Innovating – One Conversation at a Time
“We are experiencing change at a faster rate than ever before” is a phrase commonly heard in keynotes at conferences.
The word ‘exponential’ is entering our innovation conversations with increasing frequency. Exponential is an ‘extremely rapid increase’, so rapid that instead of looking at things in a linear progression (one becomes two becomes three becomes four etc.) we double. That means that one becomes two becomes four becomes eight and so on. Exponentially growing organizations rise quickly to become disruptors to their competitors and to the market in general.
Digitization has been integral to exponential growth. The rate at which we can now exchange ideas is just short of instantaneous. As soon as something appears on the internet it becomes useful knowledge to ‘someone’ ‘somewhere’ on the planet. And even beyond!
In April 2016, the first tool, a wrench, was 3D printed onboard the International Space Station. In two years’ time we are expected to be using bionic kidneys for transplants. The smart phone has embedded itself into our lives, essential for our work, social and health activities. In a few years we may only need a chip embedded into our skulls.
Innovation is (or should be) intrinsic in every industry; medicine agriculture, finance, education, social, manufacturing, construction and transport. Discussions abound about fear and progress, abundance and scarcity. Do the incremental, sustainable, disruptive and destructive innovations, benefit humanity or will they eventually destroy us?
We are no longer simply asking ‘What is innovation?”. We have surpassed the notion that all businesses should be innovating. Start-ups, accelerator programs and collaborative workplaces are now the norm rather than the novel. The words ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ are common in organizational dialogue.
Ethical conversations and debates are becoming increasingly frequent and increasingly necessary. There is a call for organizations to employ Chief Ethical Officers. So, what is there to discuss? Plenty it seems, especially when it comes to Artificial Intelligence and Medicine. How smart should we let AI become? Should we engineer each human by editing DNA? If we created ‘fake’ meat and milk, couldn’t we feed the world’s undernourished and starving? Will autonomous vehicles reduce fatalities on our roads? Can we live forever?
With the advent of exponential technologies and continuous innovation, comes greater responsibility. We need to consciously put humans first. But in a world ruled largely by what divides us (race, gender, religion, economics, politics), rather than what unites us, how does that play out?
The Front End of Innovation conference will be a portal for discussions; starting them, continuing them and sometimes closing them. Discussions between a room full of participants or through one-on-one synchronous opportunities. Collideations; where circumstances allow for the colliding of ideas, for the betterment of the planet.
Never has there been more talk of ‘tribes’, social impact and an increasing push for businesses to have a social bottom line. For businesses to do well into the 21st Century, they will need to have far greater impact than simply a profit statement. We are increasingly demanding that businesses and organizations give-back and support community at more than tokenistic levels.
What we would love more than anything, is for you to come and join a conversation. Even better, why not start one?
About the Author: Christina Gerakiteys is the Founder of UtopiaX and IdeationWorX, She is an ideation, innovation and creativity catalyst, igniting hearts and minds to what is possible.