The Times can’t see the Wood for the Trees

    CEO Summit entirely fails to mention Innovation

Reportedly, The Times recent CEO Summit focused on the good news about the UK, but in so doing it entirely failed to address CEOs’ biggest priority as identified by IBM’s annual surveys, namelyINNOVATION.

Innovation appears in almost every organisation’s strategy, but making it happen is quite another matter. “What will Innovation be like in 2020” below, points up the increasingly difficult context in which our innovation will need to flourish.

Champions are essential, and their main job is getting the whole team to agree on the problem (see the second item – about identifying the right problem.) The third item – about Universities’ response to the surge of interest in Entrepreneurship – illustrates the danger of failing for lack of fire power; and the final item – about the TSB and nanotechnology shows how easy it is to fluff it!

 

Applied Creativity

An E-/Bulletin from

The Centre for Leadership in Creativity

Edited by John Whatmore

Nesta Associate          

June  2012

  

*         “What will Innovation be like in 2020?” – first in a series:

      Steve Welch, CEO of the electronics Knowledge Transfer Network

              sees relationships and collaborations becoming more ephemeral

 *        An experience in helping charities to articulate their problems

           illustrated how important it is to identify the right problem 

*         With Entrepreneur Clubs so rampant in our universities, how might

          the universities respond They need to make more comprehensive provision

 

 *        Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park prospers despite its focus on

    nanotechnology, where any UK lead seems to be slipping away.

     The TSB needs to recognise early on how best to support  emerging  technologies

 *        News: about the British Library’s Advice service for aspiring entrepreneurs – to be

  available in six other city centre libraries; and a new source of new kinds of networking

          events (‘Food, Fun and Networking’).  

                                                   *                           *                           *

 “What will Innovation be like in 2020?” – first in a series:

Steve Welch, CEO of the electronics Knowledge Transfer Network

imagines the future

The UK, once a leading centre of academic output will be eclipsed by the desire for education and the academic might of eg India and China. And our relative inventiveness will continue to be hobbled by the UK’s once advanced but now ageing infrastructure. The personalisation of design, manufacture and our environment will combine with a social climate of increasing distance from one another and asynchronicity, to make relationships and collabor-ations more ephemeral. (http://goo.gl/noGcC)

 

An experience in helping some charities to articulate their problems illustrated  how important it is to identify the right problem

I spent a day last week on teleconferences with a number of charities, trying to help them to articulate a big problem of theirs – which they had agreed to submit to a ‘Troubleshooter Day’ – to be run by a big telecommunications corporate as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility work.(http://goo.gl/blW8C)

 

With Entrepreneur Clubs so rampant in our universities, how might the universities respond? They need to make more comprehensive provision

They will need to provide communal workspaces, mentors with specific expertise and with contacts, and expert architects of networking; access to formal learning programmes about aspects of business; support in deve-loping business plans, and practice in pitching; and they will be offering concentrated ‘accelerator’ programmes for the development of new businesses.(http://goo.gl/jTJ5R)

 

Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park prospers despite its focus on nanotech-nology, where any UK lead seems to be slipping away. The TSB needs to recognise early on how best to support emerging technologies

Oxford’s Begbroke Science Park, miles from Oxford, prospers even though leading-edge work on nanotechnology – its original focus – seems to be passing to other countries, despite its evident potential benefits.  Typical of businesses of this kind is that they cannot easily find the necessary level of funding, nor are they located close to relevant scientific facilities and manufacturing clusters. The TSB needs to recognise early on how best to proceed in supporting new emerging technologies.  (http://goo.gl/ABoex)

 News:

·      The British Library’s successful advice service for aspiring entrepreneurs is to be planted in six other city centre libraries across England.

·      For a new source of new kinds of networking events (hiking, curry clubs, Bling and Barbecue) see FindNetworkingEvents.com

 

The Centre for Leadership in Creativity (a ‘virus for creativity’) carries out research and provides consultancy and peer-to-peer learning for organisations where creativity and innovation are vital.

The Centre for Leadership in Creativity          138 Iffley Road,London W6 OPE           

Tel/fax: 020 8748 2553                    E-mail:  john.whatmore@btinternet.com