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Innovation 100
The conference “Innovation 100” finished with the session on “Collaborative Innovation” on Thursday. I have become increasingly convinced of the trend pushing toward “open innovation”, as the session began with the presentation of the report indicating prevalence of open innovation particularly among the better performing companies. The talk by the business people who actually have practiced open innovation was quite convincing as well.
During the breakout session, I joined the group with the topic focusing on culture conducive to Open System. The conclusions of the breakout session which was much too short, given the importance and complexity of the topic, included the need for either crisis or inspirational leaders to trigger the change to the open system. They were quite close to what I had in mind, but I became even more convinced by hearing the discussion of the other participants. (I also learned about “How” of bringing about the change.
All in all, the 2-day conference was very interesting for me and I felt very privileged to be invited to such a conference and to meet with many people from Silicon Valley and other parts of the world. The biggest hit of the Conference was the presentation done at the end of the first day. (As it included quite a few “politically incorrect” slides, I cannot report the contents, but it was hilarious!”)
I am quite convinced that the face-to- face meetings do play a significant role, even in the era of ICT. I am even more convinced of the need for younger generation to get exposed to these meetings outside of their own countries. I will explore the ways to encourage younger generation to be given these opportunities.
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Yoko:
I found this article very interesting from a different viewpoint. You are mentioning a few keywords such as “open system” “Collaboration” “innovation”, etc. Yes. The world is getting flat and fast-paced.
I also realized the same trend being in the office furniture business.
Every time I visit a major trade show of office furniture, I clearly see some changes. The partition walls are getting lower and lower, the materials used for the desks and storage are being lighter and lighter, and the furniture companies talk about how their furniture system better facilitate “fast” “collaborative” “creative” work style.
Even in the US, where workers traditionally preferred private offices or separated cells, they are now buying simple and open office systems. They also appreciate casual meeting tables, coffee counters, or couch installed around them. It seems inefficient at a glance but this sort of work environment does make a big difference in creating something innovative in a short period of time. It also attracts innovative people. Now furniture plays an important role. Although I haven’t checked, I believe there is strong colleration between the productivity or the growth rate of new innovative companies and openness of its facilities.
Ben
Ben, thanks for your comment. It is such an interesting observation and insight. I think physical layout makes a lot of difference and your observation about the changes in office furniture point to that very well.
Thanks!