July 29, 2002
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:Emergent Stupidity Update
No sooner do I finish the Brendan O'Neill-baiting (i.e., way over 250 words) opus on The Committee Effect , than the new August post-Wetlaufer Harvard Business Review arrives.
In "How to Kill a Team's Creativity" (nice title), authors Sethi, Smith and Park confirm my "consensus values" theory:
Highly cohesive groups focus more on maintaining relationships an thus, tend to seek concurrence. Our study found that as social ties among members of a cross-functional team intensify, the innovativeness of its new product diminishes.
Later in this issue (dedicated to "Innovative Enterprises") Scientist-turned-executive Danny Hillis describes how Alexander Fleming was studying bacteria when a mold intruded on his microscope slide. Instead of throwing it away, he watched for a while and discovered this mysterious mold inhibited bacterial growth. The antibacterial properties of Penicillin were revealed. Hillis continues:
Everyone knows that innovation is risky, and it's rare that you arrive at your expected destination. But maybe that destination isn't so important. Maybe what you should be paying attention to are the little detours you take along the way: It's down those back roads and byways that the real payoff usually is found. Maybe, in fact, the biggest risk in innovation lies in sticking too closely to your plans.
That's what I say. Don't tie your project to a 200 page requirements analysis and a cast of thousands. Design a flawed prototype and make decisions on the fly.
Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at July 29, 2002 10:06 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links