Future-proofing the organisation - video

Nadim Habib is a superb and engaging speaker on business and change. It's worth listening to his whole talk, but if you don't have 30 mins, jump to about 13 minutes to hear him on 'the future', forecasts, turbulence and agility.


If nothing else, listen to his excellent and funny anecdote at about 26 mins on how to get people to collaborate.


Habib is based in Lisbon, but we are going to work on getting him to speak at a future KIN event. As an academic he definitely talks KIN language.

Tongue-in-cheek project management definitions

I was having a clearout of old papers recently.

Amongst my Marks and Spencer stuff I found the amusing list of alternative definitions for project managers attached below. I wrote this glossary about 25 years ago, so now I suppose we could add:

Agile

Artificial intelligence

Machine learning

Big data

Virtual reality

Silicon roundabout

Startup

Working from home

No-code

Algorithm

Any offers offers for alternative definitions for these?

(Incidentally, in government projects 'SRO' is Senior Responsible Officer).

Innovation serendipity - how not to do it

At The Innovation Network we've often discussed how important the physical environment is to maximising the chance of innovating. Cloisters, staircases, coffee machines are common examples of places where people can be expected to have chance encounters and spark ideas off one another.

I've just listened to the Planet Money podcast episode #847 'Inventing Accidents'. That's accidental inventions - not inventing car crashes. The broadcast features several inventions that came about when individuals were looking for something else. Did you know the Super Soaker water pistol was accidentally invented by a NASA scientist?

Pagan Kennedy (yes that is her name) has studied and written extensively about serendipity. In the podcast she talks about 'engineering serendipity' being a myth and building special multi-million $ staircases are a waste of money.

The best thing you can do to bring about accidental innovations - hire the most diverse workforce you can find.

You can listen to the podcast (18 minutes) here.

KIN has a diverse and exciting set of innovation events scheduled for the summer and autumn. The next is the 'Building Trust with Blockchain' masterclass on 3rd July, hosted by PwC. Check out the calendar of events here.

Innovation Announcement: New Masterclass Event: LEGO Serious Play, 09 Nov 2018

Do you use your hands to think? Creativity, ideation and design thinking are all important components of innovation and problem solving. However, it's often difficult to get the creative juices flowing without some external stimulus. LEGO Serious Play (LSP) is a high-energy creativity, communication and problem-solving technique. It enables faster and better decisions with more commitment from participants. It's particularly effective at releasing untapped potential (people always 'know more than they know they know') and latent ideas. This is a hands-on, interactive Masterclass for KIN members that will show how to use all our senses, particularly visual and haptic (tactile). Using the metaphor of LEGO modelling, we will experience a new way of thinking (with your hands). This is underpinned by research into the neuroscience of groups and meetings. We will also explore contemporary leadership themes such as psychological safety, systems thinking, diversity and inclusion, authenticity, creativity and collaboration. These are all critical components of successful innovation. You will have the opportunity to tackle your own problems, unlock ideas and take these back into your organisation. LSP is being used in an increasing number of organisations – large and small, commercial and public ; this is an opportunity to experience using it first hand and understand how it and playful approaches can have a significant impact. This event would be of particular interest to and benefit the following roles and functions: R&D, Change management, knowledge managers, innovation specialists, strategy roles, operations management, Learning and Development, HR The key learning points from this event will be: A practical and engaging problem solving technique, novel idea-generation, team-building, inclusion techniques, the neuroscience behind team working Full details can be found on this the KIN members' event page: Masterclass: LEGO Serious Play'

Data paranoia

I received an invitation from one of our speakers at a past KIN Workshop to join Dock.

This technology offers to connect all our social media activity through the blockchain-enabled platform Etherium. The last thing I want is for all my digital presence, such as it is, to be more connected, despite the security that blockchain allegedly offers. 

The invitation cleverly/worryingly lets me know which of my contacts have already signed up for Dock. I had not given Dock permission to see my contacts, so I can only assume that it had done some clever stuff connecting me through the contacts of the person that had invited me. Blockchain may be 'secure', but the rest of it?

Paranoid, moi?

Steve Dale is running a KIN Masterclass 'Building Trust with Blockchain', hosted by PwC in London on 3rd July. KIN Members can get more information and register here.