Last Thursday Identity Works invited former Harvard professor, and current Konstfack professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, Ronald Jones, to the agency to talk about creative work across disciplines. The talk was just jam packed with interesting stuff. We probably all see it as obvious that interdisciplinary projects run a much higher risk of failure, but did you know that almost NO breakthrough innovation happens in monodisciplinary projects?
That means that we need to work across disciplines to really achieve disruptive results. And when we do, we need to put major effort into handling risk. We also need to embrace failure and learn from our experiences. We need to have a learning culture rather than a performance culture.
The 9/11-commission concluded that "...don't think we had the imagination to envisage such an attack". But perhaps what was lacking, and that led to a lack of imagination, was interdisciplinary skills, both between the different American institutions and between cultures. When comparing the 9/11 attacks to the rise of companies like Linux or Napster you see similarities. Microsoft and the music industry didn't see them coming either. I guess it's a Trojan Horse phenomenon.
Fortunately imagination isn't just talent, knowledge or luck. Institutionalizing innovation is a very real possibility. Sometimes it's as easy as shifting perspectives, like when Black & Decker stopped viewing their products as power drills, and started viewing them as holes.
Professor Jones also had plenty of other perspectives and examples in store, from Bill Gates to one of my favorite visionaries Daniel H. Pink. If you ever get a chance to attend one of Professor Jones' seminars, you should really take advantage of it. Inspiring and fun, and not least a source of hope for our business.
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