Contrary to the widespread belief, brainstorms are more about giving sense to old ideas than discovering new ones.
Every model is based on assumptions. Paradigms and stereotypes are more abstract models that don’t necessary come with explicit assumptions, which narrows down creativity.
Creativity is about changing perception. Innovation is about changing things.
Techniques for workshops:
Choose a random organisation having nothing to do with your industry. What is the probability it takes over your business in 10 years? Explain SWOT.
An economy of contribution is an economy where actors contribute without having necessary a measurable counterpart (e.g. money, product). This model is radically different from an economy of exchange and must be taken into account when the externalities underlying an industry become central to its process. In this context, the function of companies is to capture positive externalities.
Massive corporations will always be more opaque for their employees than smaller ones. Working in a small team, you can take the time to learn your colleagues, speak with them about the projects, understand the motivations behind every decision. It is impossible to do the same in a company employing thousands of people. Most of large organisations understand this is a weakness, putting at risk employee engagement, creativity and consistency between departments. Tactics to mitigate these risks are common practice. But they are hard to implement and rarely successful. Internal communication becomes often a mistrusted campaign where information is manipulated at the convenience of the stakeholders agenda. Supposedly informal Q&A sessions between employees and their direction leave often a feeling of dissatisfaction, becoming merely a practice exercise for the direction to repeat their ready-made answers and for employees to face the reality of top-down corporate decision making processes. In this context, intranet websites encouraging the participation of employees are for most unsuccessful and based on wishful thinking.
