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Empowering Innovation

Michael M. Cirovic Professor and Chair Electrical Engineering Cal Poly, SLO. Empowering Innovation. Why Innovate. Technological innovation has improved and enhanced the human existence Innovation is part of the human spirit

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Empowering Innovation

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  1. Michael M. Cirovic Professor and Chair Electrical Engineering Cal Poly, SLO Empowering Innovation

  2. Why Innovate • Technological innovation has improved and enhanced the human existence • Innovation is part of the human spirit • It is entirely normal for us to want to improve things, to make them better than they were • Innovation drives the economy • PC’s are a good example • Hardware (higher speed) • Software (more power, new features)

  3. Innovation - What it is not • It is not the way movies portray it • Not always planned • the transistor • Not always an improvement • lumpy cable • Not a discontinuous event that drastically changes the status quo • Innovation is Not Revolutionary but Evolutionary • Not the result of a flash of inspiration • More Perspiration than Inspiration

  4. Three Avenues to Innovation • Personal - What each person: • Can do • Needs to do • Should avoid doing • Group – Group members need: • To be Supportive, nurturing • To be team players • To refrain from being overly competitive • Institutional – what the corporate infrastructure: • Needs to cultivate • Needs to prevent

  5. Institutional Empowerment of Innovation • The company should create a fertile environment • Employees need to know that their ideas are welcome • Happy employees innovate • Every evaluation should explicitly address the employee's contributions in innovation • Rewarding acts of innovation will bring more • It must be safe to fail • Innovation can be stymied where the fear of failure rules • Punishment for failing must be in proportion • Negativism must be minimized • It is so easy to react to a new idea by finding fault or a reason why it will not work

  6. Group Dynamics to Empower Innovation • The notion of team effort is critical • Each individual must be ready to help all others • Cooperation and Competition must be two sides of the same coin • Sacrifices are part of it • Praise and encouragement among team members

  7. Individual • A Different Point of View is Needed • Less judgmental • More positive, persevering • Edison’s “100 ways not to do it” • Creativity needs to be Unblocked! • We all wear blinders, suffer from conventional thinking • Takes discipline and work to overcome • Need to practice unblocking on a regular basis • I do a puzzle daily

  8. Anathema to Innovation • Creative thinking blockers • Arithmetic • Balancing our checkbook • Putting on our pants • Our Memory • It is associative • Causes us to remember and repeat

  9. Paths to Innovation • Innovation is nothing more than Directed Problem Solving • Abstraction • Generalization of trends and patterns • Extrapolation • Getting the solution by extending the current pattern in a given/new direction • Avoiding Conventional Thought • Ask the question “what would happen if …”

  10. Examples • Homeless Tracking System • Problem statement • Conventional Solution • Innovative Solution • HODOC • Problem statement • Books -> Database -> CD ROM

  11. 10 Innovation Proverbs (Thinksmart.com) • 1. PEOPLE do innovation. • 2. Innovation means doing something that hasn't been done before. By definition there is risk involved. No risk; no innovation. • 3. Innovation is a win-win process.It creates new value for the customer and the organization. • 4. Innovation is a team sport.Teams are built around a common objective and trust. • 5. Innovation requires risk.Risk-taking requires trust.Trust requires honesty and openness.

  12. 10 Innovation Proverbs (continued) • 6. Innovation requires energy.Energy comes from challenges that excite the imagination. • 7. Innovation is about creating the future.Cost-cutting and downsizing are about fixing the past. • 8. Innovation is not just a rah-rah word or fad.It is an investment in the future that requires new processes, time, energy, commitment and resources. • 9. Innovation requires new information -- from co-workers, customers, suppliers, competitors and from the world. • 10. Innovation requires time -- time to think, time to tinker, time to talk about possibilities and ideas.Down-to-the-second controls can kill innovation.

  13. Parting Thoughts • Some people view the world as being made up of problems, I view the situation as presenting opportunities for clever solutions

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