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the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc. Vol.
3, No. 2, Summer 2003 Last month as colleges and universities were approaching the end of the academic year, the Boston Globe profiled one of Bentley College's newest deans, Kate Davy, who was completing her first year as dean of art and sciences. Bentley is a business school in Waltham, MA, just west of Boston, and what makes Ms. Davy's story interesting is that her background is unlike that of anyone chosen for a high-level administrative post at Bentley before. Ms. Davy was neither a businesswoman nor academic; she was (and still is) a drama critic specializing, no less, in avant-garde theater. This is not your typical candidate for a business school leadership role. As she stated in the article, "The most surprising thing Bentley did was hire me." The school must have had something in mind though, as Ms. Davy has done nothing to hide her intention of placing liberal arts at the very center of the Bentley curriculum. Her purpose is not to dilute the intensity of business education, but rather to enhance it by instilling a broader, more comprehensive sense of the world, and how each person's decisions and actions affect, or are affected by, the bigger picture. Referring to the decades-old trend in U.S. universities of educating students to identify narrowly with a chosen profession or discipline, Ms. Davy feels they are not getting the interdisciplinary perspectives needed to produce well-rounded, mature adults who will work to a higher purpose than simply enriching themselves and their shareholders. Besides the impact on individual student development, Ms. Davy's approach to business education has important implications for the innovation potential of companies in which her students will eventually be employed. Innovation experts know that a key factor in making one organization consistently more innovative than others is the diversity of background and experience of its people (along with a corporate culture that engages these people in the innovation process). Organizations that consciously or unconsciously fill their employee ranks with individuals - especially those in leadership roles - who all have a similar world view or perspective, are less likely to be able to exercise the flexibility and generate the creative ideas required in today's lightening-paced marketplace. When a company needs new thinking to overcome a seemingly intractable problem, or to come up with creative new product or service concepts, the last thing you want is a project team filled with members who all view the world through the same lens. Not only is their focus likely to be too narrow, but there are too many experts in the room who will tell you why a new idea "won't work." Depth of technical expertise and business acumen are critical in implementing any solution, of course, but when a truly creative solution is required, these alone are not likely to get you there. Just
give me a group of Ms. Davy's graduates, and we'll think of something! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Like it or not, working under the gun is a fact of life in most business settings, especially in leaner companies where more work is being done by fewer people. Here are 5 ways leaders can keep the creativity level high on project teams, even under time pressures: 1. Clearly articulate
the team's tasks. Lack of focus and continually changing objectives
detract from employees' creativity. A clear purpose with a sound rationale
serves as a touchstone, which in turn encourages people to be more experimental
and speculative in their thinking. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Names We Like We're always
on the lookout for creative business or product names. If you know of
any good ones, send them along! You may see them in an upcoming issue!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Innovation Quotation "Ideas
are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and
pretty soon you have a dozen." John Steinbeck, author *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Innovative Edge™ Inc. is a consulting firm based in Massachusetts that helps client organizations tackle tough challenges through creative problem solving. Its president, Jeffrey A. Govendo, works in a broad range of industries as a project consultant, group facilitator, trainer and conference designer, enabling organizations to achieve their goals by increasing their capacity for innovation. Contact
The Innovative Edge at: Copyright © 2003 The Innovative Edge, Inc. The
Innovative Edge, Inc. |
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