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Enterprise Innovation Planning

Submitted by mixel on Sat, 11/18/2006 - 13:17

The Enterprise Innovation Planning system is about managing discontinuous innovation. It is based on the novelty research, but applied to a real problem. Some of the questions: Ideas can come from any where but how do you keep control? There is the wisdom of the crowed, but how do you harvest it? The EIP-system is created by combining theory and practice to get to a social-software solution. So it is a techno-social solution. The technology should solve some of the hard problems of innovation planning, but it is only a supporting system, the creativity is by the users.You may want to check my latest EIP-EIASM outline

Some literature

The problem of discontinuous innovation was first addressed by Schumpeter as "creative destruction" (1975). The term discontinuous innovation has been more explicitly used by Prahalad (1994). The concept of discontinuous (or disruptive) innovation engine was first formulated by Christensen (2003). The innovation literature gets expand with interdisciplinary literature. Related to socio-technical systems, we have Latour actor-network theory (1987-2005) and in relation with social software, there is Ackerman (2000). Literature on complexity like Complex Adaptive Systems of Holland (1995) and theory the complexity theory of Simon (1969-1996). For references, see Bibliographic page.

The EIP-system

Social software, like social tagging and social networking systems allows us to provide users with tools to get self-organized. The NA-model (see Cybernetic investigation) gives a formal model for dealing with cross fertilization of knowledge to stimulate discontinuous learning. The system uses best practices on innovation management, like incremental development processes. It adds a structured use of the social tagging, based on the NA-model. By building up a knowledge systems in a particular way the EIP-system should allow a more manageable solution to discontinuous innovation. More manageable, not by better forecasting, at that seems unrealistic. More in the sense that the system is more directed to:

  • Being ease to support
  • Ensuring that ideas stay real (and not wishful thinking)
  • Knowing when en how to explore <-> exploit
  • Not being captured by past experience

    • This is reached by some guidelines on how to use the system, the user should than get a better feedback. The social tagging will be a tool for the users to organize development, at the backhand-side those same hyperlinks are structured inline with the NA-model, thereby directing the attentions to weak links in strong ideas and strong links in neglected patterns. The system is a suggestion and organization tool, the real work stays with the users.