{"id":24518,"date":"2019-10-21T10:09:38","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=24518"},"modified":"2019-10-21T10:09:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T17:09:38","slug":"conflict-and-diversity-the-narrative-of-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/conflict-and-diversity-the-narrative-of-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflict and Diversity: The Narrative of Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stories are the air we breath, the lingua franca of our existence. Our actions are constantly in line and in sync with the story we most believe at the time. Above the desk in which I join our Zoom calls lies one of my prized possessions. It\u2019s that proverbial one thing I would grab if my house were to catch fire.\u00a0 As I seek to know and live out a better story studying at my desk, Grandpa Frank stares at me deep from within a shadow box frame. His doctored photograph proudly sporting his World War II Army uniform is surrounded by his medals, ribbons, and small tokens of his service in the Pacific Campaign. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently, our family was thumbing through his documents and we found that he had forged his brother\u2019s birthday to enlist underage. It begs the question – what story was so compelling to this rural farm boy that would cause him to orient his future around and risk his life for? I imagine it was a story of good versus evil, of national pride, of rising above, of finding his teenage limits, of being a part of something outside himself, and of literally saving the world. It was a story he carried to the very end of his life, something so core to his identity that he would go on to ostracize a hall mate in his nursing home because this \u201ccowardly\u201d man did not serve some sixty years ago. Our lives are driven by a story. At the heart of Grandpa Frank\u2019s story (and every story) lies the elements of conflict and diversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conflict and Diversity in Narratives<\/strong><\/p>\n

There remains no story without conflict and diversity. (For Dylan) The epic tale of <\/span>The Lord of the Rings<\/span><\/i> is not a story of nine hobbits monotonously farming the Shire, but a quest to vanquish evil with a fellowship consisting of men, hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, and a wizard each contributing in turn. Conflict and diversity. This week I stumbled across a concept called the Story Spine. It suggests that many stories can be reduced to the structure \u201c<\/span>Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.\u201d<\/span><\/i> It\u2019s that phrase that hints at conflict, \u201cOne day\u2026\u201d that drives the story. I invite you to try it with your favorite book or movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conflict and Diversity in Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the same way, innovation carries these same narrative characteristics. As Linda Hill and her colleagues attest in their article, \u201cUnlocking Slices of Genius: Leading for Innovation,\u201d \u201cThere is considerable research that suggests that diversity and conflict are essential ingredients for innovation. In innovative teams, differences in perspective, expertise, and intentions are amplified and used as resources\u201d for problem solving (617).<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill (et al) introduces a powerful voice for me to consider in my research, that of Mary Parker Follett. Her voice is so welcomed because it is outside the male-dominated, 21st century-laden, Silicon-Valley-centric voices that are so typical to the topic of innovation. Nearly one hundred years ago, Follett carved out a path for what is now called \u201cintegrative problem solving.\u201d This describes a \u201cprocess of\u2026 using difference and conflict to create a solution in which the whole is truly more than the sum of the parts\u201d (618). Follett was a social worker and political scientist where she became a leading voice in organizational behavior and theory highlighting conflict as a positive function in the problem solving process. Conflict is usually viewed as a nuisance at worst and a necessary evil at best. Follett (and Hill) suggest conflict is the the source of collective creativity. Current innovative theory is nearly unanimous saying long gone are the days of the single, creative genius. It\u2019s the role of the leader to embrace diversity of thought, background, and ideas as well as the inherent conflict to unlock the slices of genius in their teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Innovators, then, are tasked as master story architects, weaving a tale of belonging, an alternative future, and employing diversity and conflict as the driving plot line of the innovative story arc. Hill and her team conclude their findings with three points. You\u2019ll notice the narrative-like approach:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Innovation is about co-design. It\u2019s about engaging the diverse \u201cslices of genius\u201d among the team to solve problems together.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The art of leadership for innovation is about \u201ccreating a world to which people want to belong.\u201d One where people are valued as individuals <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> contributing to something collective.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Leadership for innovation is more about leading from behind. Gleaning from more of an Eastern concept, this leadership approach is more about \u201cshaping individual and collective experiences to foster innovation rather than about setting direction and mobilizing people to follow.\u201d (613-14).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What story is my leadership telling? What tale might be told. In my context, I aspire to facilitate more of these kinds of stories that read something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Once upon a time there was <\/span><\/span>a team devoted to impacting college students.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Every day, <\/span>they labored on campus with yesterday\u2019s mindset, posture, and tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    One day <\/span>they awoke to their reality of the status quo.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Because of that, <\/span>they risked with a new approach. They failed, but they \u201ccaught the bug.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Because of that, <\/span>they risked again, committed to something greater.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Until finally, <\/span>relying on the diversity of their team, they found an approach that resonated with college students to great effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    As I close, I wonder If my grandchildren had a framed picture of me on their wall, what story might they say drove and compelled me? I hope it would be the Story of God using a Diverse people to redeem the Conflict through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

    __<\/p>\n

    Linda A. Hill, Maurizio Travaglini, Greg Brandeau, and Emily Stecker, “Unlocking the Slices of Genius in Your Organization: Leading for Innovation,” in\u00a0Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice,<\/em>\u00a0ed. Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2010).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Stories are the air we breath, the lingua franca of our existence. Our actions are constantly in line and in sync with the story we most believe at the time. Above the desk in which I join our Zoom calls lies one of my prized possessions. It\u2019s that proverbial one thing I would grab if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1579,414,195],"class_list":["post-24518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-innovation","tag-khurana","tag-nohria","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24523,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24518\/revisions\/24523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}