INTERESTING ARTICLES
This interesting report from Forbes Insights is based on a survey of 321 executives in US-based large global enterprises, and describes how a diverse and inclusive workforce is critical in driving the creation and execution of new products, services, and business processes.
One of the things which have been made a top priority by the new CEO of P&D Bob McDonald, is the overall strategic importance of diversity within P&D. A year ago, P&G thus launched its new global diversity strategy, and we are now beginning to see some of the results of this effort, particularly in how P&G has been successful in promoting more female top leaders, as exemplified by this great story from P&G in India (45% female executives)
In this HBR blogpost by Tony Golsby-Smith, he discusses how there are a lot of MBAs and business professionals in our organisations. And probably a little too much. He argues that maybe we need the diversity of thinking tought within the humanities to become better at conducting business and solving complex problems within the business world.
This article in The Cronicle of Higher Education criticizes existing publish or perish strategies within the scientific community and encourages more diversity of ideas, thinking and people within the science as a means towards more innovative research.
This article in McKinsey Quarterly describes the flaws of traditional brainstorming and provides highly practical advice as to an alternative approach to generate more valuable and innovative ideas, based on what they call "brainsteering". Highly useful, even if I think they neglect the importance of diversity amongst participants
This Deloitte study describes how retailers and manufacturers must find new ways to connect with their consumers. In the study, Deloitte details how organizations need to not only have diversity amongst employees, but also need to capitalize on that diversity in their idea generation and decision-making
This research paper by Nathan & Lee from SERC looks at the diversity in London, to understand how urban diversity impacts innovation in the city. The paper uses a sample of 7,400 firms in their study, which suggests that there is a small but significant 'diversity bonus' for London firms, in terms of idea generation, reaching international markets and serving London's cosmopolitan
population.
December 2, 2010: Interesting blogpost by Jamie Yap about the thoughtful management of inter-generational teams, and how to leverage each group's unique strengths to fuel innovation, with a particular focus on the change in corporate culture led by the youngest generation
May 23 2010: A blog-entry at the Business Strategy Innovation Blog about how there are at least two ways in which diversity affects innovation: By enhancing the quality of collaborative networks, and how diversity can be applied to improve any individual's command of different perspectives on the one hand, and on the other how the wisdom of the crowd bring a diversity of perspectives in identifying top ideas and shape and improving those ideas as well.
Business Strategy Innovation Blog, November 12th 2009: A blog-entry by innovation guru Tom Peters about innovation tactics, and his 110 recommendations for how to innovate. Many of these tactics describe the need for diversity, with this blog entry describing tactics #17-42 all focusing on why we need to hang out with different customers, employees, people - if we want to keep innovating. As Peter so nicely explains: "Hang out with weird - get more weird. Hang out with dull - get more dull"
Copenhagen CoCreation, October 2009: A blog-entry by Gitte Just about the need to focus on design, co-creation and diversity if Denmark really wants to achieve a position of leader in innovation. Just describes how we "we shall have to collate knowledge from many different fields and apply it in a completely new way" if we want to succeed.
New York Times, July 2009: An interesting article describing the power of collaboration in teams at Netflix. The example bring together people with complementary skills and combine different methods of problem-solving; and thus provides an excellent example of the benefits of open collaboration in a diversity setting.
Kearney, Gebert & Voelpel, June 2009: Article from Academy of Management Journal, where the authors describe a study of 83 teams from eight organizations, where they examined team need for age diversity, educational diversity, etc to understand how that diversity affects team performance. Age and educational diversity were positively related to these outcomes when team need for cognition was high, rather than low.
Patrick Stähler, June 2009: A blog entry about how diversity in teams helps to overcome mental models that frame and impedes fresh thinking. The solving of a case study (BOSCH) gives an interesting example of how diversity brings about innovation and new thinking
Flanagan & Runde, February 2009: Teams inevitably face conflict. Their challenge is to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within conflict while at the same time lessening its potentially harmful effects. Learning how to create a climate that fosters open, candid communications and that uses constructive communications techniques enables teams to meet this challenge. This paper aims to look at these issues (Strategy & Leadership, 2009, Vol 37, nr. 1, p. 20 - 22).
30 January 2009: This great blog-post by Sramana Mitra in Forbes discusses how innovation opportunities going forward will be at the cusps of different disciplines - and how to disagree with that? Mitra calls for us to address the current gap between different industries and sectores if we really want cross-disciplinary innovation to actually make it out of research labs and into the market (Forbes Column by Sramana Mitra)
By Hansen & Levine, January 2009: In this article the authors describe their truely interesting research findings, in which they have explored the effect of newcomers's behavorial style on team performance. A highly relevant study for anyone interested in managing teams for innovation. Teams' receptivity to newcomers' suggestions and evaluations of newcomers was studied and the implications of the findings for understanding newcomer-induced innovation are discussed (Social Influence, Volume 4, Issue 1 January 2009 , pages 46 - 61)
Diversity and Innovation: A Business Opportunity for All.
The report from the European Commission investigates the link between diversity and innovation from an EU perspective, and provides an interesting analysis and some good case examples of the important relationship between innovation and diversity
In this article by Fernández-Aráoz he wonders why recruting still remains one of the weakest of all key organizational processes, when we know that recruiting and retaining the best employees is key to survival in most industries. Only relatively few companies poactively master their people decisions so they can hire, develop and deploy the best talent on a worldwide basis. In this article you can learn how and what these organisations master their diversity of talent.
Strategic innovation for a world of diversity
Innovation seems to be mostly departing from and targeting the developed world, but this articles attempts to open our eyes to the diversity and the opportunities in the developing countries. The researchers Anderson & Markides discuss practical examples of innovation taking place in the Philippines, in India, Brazil, and in China, and describe how innovation is also about adapting existing products to customers with fewer resources or different cultural backgrounds.
The principles of distributed innovation
Distributed innovation is about accessing the knowledge diversity outside the boundaries of an organization. The article by Lakhani & Panetta provides a discussion of three different approaches to distributed innovation which brilliantly builds on the famous quote by Bill Joy (Sun Microsystems) stating that: "No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else".
Getting Unusual Suspects to Solve R&D Puzzles
In this article by Jeppesen & Lakhani in Harvard Business Review they describe their fasinating research about what can be achieved by broadcasting technical problems to a broader network of problem solvers from varied fields. Jeppesen & Lakhani analyzed problems broadcasted from 2001-2004 and found that on average each issue received attention from more than 200 people.
FastCompany July 2004 - This brief article by Seth Godin talks about the need to go off road if you want to be innovative, just passing time on the paved roads will not bring about radical innovation. We need to get off the beaten track if we want to go new ways.
London Business School Research July 2003 - This is an interesting piece of work from the Innovation Exchange Network at LBS. The report is based on research conducted in 26 organisations and describes how innovation is no longer merely R&D focused but increasingly centred on a broader understanding of innovation as something going on in and between different business units. The report also describes an increase in the overall commitment to innovation, and especially the existence of cross-disciplinary teams. So these are highly positive observations!
THE STORIES BEHIND THREE GREAT INNOVATIONS
Dave Pollard's blog
on June 23 - This short but very illustrative article by Dave Pollard describes the processes of inventing and commercialsing the Swiffer, the Weed Eater and the Pet Greenies curing dogs of
bad breath. In this short and interesting article, Pollard manages to draw some nice points from real life stories we all can learn from.
CREATING AN INNOVATIVE ENVIRONMENT
The CEO Refresher June 03
- A very elaborate article on the different aspects of making your organisation more innovative, and the role of the organisational culture therein. The author discusses aspects such as
atmosphere, communication, challenges, sources of ideas, processes, and the time aspect. A relevant article for everyone wanting to learn more!
EMBRACING BIOLOGICAL BUSINESS INNOVATION
Perspectives on
Business Innovation Issue 9 - This article by Meyer and Davis from Center for Business Innovation in Boston describes how connectivity is a major issue in our current economic volatility.
The article disusses how biology can assist us in understanding how organizations can thrive amid uncertainty. By incorporating the six adaptive principles into their organizations' behavior,
companies will become much better at sensing change in their environment.
RADICAL INNOVATION WITH COPS
(.pdf)
KnowledgeBoard May 27th - Most companies need to engage in radically innovating their products, services, and processes if they want to remain or become relevant
players in the changing game of business. This article by George Por describes Communities of Practice as the single most generative factor of radical innovation
SURPRISING WAYS TO STIMULATE FRESH IDEAS
RealBusiness, February 2003 - Surprising ways to stimulate fresh ideas in your business.Drawing on examples from Orange, Unilever, Animato, Virgin Mobile and many other organisations,
business writer Charlie Errington explores the many ways in which companies can spice up their creative thinking. And all companies are looking for ways to up their creative game.
INNOVATION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Buffalo News January 5th -
The State of New York has not traditionally been percieved to be a highly innovative area - but now it seems that the state has seen a remarkable rise in the number of patents issued. An increase
of almost 30% compared to 1990. In spite of this increase, the region only comes out as the 49th out of 100 major metropolitan areas in the US - measured by the number of patents issued per
capita each year.
DIVERSITY WOULD BENEFIT BOARDROOMS IN THE UK
June 20 Business Europe News- As briefly stated in a previeus column here at Innoversity Network, diversity should be acknowledged as important not only in the ranks and files, but also on the boards of directors. This very brief article describes how a UK government agency recommends an annual census of UK companies to assure diversity
DIVERSITY AND ARCHITECTURE (.pdf)
June 12 The Architect's Journal - An article about a conference in the UK entitled: "Creativity, Diversity, and the remaking of our Cities", which featured a visit of the famous professor Richard Florida, who specialises in the importance of urban diversity and regeneration! The article discusses the importance of diversity in our cities for growth and creativity to exist. And we are entirely behind him on that!
THE PARADOXICAL EFFECTS OF DIVERSITY
May 2003 Sloan Management Review - This article (which is only an excerpt) describes the results of a new study made of the Diversity Research Network who recently completed the largest field-based study of diversity. The study is based on indepth research carried out at four Fortune 500 companies, and their experiences to determine whether corporate diversity efforts help or hinder a firm's bottom line.
DOWN WITH BOSSOCRACY
April 2003 Inc.com - A column by Grist that takes an honest look at diversity in US corporations, in the light of the current US Supreme Court case on Affirmative Action at the University of Michigan. Corporations literally rallied to support the university and diversity as we know it, but is it really an honest demand? Read what Grist has to say about that!
MUSINGS ON DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
March 2003 SmartPros- A really simply food for thought article describing the importance of language, organisational environment etc in working with diversity management initiatives. There is a lot more to the discipline than most of us would think. The author provides us with a little advice in this regard.
23 DIVERSE IDEAS FOR THE YEAR TO COME
FastCompany December 27th 2002- Twentythree high profiles within a range of different sectors and disciplines have given their different views, opinions and expections about the year to come, and they certainly ARE very different. So read them and get inspired, maybe there is something for you to benefit from in the year to come.
THE
IMPORTANCE OF BOARD ROOM DIVERSITY
New Zealand Herald November 20th 2002 - There is nothing about the importance of having a diverse board of directors to make the right
decision and avoid to many wrong ones. And there is nothing new about the fact that most boards seem to be self-sustaining because directors feel more comfortable among people similar to
themselves. But it is great to see it documented with raw statistics as is the case in this article.
HOW IKEA DESIGNS IT'S SEXY PRICETAGS
Business 2.0 October
2002 - Learn how the very untraditional approach to design at IKEA has turned the organisation into what it is today. By deciding on the price, then the manufacturer and only then the
design, IKEA manages to revolutionize the market of furniture - and a very low cost.
BUSINESS UNORTHODOX: THE CASE OF PLAY (.pdf)
August 2002 - This great paper explains some of the great unorthodo methods and viewpoints offered by Play in Virginia. Get a peak into the way they work and think about innovation and
get inspired from their real life cases on how to generate creativity and innovation which will directly influence the bottom line.
PEOPLE WHO CAN REBUILD THE CITY
New York Times June 26 2002 - This
article by Professor Richard Florida urges the City of New York to rebuild Lower Manhattan for diversity and innovation after September 11. To build for inclusion and thereby attract the people
who were already heading for the Lower Manhattan Area thereby replacing at least some of the financial industries
DIVERSITY IS NOT DANGEROUS, MERELY INSPIRING (IN DANISH)
April 2002 BizReport
- This article by Susanne Justesen from Innoversity.dk exhibits a warning against similarity and closure in Danish Business life. Recruiting for executive boards, top management positions
and employees alike seems to focus too much on similarity and too little on diversity. And we need a major shift in Denmark in this regard if we do not want to fall behind when it comes to
innovation and new thinking. 'Cause if we all look alike - who do we expect to come up with new ideas??
NEW DEVELOPMENTS, RESEARCH AND IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT
April 2002 MIT Sloan
Management Review - This highly interesting article emphasises the importance of innovation, and none the least the importance of diversification in this effort.
DIVIANTS INC
March 2002 FastCompany -if you want to catch the wave of
the future, you have to start surfing a lot closer to the Fringe, At the beginning of every transformation in society or in the market is a deviant on the fringes, it rarely happens in the midst
or center of attention. Deviants often make us nervous, we often do not like them, but we need them: as Vito Corleone advised in The Godfather: "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."
, which is what this article is all about: we need to have diversity if we want innovation to think new and differently.
HEAVY.COM: HOW PUNKS FOUND NEW WAYS IN
BUSINESS
March 2002 - This short case description from the Austin Cronicle describes the success story of Heavy.com and how the diversity within Heavy.com and between
Heavy.com and their competitors have contributed to their large success within the media.
SHELL: MANAGING KNOWLEDGE TROUGH NEW WAYS OF WORKING
January
2002 - This booklet has been compied by Shell International Exploration and Production's Organisational Performance and Learning (OPAL)Team. Its contributions come from Shell EP's network of
operating units around the world - the people who make their business. It talks about the use of storytelling to help manage knowledge and innovation - a true case study made from within.
IMPLEMENTING A BENEFICIALLY DIVERSE ORGANIZATION
InformationWeek
January 2002 - The benefits of diversity are pretty clear: people who can incorporate multiple perspectives and who aren't afraid to experiment are more likely to innovate. But how do you
get from here to there? Guest columnists Heather E.Bock and Charles Greco explain the process.
INTERESTING SURVEY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF
INNOVATION
Personal Computer World December 6th - This survey tells the story once again about how important innovation is and should be perceived to be - especially in
times of crisis as seen in most countries at this point in time. Bain & Co. has asked 200 senior executives about innovation, and in this article you can learn about their answers.
GARY HAMEL ENCOURAGES INNOVATION - NOW
Fast Company December 1st -
In times of crises Hamel elaborates on the importance of the future instead of focusing too much on the past Survival is not merely about making it to the next financial quarter, it is about
sustainable survival and growth, in which innovation becomes a must
MAKE USE OF EBAY TO INSPIRE NEW THINKING AND INNOVATION
BizReport November
25th - This article brilliantly explains how to exploit eBay for more that just getting a good deal on vintage goods and other stuff. eBay seems to be great for spotting new trends among
your customers: what are they looking for? Which products will get the most hits? Why are these products so popular? And what can be learned from that.
THE INQUIRING MINDS BEHIND 200 YEARS OF INVENTIONS
New York Times
October 21 - A great article celebrating the 200th anniversary of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The article reports from a Round Table bringing together the members of the
National Inventors Hall of Fame and their insights and recommendations for inventions and innovation in the future.
INNOVATION WITHIN THE PC INDUSTRY
PC Magazine October 15 - Read
about this year of innovations within the PC industry, follow the stongest players of the industry in their battle for being on the forefront of technology. The article does become rather
technical at times, but it also provides an interesting peak into what the industry managed to introduce during the last year, and what they expect to launch within the nearest future.
THE LOCUS OF INNOVATION
Red Herring September 27 - A
colum by Jason Pontin on the future of innovation, which he describes to be biotechnology and nanotechnology and NOT within IT and communication as stated by so many others
THANKSGIVING FOR INNOVATION
The Economist September 19 - An article celebrating the importance of innovation in growth, by issuing a serious of Innovation Awards to mark that innovation accounts for an equivalent
of 50% of general economic growth.
INNOVATIVE MODEL
The Entrepreneur September 2002 - This article offers a portrait of Joe Reiman, the founder of Brighthouse.com - which (somewhat similar to BrainStore in Switzerland) sells ideas for a
living. By making use of a four-step model, Brighthouse is an idea factory making helping customers with eahc of the four "heartstorming" steps - 1) investigation, 2) incubation, 3) illumination
and 4) illustration.
HOW GOOGLE SEARCHES ITSELF
FastCompany July 2002 - Google is by many (certainly by me) rated as the very best search engine around, continuing to renew itself and offering still new and improved services. But how
do the keep up their pace of innovation to keep so much ahead of their competitors - read the article and learn
ENABLING INNOVATION
Red Herring June 20 - This article describes the
role of venture capitalists and financiers in innovation in general. The article is based on interviews with 'Top 100' companies who are asked to describe the role of financiers in how financial
services firms nurture innovation. The result is quit different from what one would tend to expect.
BMW: DRIVE BY DESIGN
September 2002 FastCompany - Learn how BMW, Chief of
Design Chris Bangle and his 250 design engineers, artists, color experts, clay modelers, ergonomic specialists, computer experts etc. have proven to be the heading the automobile industry with
their radical approach to carmaking.
OVERCOMING INNOVATION BARRIERS
April 2002 The CEO Refresher - An
article which provides a thorough look into the necessity of continuous innovation. Very often the barriers to innovation seem difficult to pin-point, but this article does a brilliant job in
discussing the following barriers: focus on problemsolving, too much focus, innovation directed from without (external consultant and advisors) and finally the limits posed by being too focused
on finding ONE solution.
NO RISK NO REWARD
April 2002 FastCompany - This very instructive
article emphasises the importance of continually taking new risks, thinking big and exploring new territory; i.e. innovation and creativity is necessary during both up and down periods - maybe
even more so during periods like this.
PUTTING INNOVATION BACK ON THE AGENDA
March 2002 ManagementFirst - An interesting article about how large corporations such as Intel, 3M, Virgin and others have managed to maintain an innovative environment which continues
to foster creativity and innovation, even in times of crisis
FRESH START 2002: ON THE ROAD AGAIN
January 2002 FastCompany - After suffering through the worst years in its history, Yellow Freight System hired Bill Zollars to drive an old-economy company in a new direction. Now,
almost six years later, Yellow is faster and more reliable and caters to customers like never before.
DIVERSITY WITHOUT EXCUSES
September 2002 Fast Company - Far too often organisations claim that they would very much like to increase their organisational diversity. But when you ask recruiters why they they fail to do so, you will get the answer that it is impossibly to find talented diversity. This article sets out to explain how to build a more diverse workforce - and get rid of the excuses.
MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE
April 2002 The CEO Refresher - Diversity is about working with and leading people who are diverse from yourself, and usually it is not a Innoversity Network approach to label people, whether positively or negatively. And certainly not as difficult - btu by translating diffucult into diverse og different, the article provides some relevant guidelines which may be used for dealing with collegues who act agressively, who feel victimized or how want to rescue others. A very short but interesting guide for dealing with 'difficult' people
DOES DIVERSITY DRIVE PRODUCTIVITY?
February 2002 Sloan Management Review - Different experiences and points of view don't, by themselves, make work groups more productive. The important factor is how people interrelate. This article describes the two seemingly contradictory camps within diversity research: those who feel that diversity leads to better performance because diverse perspectives will add a creative edge and those who feel that diversity impedes performance because diverse teams are less cohesive.
A GLOBAL DIVERSITY STANDARD
Diversityatwork.com January 2002 - This article presents the work of Trevor Wilson, a highly reputed diversity expert, who coached and consulted clients such as IBM, Ernst and Young, Shell and South African Breweries
THE LOSS OF DIVERSITY
FastCompany January 2001 - This article which offers a rather radical - but highly interesting perspective on the role of population in hiring, and how important it can be for companies
to be situated in a geographically inclusive region, as would be represented by a large gay community.
MANAGING A MULTICULTURAL WORKFORCE
Black Enterprise July
2001 - According to this article, the benefits to obtain from a diverse workforce have proven to be an increase in employee morale, productivity, teamwork, problem solving and
innovation.
Introducing diversity by Susanne Justesen (Innoversity.dk)
July 2001 - This article provides you with an overview of the existing research within the field of diversity - and may offer you some insights into how diversity is actually constructed and
maintained within organisations.
CHALLENGES TO DIVERSITY
Pharmaceutical Executive July
2001 - Many pharmaceutical companies seem to value differences and the advantages associated with having a variety of people in the workforce. In spite of this there is an increasing need to
develop more competencies within the field of diversity - especielly when it comes to diversity leadership, recruitment and retainment.
LUCENT TECHNOLOGY: INNOVATION & DIVERSITY
November 2000 - This case story is based on a speech made by the President and CEO, and explains the way they pursue diversity in order to enhance innovation and problem solving. Lucent
has received numerous rewards and applyes for patents more often than most companies. Maybe because they treat their employees in an 'Innoversity Way'.
MIGHTY IS THE MONGREL
Fast Company July 2000 - What does it take to win in the global economy? A commitment to mixing people, experiences, and ideas. Companies and countries that embrace diversity to
stimulate creativity will be the ones that own the future.
PITTSBURG DEPENDS ON DIVERSITY
Post-Gazette October 2000 - Take a look at the nation's leading high-tech centers: They are places where people from virtually any background can settle and make it happen. The growth
and development of great cities comes from their ability to harness diversity, welcome newcomers and turn their energy and ideas into innovations and wealth.
XEROX: STRATEGIES TO LEVERAGE DIVERSITY
April 1999 - This case story describes a strategic approach to diversity as it is seen at Xerox, who describe the five most important issues in how to keep growing and improving your
organisation. It is also explained how to pursue this strategy in your own organisation.
DIVERSITY IN THE US CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
March 1999 in the Seattle Daily- A very cut to the chase article about how and why to increase diversity in the construction industry in the US. The author bases his advice and guidelines on statistics and proven facts.