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Innovation networks EMB, Hong Kong, 14 September 2005. Professor David Hargreaves. The challenge and the opportunity. Dynamic governments remain porous. Renewal rarely comes from within. One of the optical illusions of government is that
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Innovation networksEMB, Hong Kong, 14 September 2005 Professor David Hargreaves
The challenge and the opportunity Dynamic governments remain porous. Renewal rarely comes from within. One of the optical illusions of government is that those inside of it think of themselves as the drivers of change… Yet most far-reaching ideas and changes come from outside… Governments are more often vehicles than initiators. They play a role in embedding these changes but typically they get involved only at a late stage… The smarter governments around the world realise that they need to build innovation into their everyday working: through experimental zones and pilots, competitive funds and rewards for promising ideas. And new ideas need time to evolve - preferably away from the spotlight… Most radical change has to start outside government, usually from the bottom rather than the top. Geoff Mulgan, May 2005
The three tasks of innovation networks 1. Knowledge creation 2. Knowledge capture 3. Knowledge transfer
The future is already here: it is just not distributed very well. William Gibson …but it’s a half truth …so the need for innovation
What is innovation? Doing things differently in order to do them better And what is the most effective way of engaging in innovation? Here are five ways
1. Invest in high leverage for teachers! Impact on students low high high Teacher’s energy input low
Controlled focus Disciplined innovation for enhanced performance Productivity 1000 flowers Innovation
Activity 1 Are your current teaching practices designed for high leverage? Do you think it desirable to create more high leverage practices? If so, how should this be done?
2. Clarify your types of innovation! or transferred front-line or radical incremental
Incremental versus radical Minor change Major change Close to existing practice Far from existing practice Incremental change Radical change
Front-line Transferred Radical Incremental
Drivers of innovation Innovation from scratch - blue skies Innovation from known weakness - problem solving Innovation from good practice - leading edge …what’s driving you?
Activity 2 What are the drivers of innovation in our situation? What types of innovation do we most need, and why?
3. Create an innovation network! A network… is a group of organisations working together to solve problems or issues that are too large for any one organisation to handle on its own. (Priscilla Wohlstetter, 2003)
What do networks do for you? Collaborate Share ideas, knowledge, experience Raise standards Innovate for the common good What conditions are needed?
Five critical conditions 1. New and appealing core practices 2. Entrepreneurial mediating innovators 3. Network infrastructure 4. Networking culture 5. A supportive, enabling environment
Network structures - nodes, links, hubs Centralised Decentralised Distributed
So networks take many forms • centralised etc • hard - soft • tight - loose • strong - weak • open - closed • near - far
The trajectory of network development Clarity of outcome High High Clarity of process Low Low
Benefits and costs of networks • What is the added value for teachers? • What is the added value for students? • What are the transaction costs? • What are the opportunity costs? • Is there a danger of network overload?
Activity 3 What kinds of network do we have now? Can they be developed into effective innovation networks? Are you confident that the benefits will be greater than the costs?
4. Distribute the innovation • The go-it alone approach • The modular approach spliced (minor transfers only) segmented (X divided into X1+X2+X3…) sequenced (X1X2X3…) synergistic (X,Y,Z modify to create N)
Activity 4 • Which kinds of distributed innovation are: • most appropriate in our situation? • most likely to be effective?
Sharing good practice versus knowledge transfer I inform you about it versus You can do what I can do so… 5. Transfer the knowledge
Knowledge transfer Culture transmission N It’s all about social learning Families Kinship Friends Industrial and Business Innovation
Knowledge transfer a basic model channel/mode Donor Recipient Stickiness Absorptive capacity PUSH PULL
When is transfer most difficult? Incremental Radical Non -sticky High absorptive capacity Sticky Low absorptive capacity Difficulty of transfer
RECIPROCITY mutual growth for mutual benefits = ‘joint practice development’ arises in strategic alliances involves distributed innovation demands distributed leadership becomes an example of Riccardo’s law of comparative advantage
Source • wants to share the knowledge • respects the recipient • communicates well through right modes • understands the demands of radical innovation for the time and energy demands on both sides • offers lessons learned • is committed to reciprocation Recipient • is motivated to adopt and adapt the knowledge • sees the source as credible and trustworthy • sees the transfer as professional learning • is committed to reciprocation
Which do you learn more from? • a clear description of a successful innovation • an account of the innovator’s ‘lessons learned’ From the point of the innovator, which is easier and more attractive to write? So why are lessons learned so vital to knowledge transfer?
Activity 5 What do we need to do to improve the quality and speed of knowledge transfer in our school system?
D&R networks adopt an open source philosophy to create a peer-to-peer system of innovation and knowledgetransfer that is decentralised, distributedand disciplined and this feeds into iNet and learns from it
IBM is gambling that it can win by giving away crown jewels - precious intellectual property in the form of software, parents and ideas. Spread enough of those riches around, the theory goes, and the entire industry will grow, opening up new frontiers…By sharing its discoveries wisely, [CEO Sam] Palmisano says, IBM will ‘make the pie bigger’ and the entire industry will grow faster… Collaborating with customers and even rivals to invent new technologies is a big part of this sharing plan, whose first fruits are already apparent. Fortune, September 2005
Activity 6 Is it possible for us to adopt an ‘open source’ philosophy to drive innovation in our system? If so, what do we need to do next? If not, how should we drive innovation?
Free reading in open source style Education Epidemic, Demos, 2003 www.demos.co.uk/educationepidemic Working laterally, DfES/Demos, 2003 www.demos.co.uk/workinglaterally