Tools for the Era of Open Innovation
Tools for the Era of Open Innovation
A shift in the knowledge landscape has introduced a new era – the era of open innovation. Long gone are the days of Edison and Tesla battling one another in their private laboratories. A new era dawns: one of purposeful sharing of insights and discoveries internally and externally, embracing the mindset of the collective genius and the reality that not all of the good ideas will come from any one lab or tribe. Take our Leadership and Global Perspectives Doctor of Ministry program for example. Dr. Loren Kerns has embodied this principle by making public much of the inner-workings of the track: the flow of the project, the courses, the reading list, and even the minute by minute of our recent advance. He knows two things: others programs will be sharpened by this openness, and it’s not simply altruism – he also knows that his own program will improve by others’ interaction with this disclosure.
This era of Open Innovation produces an overwhelming amount of writing, thoughts, and data. How does one decide what information to consume? And at what depth? In other words, how can others effectively navigate, learn, glean and apply this massive amount of information? Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren provide some helpful tools for the era of open innovation in their classic work, How to Read a Book. Perhaps most helpful is their help discerning what to read, how fast to read, and what to be reading for.
What to Read
A quick Amazon search in their book store delivers over 40,000 results. Adler frees the completionist by asserting, “Many books are hardly worth even skimming” (p.38). The vast majority of these books are drivel, containing one basic idea (at most), and aimed at making a quick buck. A supplement to Adler’s book for the Internet Age would be most welcomed. The world wide web is immensely helpful in helping determine if a book is even worth the time to skim, let alone read slowly. Reviews, star-ratings, endorsements, paragraph-long summaries, and frequency of purchase are all helpful in discerning what to read. I offer one pithy piece of advice: If in the short summary, a different book, author, or work is mentioned, drop the book summarized, and go directly to the source of that quote.
How Fast to Read
In the innovation ecosystem, words like “agile,” “rapid,” and just about every other synonym for “quick” reign supreme. One would easily think that these adjectives should also apply to reading. Adler gives a sense of pause to that thought by stating, “With regard to rates of reading, then, the ideal is not merely to be able to read faster, but to be able to read at different speeds – and to know when the different speeds are appropriate” (p. 38) To give an example combining the first tool, one could pick up the book, Innovate the Pixar Way, and make some quick judgments. First, the authors Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson are outsiders to Pixar as reporting authors and consultants. In the description on the front flap, they mention Ed Catmull, Pixar’s president, in the first few sentences. Knowing Ed Catmull, himself, wrote a book about the innovative culture of Pixar (Creativity, Inc.), lends me to think that time would be better spent reading Ed Catmull’s book. However, renown business strategies Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, endorses the book, so this book moves from the “not worth reading” to the “worth reading quickly” level.
In contrast stands Everett M. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation. I assess this book is worth a slow reading. It has survived and thrived in five editions, it is mentioned in several of the academic treatments in innovation theory I’ve unearthed, it’s endorsements are by academic journals, and by nature of the the table of contents and bibliography, this book results not on a single idea of a success company, but years and years of thoughtful research. Rogers has my attention.
What to be Reading for
I’ve heard a snarky saying one simply reads “left to right, top to bottom.” This largely misses the point and aim of moving from passive reading to active reading. What use is it reading to glean and improve innovation if one can’t succinctly and coherently determine an author’s message and criticize a book fairly (chapters 9-10, pps. 96-137)? To help readers make this pivotal switch, Adler offers four questions to ask of any book: 1) What is the book about as a whole? 2) What is being said in detail, and how? 3) Is the book true, in whole or part? 4) What of it? (pps. 46-47).
These questions also help curb information overload – the paralysis that can occur with too much information, data, or possibilities. Adlers forth question in particular lends itself to application and implementation. I’m curious about investigating more about information overload and the underlying psychology and spiritual principles. Further learning, investigation, and conversations can sometimes have a veneer of humility and a learning posture, but are really coverups for fear and paralysis.
Art Built on a Scaffolding of Science
After studying the life of Leonardo da Vinci, one enduring lesson remains: da Vinci built his art on a scaffolding of science. The Mona Lisa is said to be the most scientific painting combining da Vinci’s anatomical study in the face of Mona Lisa, the metaphysical study of the human’s connection to the world, his study of light, water, and more. In the same way, Adler helps build that scaffolding of science for the art of reading and learning. There exists a method of which to analyze the mass amounts of content in the age of open innovation, choose some pieces appropriately, and interact with in a way that leads towards insight and action. Being an insatiable learner, embracing the mindset of a beginner, and being incessantly curious is the most important mindset an innovator can possess. Implementing some of Adler’s insight will be paramount to that quest.
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Adler, Mortimer J. and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. New York: Touchstone, 1972.
Capodagli, Bill and Lynn Jackson. Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009
Catmull, Ed and Amy Wallace. Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. New York: Random House, 2014.
Rogers, Everett. Diffusion of Innovation, 5th Edition. New York: Simon & Shuster, 2003.
About the Author
Shawn Cramer
13 responses to “Tools for the Era of Open Innovation”
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Shawn, I appreciate your systematic approach to discerning what books should be read at what speed. It’s easy to get caught up in fluff that doesn’t have substance, but knowing where to look in terms of endorsements and bibliographies is helpful. I think it’s interesting looking through the “People also Bought This” section on Amazon when you buy a book to see what hidden gems may be there. I’ve found many different books that way (some worth reading, others worth a skim, and a few not worth opening the front cover).
Nice. I’ll add that to my “list”!
Shawn, you have a good point there “The world wide web is immensely helpful in helping determine if a book is even worth the time to skim, let alone read slowly.” I need to learn to take my time researching a book before I spend money. We live in a culture of reviews and researching anything before we can consume. I take it that we should remember to do the same with books.
I’ve also been liberally checking out books from the library for the sole reason of just glancing at them and seeing if I want them for my permanent library.
Shawn,
That you layout an argument about why we should be discerning in the books that we choose to read and then demonstrate it with the Pixar text was really helpful. With the wide variety and endless options of reading on your topic, is there a particular practice that you will engage in to filter to the best possible resources? I would love to get your insight on this as I, too, am facing a sea of potential resources. I want to get to the best resources and waste as little time as possible on anything else.
Jer, I’m doing my best to “follow the family tree” as Dr. Clark suggested, finding the 2-3 lead voices and academic texts. For me, I’ve found those to be the two IDEO founders, and Rogger’s “Diffusion of Innovation.” My challenge is finding the key theological texts/concepts for my topic. I’d treasure your input.
Following the family tree was a key takeaway for me too. With regard to your project’s focus, I wonder what kind of theological work has been done on creation/creativity? You’re probably all over that already, but I have to imagine that there is a robust theological stream out there that the artisans have been generating?
Shawn,
Helpful and informative. Discerning which books are worth reading is not only valuable but vital in a world where an individual can self publish almost anything and call themselves an author. Where once an author had to rely on a competent publisher to create and promote a book we now have the ability to send in a word document and order the number of books we want. Technology is a double edged sword. For every advantage there is a disadvantage.
Most of the books in my library I hav found well worth the time they took to read even when I disagree with the authors stance on a subject. A few were a total waste of time. The greatest value of a poorly written book is I get to use them for trading stock when I find a great used book store that has an old classic I want to buy.
Good point. In addition to the competencies of publishers you pointed out, is also the filter of sub-par material.
Shawn,
Often times I will take a book like How to Read a Book and place it to the side after completion. The countless “to dos” in the book feel very overwhelming and so I simply shut down and discard the whole list. I appreciate the way you modeled a practical approach to how to assess which texts are important for your study and why. I tend to lean toward a more “wing it” disposition, so your methodical implementation of content is fascinating and inspiring to me. Outside of these main principles, what other tips did you find helpful from the Adler text?
Darcy, I’ve found this HBR article most helpful in reading books quickly. I know you are a rule-follower, so this could be a new set of rules to follow that could help! https://hbr.org/2016/02/how-to-read-a-book-a-week
I too found myself wishing for an update to the Adler book as I was reading it on an app on my phone. The suggestions for notes and interaction, along with the ways to get into the book are far different electronically than with a physical paper copy. I’m sure some of those things are possible, but I’ve not learned the technology well enough yet to take full advantage. What are some ways you’ve integrated digital resources in your reading and learning?
John, I don’t excel at including digital resources in my learning, so I’d love to dialogue together about this. I find there’s something about a physical book that someone said, “This idea is worth investing $10,000 in.” The ease of adding things to the web right now make we wonder about the staying power of much of it. I do try to stick with more professional sites like Harvard Business Review, other universities, and trusted sources. In addition, I use podcasts, but mostly to interact with authors and extend my reading list of books. What do you do?