Joyce Wycoff, in her Heads Up on Organizational Innovation Weblog shares parts of an interview with John Seely Brown, former head of Xerox's Palo Alto Research centre : 

"John Seely Brown, who calls himself Chief of Confusion, in an interview with Innovation@Work talks about managing innovation. His definition of innovation is the activities that follow invention, what he calls the "path to the sea from invention." We donít agree with his definition but itís always wise to learn from this thought leader. So, he states that you cannot "manage" invention, but you can nurture it. You can, however, manage the implementation of the invention.

How does he suggest nurturing invention?

His answer is based on his years at Xerox PARC managing some of the most creative (inventive) people around. PARC did a great job of nurturing invention but a pretty poor job of commercializing their ideas. So, JSBís guidance on nurturing invention springs from a very successful source.

And the answer is ... conversations! Creating an environment where "serendipitous types of conversations" occur, a place where people from various disciplines bump into each other and start talking about possibilities. At PARC this space included wall-to-ceiling white boards, coffee pots and ways to capture the stuff on the white boards so that it would go to the individual work stations.

JSB reframed the question of how to manage invention to, "How do you enable really interesting conversations, how do you support those conversations, capture those conversations and find ways to keep the conversation going across multiple points of view." [link via Innovation Weblog]

I immediately thought of 'social software' in this context - weblogs as playgrounds that nurture "serendipitious types of conversations"? Wikis as whiteboards ? Coffee pots as spaces around which informal and personal interactions occur, like those enabled by IM tools coupled with presence tools like VOIP and cam ?  And around which social networks can form ? Content Management Systems that enable flow ?

11:45:43 PM    comment []  trackback []

AOL, Yahoo And MSN To Integrate Messaging.   [link via Yahoo! News - Technology]

"America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to link their separate instant messaging services for use in the workplace, the first major step by the industry leaders to enable computer users to communicate with one another no matter which of the three systems they use.

In an announcement planned for today, the triumvirate will outline a new partnership aimed at spurring greater use of instant messaging at work by tearing down the electronic walls that keep the respective networks separate. To use the new system, companies will have to license new Microsoft network software that will serve as the hub connecting messaging systems operated separately by AOL, Microsoft's MSN division and Yahoo.

"This is a very significant announcement," said Nate Root, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "The value here is for corporations. Corporations will now have the ability to span the instant messaging landscape."

".........The new service being touted by Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo would have features, including the electronic recording and saving of instant messages, and the guarantee of secure communications, that the free instant messaging services do not include. The ability to store and retrieve instant messages is critical for businesses placing orders with suppliers, brokerage firms confirming stock purchases to investors and in numerous other commercial transactions and communications."

Interesting to see how this emerges ... and whether corporates notice the benefits of IM systems that have presence indicators (let us know who's available, who's logged in and therefore present in the office, who you could ping for a query), ensure that a response is received, allow records and archiving of conversations.  Instead of sending emails, waiting for responses, followed by more emails as reminders, and finally, in some cases, in sheer frustration picking up the phone and making a call, which in any case does not always ensure that you will get a response - what if the person is away from the office. Then bundle it with conferencing facilities and you get a sense of presence that would facilitate real-time and live communication and conversations.  

10:12:06 AM    comment []  trackback []