that personal innovation learning journey? Here certainly does lie the dilemma to resolve: to find the means and (multiple) ways to deliver this innovation learning in highly relevant and focused ways.
With an end result of delivering different outcomes as value points to the client
Ones that give Growth, impact, and return that provide appropriate fit and learning values
That capitalize on me as the External innovation catalyst that prompts thinking and imparts lasting insights and knowledge
A delivery outcome that is Translating knowledge into value by deepening the understanding and connections
Achieving that putting the clear co-ordinates into your innovation world through orchestrating and establishing a learning rhythm that works for you to build your capacity and capabilities to innovate far more successfully than before.
Final (initial) thoughts here
Do I pivot as I learn what the market needs? Of course, it is where this service does actually fit within innovation-as-a-service? The value is in the recognition of the need.
What am I actually capable of delivering and by what means?
As I stated this is no easy task, the more I think it through the more it evolves but I am absolutely certain there is a real need for accelerating innovation understanding. We need it for all our futures to grow and build and resolve many known and unknown innovation challenges
