Comments on: What the Innovation Roadtrips are all about

By: Jochen

Jochen — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 16:51:39 +0000

Congratulations – an exciting mission and a promising start.

Based on my own observations, I have a thesis that you may want to examine during your travels: Innovation does not emerge from “Think Tanks”.

Many corporates — Deutsche Bank, for example — take pride in relatively thorough “innovation management” — experiments with Design Thinking, Prototyping, crowdsourcing, startup relations; smart people, no doubt, doing smart things. Across the hallway, however, in the lines of business, the experience is more like what you’d expect: cost containment, a calculus based on hierarchy and status, silo egoisms, councils delegating responsibility backwards, risk aversion. Often heard: “A good idea, yes, but…”. Over time, the trench grows deeper, innovators are branded as theorists, and in practice, nothing much changes. It’s my belief that labs and “think tanks” produce, at best, ideas; true innovation, however, can only be found where the day-to-day decisions are made, where product ownership is, where daily operations are run.

The question, of course, remains: How do we inject the spirit of innovation where it really matters? Is it only about the character and charisma of the individual, or what can be done systemically? I’ll keep spinning these questions and I’m looking forward to your take on any answers.

Good luck!

By: Tom Mandel

Tom Mandel — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 16:37:10 +0000

Anita — Terrific project! I look forward to what you come up with. Do you know Howard Becker’s book Art Worlds (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Worlds-Howard-S-Becker/dp/0520256360). It would make a very interesting companion on these journeys. About “cooperative networks” of creativity (i.e. more generally than the specific “innovation” meme), but I think it’d be very interesting for you. Hope to see you some time this Spring!

By: Anita Zielina

Anita Zielina — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 09:19:51 +0000

Thank you for you helpful and supporting comments! Klaus and me appreciate it, and look forward to your continuing feedback.

By: Michelle Holmes

Michelle Holmes — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 18:51:19 +0000

Fantastic journey. Can’t wait to hear the answers. So happy ya’ll are stepping beyond journalism. We need to end this insularity if we are going to survive in the modern world.

By: Robert Franken

Robert Franken — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 15:02:27 +0000

What a fantastic outset for a journey towards the true parameters for innovation across different industries! As you put it: It’s not about your vertical’s peers, but about the customer. Or, as the Nike CEO Mark Parker elaborates: “I always like to say that we focus on our potential and the distance between where we are and our potential, not the distance between us and our competition.”

I am really looking forward to reading about your insights, stories and findings. Have a safe trip!

By: Saleem Khan

Saleem Khan — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 12:34:56 +0000

This is a welcome effort, and I hope it yields lessons that we can — and do — apply to journalism.

In 2005, I came to the same conclusion as you, and abandoned seeking answers within media. Instead, I started spending time with startup founders, designers, developers, business professionals, artists, and anyone else who would have a conversation with me. I learned a lot. I did this all with the goal of bringing what I had learned back to journalism.

I also learned that most news organizations were unwilling to take even small risks to try new things, even when they know they need to change. When I said we need to do things differently, try new approaches, and experiment, people literally laughed at, dismissed or ignored me.

Now, many of the things I advocated or proposed are starting to happen. But resistance remains.

It took over 25 years for what we now call “data journalism” to become a mainstream practice. I hope that our urgent need to change journalism is a challenge we meet much faster, and that what you discover on your trips is given due attention and adoption.

Safe, productive travels — I’m looking forward to following along!