The Forgotten Truth - Innovation is The Outcome of Invention

For some time now, I have been inundated with information on innovation methodologies and practices. They all offer meaningful theories around how innovation could occur. All propose systems or processes that are logically constructed and this is where I think these theories miss the point. We invent daily and naturally and we do so non-linearly, illogically and emotionally and we reflect on these inventions - some we have good experiences with, some we don't and some we are not conscious of constructing at all. However, it is the reflection on how we invent where we can best develop an expertise, capability or professionalism in whatever endeavour we work at, not through theoretical constructs. Innovation systems or theories per see don't produce outcomes. Innovation systems simply provide a framework. It is the invention, the ideas

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Insights in Times of Turmoil

At its inception in Nov 2005, the Creative Leadership Forum presented a philosophy for creative leadership based on these principles. * Numbers are considered the measure for business success. * It is not the financial and performance targets that produce the outcomes or value. * It is the relationships and actions among people, clients, suppliers and their patterns of working and thinking together that produce the outcomes and the value. * A successful creative leader understands that to nurture the relationships between all stakeholders in order to satisfy customer needs is what produces immediate value and long term viability. When we presented these principles we generally received grudging acknowledgement spiced with a degree of cynicism around the numbers proposition. Still, the numbers have to work was often the parting comment!! When measured against the current backdrop in the world financial markets, this philosophy with its four principles not only holds up strongly, it proposes a way forward. Right now all the major financial media commentators agree on one thing - nobody knows where the world economy is going. It is in the area of paradox, ambiguity and uncertainty and there is no way out!! The most insightful commentary I have read on the current situation is George Soros' new book

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Announcing the BNET Australia and Creative Leadership Forum Media Content Partnership.

The Creative Leadership Forum is delighted to announce it has signed an agreement with BNET Australia (www.bnet.com), a website focused on supporting Australia's 4.5 million managers's leading on-line daily management and business journal to become a major content provider in the area of creative leadership, creativity and innovation. Concurrently, the Creative Leadership Forum is also pleased to announce a new series of workshops entitled Moments of Learning to align itself with BNET Australia's objective of providing action-oriented intelligence for managerial professionals that's smart, useful, and always right at your fingertips The Creative Leadership Forum Moments are 2 hour monthly programmes designed as short introductory learning experiences offering

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The Ill Informed Argument of Death by PowerPoint

I have recently come across a series of comments about the "death of PowerPoint" that are at best ill-formed and at worse reactionary. Professor John Sweller of the University of New South Wales argues that the use of Powerpoint has been a disaster and should be ditched. He says it is effective to speak while showing a diagram or graph because it presents information in a different form. However he argues it is not effective to speak the same words that are written because it puts too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented. An article in the Melbourne Age on the same topic by Christopher Scanlon of RMIT University titled "The PowerPoint of No Return references a book The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint by Edward Tufte. Scanlan claims Tufte suggests that PowerPoint affects the way we think. " Technologies shape what we think about, how we think about it, and, more importantly, how we relate to the world around us. For the naive bullet lists may create the appearance of hard-headed organised thought. But in the reality of day-to-day practice, the PowerPoint cognitive style is faux-analytical. Bullet outlines can make us stupid, " says Tufte. The basis of these argument are incorrect because they don't address the core issues.

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