Concurrence, April 2015

1

C oncurrence

What Businesses Can Learn from Arts.

April 2015. Volume 1

CONCURRENCE

‘The world of arts must be rescued out of the prison of entertainment and the world of business must be led out of the desert of dullness of meaning!’ -‐ Miha Pogacnik. Concert violinist, Slovenian Cultural Ambassador, Adjunct professor of Art

and Leadership at IEDC – Bled School of Management.

3

Inception

Concurrence. The definition, as per Webster’s online dictionary, is the simultaneous occurrence of events or circumstances. Also, an agreement or union in action : cooperation. We could not think of a better name for our e-‐magazine, which will attempt to explore the agreement or union of Art and Business worlds, to create new ideas, learnings and more. Can the world of business learn from the world of the arts? And the artist? Can these two spaces that so rarely unite look at each other differently, with new energy and insight? And can those new insights lead to new solutions, to invention and innovation? Design guru and author of The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda said in an interview in late 2014 that “We seem to forget that innovation doesn't just come from equations or new kinds of chemicals, it comes from a human place. Innovation in the sciences is always linked in some way, either directly or indirectly, to a human experience. And human experiences happen through engaging with the arts – listening to music, say, or seeing a piece of art.” He went on to add: “Superior innovation comes from bringing divergents (the artists and designers) and convergents (science and engineering) together.” Our magazine will have this simple agenda: to talk about the convergence of the worlds of arts and business. In our inaugural issue, we have a rich mix of content that, we feel, will speak more on this idea. We spoke to Biren Ghose, Country Head of Technicolor India and found out how one of the world’s most advanced studios leverage creativity to deliver blockbuster movies around the world. And why arts matter to creative people. Our partner in Italy, Leonardo Previ, the President of Trivioquadrivio, writes on how Innovation can benefit from artistic thinking. Our partner in Australia, Dr.Cathryn Lloyd of Maverick Minds sends us her ideas on how a culture of learning can be augmented through Art-‐Based Learnings. And a lot more. Articles, book reviews, write-‐ups. Concurrence will appear in your email box every quarter. This is our first edition, and I hope you will enjoy reading it. Please, do share your feedback, to help us improve. Looking forward, with excitement,

CONCURRENCE

Contents

Page Inception Concurrence 3 Happenings A Little Context, Please: The IBM Global CEO Study 6 Exploration Art – a tool to Develop Leadership. Are We Ready? 10 Tete-‐a-‐tete A Conversation with Biren Ghose 12 Exploration What Entrepreneurs can Learn from Artists 20 Point of View Leonardo Previ: Looking For Innovation 24 Happenings Training The Eye: Art Education in Medicine and Management 28 Point of View Dr.Cathryn Lloyd: A Culture of Creativity 33 Book Review What If 39 And In The End 43

5

“What the arts allow us to do is develop the muscle required for discernment, and also strengthen our sense of agency to determine for ourselves how we’re going to tackle a given problem. Especially when you’re young, it’s one of the few times there’s no set path that someone can point you to go down to figure out the answer to a problem you’re trying to solve. If you’re in a math or science class and you’re trying to learn different equations, there’s an answer and you’re trying to arrive at it. But if I’m drawing a beautiful plant—say I wanted to make the lines really thick. The teacher can’t come over and say, “You know, the lines should be thinner.” There’s no should, really. Ultimately it’s up to the person creating the work to determine what the path is, and that kind of agency is what’s required for innovation.” -‐ Sarah Lewis, author of ‘The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search

for Mastery’. As published in Technology Review. (More at http://www.technologyreview.com/qa/526436/the-‐underappreciated-‐ties-‐between-‐art-‐and-‐innovation/)

CONCURRENCE

Happenings

A Little Context, Please. Between September 2009 and January 2010, IBM interviewed 1,541 CEOs, general managers and senior public sector leaders who represent different sizes of organizations in 60 countries and 33 industries as a part of the biennial Global CEO Study series, led by the IBM Institute for Business Value and IBM Strategy & Change. In addition to CEO interviews, a subset of the CEO Study Questions were asked to 3,619 students from more than 100 major universities around the world. This first IBM Student Study provides insight into the views of future leaders.

7

And the most interesting finding emerged -‐ Creativity is the most important leadership quality, according to CEOs. Successful CEOs and their companies practice and encourage experimentation and innovation throughout their organizations. Creative leaders expect to make deeper business model changes to realize their strategies. To succeed, they take more calculated risks, find new ideas, and keep innovating in how they lead and communicate.

Creative leaders invite disruptive innovation, encourage others to drop outdated approaches and take balanced risks. They are open-‐minded and inventive in expanding their management and communication styles, particularly to engage with a new generation of employees, partners and customers. CEOs recognize that leading creatively will require them to shed some long-‐held beliefs. Their approaches need to be original, rather than traditional. They must be distinct and, at times, radical in their conception and execution, not just marginally better than existing models or methods. Or, as one Telecommunications CEO in India put it: “Creativity in everything.” Creativity is often defined as the ability to bring into existence something new or different, but CEOs elaborated. Creativity is the basis for “disruptive innovation and continuous re-‐invention,” a Professional Services CEO in the United States told us. And this requires bold,

CONCURRENCE

breakthrough thinking. Leaders, they said, must be ready to upset the status quo even if it is successful. They must be comfortable with and committed to ongoing experimentation. Commit to upsetting the status quo Standout CEOs expressed little fear of re-‐examining their own creations or proven strategic approaches. In fact, 74% of them took an iterative approach to strategy, compared to 64 percent of other CEOs. Standouts rely more on continuously re-‐conceiving their strategy versus an approach based on formal, annual planning.

It is no longer sufficient to think, manage or delegate based on traditional time horizons or strategic planning cycles. Both new threats and emerging opportunities require an ability to see around corners, predict outcomes where possible, act despite some uncertainty, and then start all over again. Of course, no one advocated making ill-‐considered judgments, but avoiding unnecessary delays was a recurring

ambition. “The world is spinning faster,” said a Government CEO in Australia. “We need to keep pace.” Break ground with new business models To better understand creative leadership, the researchers looked more closely at only those CEOs who selected creativity as one of three top leadership qualities. And found them to be much more prepared to innovate and between 10 and 20% more likely to pursue innovation through business model change. Historically, business models have changed from time to time. But now these changes are occurring in rapid-‐fire succession. In the words of an Industrial Products CEO in Japan, “A business model is not absolute, but must adapt to environmental change.” CEOs must be able to test, tweak and redesign their core activities continually. Today, partnerships, revenue models and a host of core business decisions require modification in light of the fast-‐changing forces impacting their organizations. To operate more effectively in a volatile environment, creative leaders strongly encourage and experiment with all types of business model innovation. And it’s not sufficient to be prepared for it personally. They must equip their entire organization to be a catalyst for creativity. For most leadership teams, this requires an entirely new set of capabilities. A Media and Entertainment CEO in the United States said, “We need to find, recognize and reward creativity.” CEOs saw the need to seed creativity across their organizations rather than set apart “creative types” in siloed departments like product design. To benefit from the diversity of ideas each employee can contribute, Standouts encourage a new mindset of questioning.

“Creativity means new ways of solving tough problems. Many challenges require innovative thinking.”

-‐ David Rankin, Chief Executive, Auckland City

9

They invite employees at all levels to challenge assumptions based on past experiences and scrutinize “the way we’ve always done things.” In addition to leading differently, CEOs and their teams are communicating differently. To communicate with customers and employees, they are experimenting with and assessing the results of using many newer types of digital media and social networking channels. Successful companies reported a better balance of communication approaches. They acknowledge the continued importance of communications “from the top,” especially to establish clarity of purpose and company values. But they also are embracing “viral” forms of communication to engage those inside and outside their organizations. Breaking from the past, CEOs made a bold choice in naming creativity their premier leadership quality. Traditionally, leaders were most admired for other qualities, like operational excellence, strategic vision or engineering big deals. There is a strong sense that CEOs are embarking on a significant shift, both personally and for their organizations as a whole. Committing to creativity, they understand the need to challenge their most basic assumptions, and reconceive what it takes to be successful The Study Summarised this section by asking: “Are you leading creatively?”

• How will you develop the critical capabilities to enhance creativity among your leadership team?

• In what ways can you explore, reward and globally integrate diverse and unconventional points of view?

• What is your approach to challenge every element of your business model to get the most from currently untapped opportunities?

• How will you leverage new communication styles, technologies and tools, both to lead a new generation of talent and encourage breakthrough thinking?

Any answers? Source: http://www-‐935.ibm.com/services/in/ceo/ceostudy2010/

CONCURRENCE

Let’s Talk

Art – a tool to Develop Leadership. Are We Ready?

Dan Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind (2005), argues that left-‐brain linear, analytical computer-‐like thinking are being replaced by right-‐brain empathy, inventiveness, and understanding as skills most needed by business. Pink points to Asia, automation, and abundance as the reasons behind the shift. Pink says "Logical and precise, left-‐brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age -‐ ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion." Creativity is a core competency for leaders and managers, and a crucial component of the innovation equation. Creativity requires whole-‐brain thinking; right-‐brain imagination,

artistry and intuition, plus left-‐brain logic and planning. Organizations led by creative leaders have a higher success rate in innovation, employee engagement, change and renewal. Generating fresh solutions to problems, and the ability to create new products, processes or services for a changing market, are part of the intellectual capital that give a company its competitive edge.

Art is an invitation to have a conversation. Art can be a potent catalyst for a deeper inquiry into business issues, providing the means for 'artful reflection' in organizational development. As we have seen, arts can offer non-‐threatening social environments that foster non-‐judgmental exchange of ideas, reduces chances of conflicts and offers variety and alternatives to all parties to look into. Through art we can make it safe ask the deeper questions that lead to the emotional truth about a

Medical Students. Buddying MBAs. Business Leaders. Everyone is Getting a Dose of Arts! And it isn’t to improve their handwriting!

11

situation. Art creates a bonding experience that facilitates collaboration and accelerates the ability get to the heart of a problem. That is because images can externalize the unconscious and make tacit knowledge visible, to be explored further. Firstly, the fundamental idea is that by exposing people to arts and to the artistic process creation, people’s skills can grow, particularly in domains such as design, creativity and imagination, personal communication and improvisation. In today’s complex and fast-‐changing business context (think VUCA) these competences are becoming increasingly

important as essential features of knowledge workers’ capabilities. For example, improvisation is a managerial skill that is acknowledged as an important factor, grounding the ability to respond spontaneously and under pressure to problems and opportunities as they arise (Crossan, 1997). Secondly, arts and the artistic process have been used to address the development of more complex capabilities such as leadership and self-‐management. Leaders can learn a lot from artists and the artistic process, like for example, “the

courage to see the reality as it actually is [..]; the courage to envision previously unimagined and unimaginable possibilities; and the courage to inspire others to bring possibility back to reality” (Adelr, 2006). Finally, arts learning experiences stimulate and develop group and collaborative learning. This is the case particularly of experiences based on ensemble arts, which push people to feel a sense of responsibility to a group and/or to a project (Fiske, 1999). Indeed, theatre productions, music ensembles, dance presentations, collaborative creative writing and group paintings are all examples of group activities involving group members’ learning process. Learning in the arts encourages the development of cognitive capacity and the ability to learn in other domains (Deasy, 2002; Fiske, 1999). In this light, even if there are some empirical difficulties to prove from a quantitative perspective the existence of transferring knowledge from arts to other fields, qualitative and theoretical implications show that skills learnt through art education can benefit other capabilities and professional skills (Perkins, 1994).

Sources: 1. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Daniel H. Pink 2. The Value of Art-‐Based Initiaves. Professor Giovanni Schiuma 3. Organizational Improvisation. Miguel Pina E. Cunha, Ken Kamoche 4. Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Richard Deasy 5. The Arts and the Creation of Mind. By Elliot Eisner 6. Champions of change : the impact of the arts on Learning. By Edward B Fiske

Arts play a fundamental role in the development of cognitive capacities, including perception, elaboration, problem solving, and creative thinking.

CONCURRENCE

“The most important criterion to achieve a culture of

Innovation lies in an organization’s ability to

embrace failure.” -‐ Biren Ghose, Country Head, Technicolor India

13

tête-‐à-‐tête

A Conversation with Biren Ghose, Country Head, Technicolor India, and President, ABAI. Biren spoke to Pratima Choudhury of The Painted Sky on how Innovation and Arts go together.

PC: Biren, how has 2014 been for Technicolor in India? What are some of the significant achievements and milestones? Creatively, and businesswise. BG: 2014 has been an exceptional year for Technicolor India and its constituent studios MPC; DreamWorks Animation; Rockstar Games; Nickelodeon; EA; among other prominent client hubs. I have been at the helm of the India entity of our Company and played a role as a catalyst in building this studio [over the past 5+ years]. I feel overwhelmed and privileged to have had the opportunity to steer our teams towards this incredible evolution. The key to our strategy was to integrate and align the creative and business processes of the ‘local Company’ to act in ‘synchromesh’ with the global Technicolor and its client organizations each with their unique identity and culture.

Creatively the team worked to bring home the Oscar for VFX; the Cannes Gold; a few Emmy’s; many British Arrows, BAFTAS among various other awards and accolades. The creative edge of the studio constantly ‘raises the bar’ to wow audiences and the ‘products’ worked on by the team in 2014 have grossed well over a US 5+ billion in revenue.

Of paramount importance was to transform the ‘way’ we worked to align with the values, knowledge and behaviors of our 100 year old Hollywood parent.

CONCURRENCE

If we told you that our work seen on screen in this past year included Godzilla; X-‐Men – Days of Future Past; Spiderman II; Maleficent; Guardians of the Galaxy; Night at the Museum; Exodus; Penguins of Madagascar; Grand Theft Auto V; All Hail King Julian; Puss N Boots; Alvin and the Chipmunks; among many others, would that be evidence of the “creative chops” we have developed as a team @Technicolor and MPC? PC: What are some strategies and tools adopted at Technicolor to promote Creativity and Innovation among its employees? How have these approaches and processes impacted productivity and creativity at Technicolor? BG: We understand the individual in every one of our 1800 strong team within the Technicolor India organization and yet all the micro teams in various divisions & businesses need to ’fly elegantly in formation’. We additionally manage work remotely through another 500-‐1000 people externally in our production ecosystem in the conduct of our day-‐to-‐day business.

It has been our job to develop and nurture an adaptive & fluent leadership style. We believe in an authentic and transparent client & partner interface. Our style is to engage in a dynamic and ‘real time’ manner with clients and employees, telling them ‘like it is’”; ensuring they are served the optimum blend of information and insights.

While promoting these ideas, we have attempted to reduce the ‘social distance’ separating individuals at the level of the ‘production floor’” from those in authority -‐ and embracing an informal style and structure. It is our endeavor to “get to know” people, such that we ‘bridge’ the regional/cultural as well as ‘generational’ divides.

Our studio leadership is not just about creating ‘image driven experiences’ for audiences in movies and TV, but also about ensuring we ’engineer real life experiences’ within our workplace. Many events across the year keep this spirit alive.

Our strength lies in ‘listening’ to what the team needs – engaging with them to comprehend and feed their ‘basic emotional triggers’ – which in a creative environment is very different as compared to a conventional manufacturing in industrial sector company. It is about relaxing and energizing them through ‘fun’ but also go beyond – to make them feel good about who they are, what they do and where they do it. For us ‘better, quicker & faster’ is not a buzzword –it is an outcome of our approach to human development, technology deployment and a constantly upgraded infrastructure.

15

PC: What does the next decade hold for the animation business in India? BG: The next decade looks extremely promising for the Indian Animation/VFX industry! India is progressively becoming an ‘active ingredient’ in the ‘global production recipe’ for producing animation/VFX content. There has been an incredible increase in the number and quality of projects undertaken by local production studios for international studios.

According to the FICCI-‐KPMG 2015 report, the Indian Media & Entertainment industry will earn INR 2 trillion for its creativity by 2019 (the 2015 revenues are pegged at INR 1.2 trillion this year). The VFX, Animation and Gaming business constitutes about INR 80 billion [2015] and is poised to grow by approximately 16% CAGR for the

next 5 years. The animation/VFX industry is about 8% of the global industry. About a decade ago, India was not even a single digit of the world’s market share in this sector. This speaks volumes for the inventiveness of India’s entrepreneurs and the innate ability of local talent to embrace the complexities of producing such digital content.

The recognition provided to the Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects industry by the Indian government in the last Union Budget announcement, bodes well for the sector. The need of the hour is to leverage this opportunity and work ‘hand-‐in-‐hand’ with the Government (both centre and state) and Academia (both international and local) to raise ‘standards and best practices’ so that the local industry can rise to the next level of quality and technology. PC: If we can broaden the discussion, in your view, how does creativity help an organization evolve, both for business sustenance and growth? And what can an organization get from encouraging creativity to understand and decode the current VUCA environment?

BG: In the adult world, we need to constantly motivate ourselves to keep rediscovering our childlike curiosity. To always try and understand the ‘why – what – when – where – how’! In the creative industries, this happens quite ‘literally’, as we find ourselves addressing creative expectations and imagery that exists only in the Director’s mind. Our Herculean task then, is to help him/her to bring this vision to ‘life’. The world leading production houses have developed the technical & creative chops to decode this context into content. The essence of this new story telling is now influencing all communication.

“It is about relaxing and energizing them through “fun” but also go beyond – to make them feel good about who they are, what they do and where they do it.”

CONCURRENCE

PC: What should an Organization do to promote a culture of innovation/creativity among its employees?

BG: ‘Innovation’ and ‘Creativity’ are the trending buzzwords of our times! Everyone talks about ‘thinking outside the box’ but it’s easier said than done! There is a saying ’Innovation is creativity with a job to do’-‐ and business success can only be achieved when this ‘job’ is collectively fulfilled by all employees in a Company as opposed to one or two people or a few groups.

The most important criterion to achieve a culture of innovation lies in an organization’s ability to embrace failure. In failure lies the key to success! It makes way for change, without which, there is no innovation, creativity or scope for improvement! At Technicolor India – we understand change, as much as we do the inherent resistance people have to change. We understand that people get emotional even in the anticipation of change! We address this through constant communication and presenting our worldview dynamically.

“Michael Michalko in his seminal work ‘Cracking Creativity’ contends that people think creatively if they choose to do so!”

17

This constant engagement and building a positive mindset, is therefore the key to what enables us to keep creativity and innovation at peak levels. We work with our global clients to ensure that we communicate to our team our future slate of shows as far as possible. Apart from this we have exciting “group engagements” through the year – events that “break the ice” and help the team to connect beyond working on a production. Regular town halls, client interface and annual events aid the process. We pride ourselves on marking their achievements through multiple rewards. Nothing ‘feeds the soul’ better than artistic recognition and this triggers greater levels of involvement and energy. PC: We are keen to explore how learning from the world of the arts and the process of the artist can benefit businesses across the world. In your opinion, what are some key areas that you see businesses learn from the world of arts and the artists? And what could be the outcome of such collaborations?

BG: ‘Me & Isaac Newton’ was a 1999 documentary by Michael Apted from the USC which traced the creative process practiced by several key scientists : Gertrude Elion – Nobel Prize winner for an anti-‐leukemia drug [demonstrating innovative and intuitive styles of creative intelligence]; Patricia Wright – discovering a new species of lemur after buying a monkey from a NY pet shop [innovation and intuition at work]; Ashok Gadgil – environmental scientist – discovering practical water purification [demonstrating innovation & an enquiring mindset]; etc. These movies demonstrate the ‘symbiotic nature’ of how the arts and the sciences were more closely connected than people gave it credit for. After a point scientific explorations reach a ‘chasm’ and only faith and some significant creative leaps can achieve dramatic outcomes. Michael Michalko in his seminal work ‘Cracking Creativity’ contends that people think creatively if they choose to do so! The list of such envisioned outcomes is now the stuff of several legends!

PC: What are your expectations from organizations like The Painted Sky that promote Art-‐Based Training Initiatives? How can they improve their offerings and training outcomes?

BG: In the past 50 years the world has understood that creative intelligence (like intellectual ability) is not a matter of speculation and interpretation. It can be measured and developed. Instruments that profile creative potential are being honed for over a decade and help measure and foster curiosity, insightfulness, resourcefulness, visionary abilities, etc.

Stevie Wonder’s fight against blindness and Eric Clapton’s fight against himself in his drug addiction are the music world heroes that continue to shine against different odds.

CONCURRENCE

Particularly in the creative world, one needs consistent fuel to keep innovation, inspiration and imagination ignited. The Painted Sky would do well to help folks “find, learn and apply” their creative ability; the exploration and the development of the mythical ‘right brain’ to help ‘elevate’ their fortunes in their professional and personal lives. “If you always think the way you always thought, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” We need to work with organizations like The Painted Sky to break the mould and avoid this pitfall! The average person has been taught to think reproductively, that is, on the basis of similar problems encountered in the past. We need to paint new skies from ‘blue skies’ in colors and hire ‘never seen’ before. To help individuals and teams dip into their inner creativity palate to create harmonies and melodic outcomes. PC: Finally, Biren the man. Who or what are some of your greatest inspirations from the creative world?

BG: My greatest inspiration comes from those who have overcome great odds to succeed at the highest level. As stories of achievements unfold, I am energized by these influences. From India I can call out Prakash Padukone (Badminton) Geet Sethi (Billiards) and Mary Kom (Boxing) as three ‘home grown’ examples. It’s not just what they have done but what they have overcome to achieve this that is exemplary. Sport is a great metaphor for significant achievements despite hardships and odds. Stevie Wonder’s fight against blindness and Eric Clapton’s fight against himself in his drug addiction are the music world heroes that continue to shine against different odds. Character is the ‘muscle’ that develops when facing obstacles and still making it to the top of the ladder! PC: Personally, what have been your key learnings, being both associated with the world of arts and leading a highly creative organization? Can the twain meet?

BG: We must begin by understanding that it’s a myth to believe that creativity cannot be learned. I debunk the theory that you are either born creative or not! Creativity is not a genetically determined attribute! Every step of creativity is a hunch-‐ requiring great execution! Edison felt his lack of formal education was, in fact, “a blessing”. Hence one should not overvalue the Ivy League degrees! (Even they put their courses online for free!)

19

What seems to have evolved as my recipe for leading innovative teams and organizations can be summarized as follows: 1. Start by thinking big. Without dreams there is no inspirational outcome 2. Develop your own method for execution. (Dream -‐> Plans -‐> Actions -‐> Results) 3. Learn to optimize at every step. Test ideas and then scale them 4. ‘Trim the sails’-‐ Business is like the weather-‐ changeable without warning! Learn to ‘roll

with the punches’ and then use creative ways to stretch/conserve resources as required (Important: Don’t use all your money!)

There is no cookie cutter method that works and these are just my own self-‐ motivating mantras! It is not easy to introduce Biren in the two dimensions of a page. The man is beyond such limiting definitions. Biren is Country Head at Technicolor India. He is a marketing and business strategist – prolific speaker at forums – an untiring champion of artistic talent – a celebrated leader for award winning VFX and animation teams – jazz musician – media & entertainment industry advocate and evangelist -‐ believes that the arts will influence the sciences over the next decade.

CONCURRENCE

Exploration

What Entrepreneurs can Learn from Artists (Adapted from Fortune.com, dated December 21, 2012) Like artists, startup founders must cultivate creative habits to see the world afresh and create something new. Andy Warhol knew it all along: “Good business is the best art.” And lately, a number of business thinkers and leaders have begun to embrace the arts, not as an escapist notion, a parallel world after office hours, or a creative asset, but as an integral part of business — from the management team to operations to customer service. Indeed, the “art” of business has become more important as the “science” grows ubiquitous. As Big Data and sophisticated analytical tools allow us to make our processes more efficient, intuition and creativity are fast becoming the only differentiating factors among competitors. Like any “soft asset,” these qualities cannot be exploited, only explored. And like artists, innovators must cultivate creative habits to see the world afresh and create something new. How do artists think and behave? Here are 12 traits that any individual who aspires to make his or her mark on the world should emulate: 1. Artists are “neophiles.” They are in love with novelty and have an insatiable appetite for finding and creating new connections, for inventing and reinventing, even themselves. Art means changing the meaning of things or creating new meanings. That’s exactly what innovation is all about. 2. Artists are humanists. They are experts of the “human condition” and observe human desires, needs, emotions, and behavior with a sharp, discerning eye and a high degree of empathy. They can feel with and for others, which should be every innovator’s distinct strength as well. 3. Artists are craftspeople. They “think by making” and unite the “hand and the head,” as sociologist Richard Sennett describes it. It has both a physical dimension (exhibiting mastery in craftsmanship) and a meta-‐physical dimension (connecting a new product, service, or business model with the broader zeitgeist and cultural climate). Nike’s Fuelband, for example, integrates software and hardware, and is an expression of our society’s growing demand for self-‐managed, preventive healthcare.

21

4. Artists are like children. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up,” Pablo Picasso famously said. Artists retain a child’s unique sense of possibility and wonder. Innovators should, too. It may sound paradoxical, but innovations are always nostalgic.The most meaningful of them, although seemingly all about novelty and the future, reconnect us with a basic human quest or even our childhood dreams (think of the iPhone and our desire to touch, or sharing sites such as Facebook or Pinterest, which cater to our innate urge to share). 5. Artists rely on their intuition. It may seem counter-‐intuitive, but intuition is ever more important in the age of Big Data, because it is the only feature that is faster and deeper than the massive flow of real-‐time information. Nothing comes close to intuition as innovators seek to anticipate trends and make decisions swiftly. 6. Artists are comfortable with ambiguity. By design, they often deal with things that are not measurable and can’t be easily quantified. Innovators, too, should value what may not be easily captured in quantitative terms. In stark contrast to more mechanistic models of management, they must be able to tolerate uncertainty and open-‐ended questions. 7. Artists are holistic, interdisciplinary thinkers. Artists can connect dots and take things out of their original context. Likewise, innovators contextualize and re-‐contextualize, mash up and remix, and embrace new insights and ideas that lead to unexpected, unlikely, and often serendipitous conclusions (among the most famous examples of such “accidental innovations” are the pacemaker or 3M’s post-‐it notes). 8. Artists thrive under constraints. They often have to work within very structured formats and meet scarce resources with ingenuity. In fact, these constraints might even stimulate their creativity. Inspired by the phenomenon of Jugaad in India, innovation gurus like Navi Radjou have popularized and globalized the concept of “frugal innovation” (e.g. the mobile SMS disaster response platform Ushahidi or the portable “roll-‐on” hospital hand-‐sanitizers SwipeSense). Frugal innovation has become the new hallmark for the art of creating maximum value with minimal resources. 9. Artists are great storytellers. They tell a story with their art but also often tell the story of their art. The same holds true for meaningful innovations. Great innovators design experiences that spark conversation. Just look at ideas funded on Kickstarter: The product is also the story of the product. 10. Artists are conduits and not “masters of the universe.” Most artists – painters, sculptors, writers, filmmakers, or musicians – will admit that they derive their inspiration from a spiritual sphere that goes beyond their individual creativity and skills. This applies to innovators, too. Whether they’re spiritual or not, humility suits them well as the social web and its wave of crowd-‐based collaborations have rendered the myth of the lone genius obsolete.

CONCURRENCE

11. Artists are passionate about their work. In fact, their work and life are impossible to separate. That doesn’t mean that innovators need to be workaholics, but they should base their ideas on deep beliefs. Innovation is a leap of faith, and innovators need to be believers. Like artists, they will often face rejection, but if an idea is not worth fighting for, it might not have been the right one in the first place. 12. Artists are contrarians. Artists can see the “cracks through which the light gets in,” as the old adage goes. Likewise, great innovators come up with solutions to problems because they see what is missing. They are eccentric, which means they literally view things from the fringes. Both artists and innovators see the world as it could be. They look upon our world, as Proust would say, with “fresh eyes.” You might also call that vision. They are always “initially wrong” to be “ultimately right” as Kathryn Schultz wrote in her book, Being Wrong. Like art, true innovation has the potential to make our lives better. It connects and reconnects us with deeply held truths and fundamental human desires; meets complexity with simple, elegant solutions; and rewards risk-‐taking and vulnerability. However, businesses must refrain from designing innovation as a mere process. That is perhaps the golden rule that artists and innovators have in common: new ideas of worth will only come to those who allow ample space and time for those new ideas to develop in the first place. Tim Leberecht is the chief marketing officer of global design and innovation firm frog. He is also the publisher of frog’s award-‐winning magazine design mind, the producer of the Reinvent Business hackathon, and serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Values. Source: http://fortune.com/2012/12/21/what-‐entrepreneurs-‐can-‐learn-‐from-‐artists/

23

“All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.”

-‐ Leonardo da Vinci

CONCURRENCE

Point of View

Try Art! Leonardo Previ, President, Triviquadrivio Architect. Author. Biker. Historian. Thinker. Trainer. Leonardo Previ contributes with his views on how the worlds of Arts and Business can influence and enrich each other. The concept of organization is at the very root of modern economy and for the early masters of economics, organization is synonymous with order. It was 1776 when Adam Smith literally invented a new discipline, the science of organization. ‘The Wealth of Nations’ embodied the rules behind an organization. The literature behind this impossible to be misunderstood title soon became the corner stone of modern economy and the message started to spread: if you want to be successful in your business, you better be well organized. At the very core of modern idea of organization there is a single principle, very simple and very powerful: the division of labour. In other words, since almost two and a half centuries, being in a business implied being organized; being organized implied ability to split all business activities in the smallest possible denominator in order to reduce loss of time and increase revenue. This is order.

Looking for Innovation?

25

At the core of art, lies the idea of disorder. The artist breaks the rules and transforms everyday certainties into question marks; and this is why we need the artist. This is the way art has worked since the very beginning of our history. Or, as Hans Jonas suggests, we can have a human history thanks to the artistic way of disrupting existing order.

In his beautiful essay, ‘The Birth of Art’, Jonas helps us to understand how relevant has been the contribution of prehistoric painters to the building of a meaningful and collaborative human activity. According to Jonas, the initial traces of human distinctiveness can be witnessed in wall paintings that are dated back to twenty thousand years. For a very long period, human being’s vocation has been centred on hunting and hoarding. But for a very long period we’ve been running business as beasts: behavior based on instinct. Hunting will no more be an immediate answer to the stirring of hunger; hunting will be a medium, and success is subject to skill. Through art we left our bestiality behind and became humans. The order of nature has been replaced by the order of culture. Whatever out business is, we should keep in mind that the cause-‐effect mechanism is rather prehistoric: as human beings we belong to a much higher level of complexity. Where things are not only “presented” but they are always “re-‐presented”, as the original cave painter taught to his astonished, half-‐beast peers.

CONCURRENCE

Disorder entered into our world almost one thousand generation ago, and it is only ten generations ago that Adam Smith and his economics-‐devoted followers started do worship order. Nevertheless, existing businesses, especially in multinational corporations supervised by managers, do follow the “order mantra”, with fairly good results. If “fairly good” is what you’re looking for, order is the perfect tool. But if you’re looking for something else, and if your company is asking for something more, order-‐driven organizations must accept all the weird, unforeseen, unacceptable that comes from that ancient cave full of prehistoric doodles.

Apparently nothing is as far from business as art. But this is certainly true only if we remain stuck on business as usual. If business is limited to happy few, who can think, create and spread instructions while the rest of the company executes, then art is pointless. But if it’s innovation that you are looking for, then you desperately need art. Innovation is a very complex phenomenon and there’s no recipe that guarantees success. Over the years, innovation among entrepreneurs, management or start-‐up establishments fail to take into account assimilation of various points of view. Hardly they’d realize that it is only through assimilation, new and better ways of organizing will appear. And this is exactly the artist’s business: reframe all the aspects of reality, in order to highlights unraveled faces of it.

27

Scientific management strives to reduce complexity to a single point of view: only within such unrealistic reduction, organizations can achieve the expected order and can avoid unexpected events. On the contrary our markets are overwhelmed by increasing levels of higher complexities and when scientific management tries to face the abundance of issues which is the reality, the process portrays huge limitations. That’s the reason why we should accept the idea of discovering and trying as many points of view as we can imagine. The majority of managers are still afraid of this kind of multiplication because they perceive it as a loss of control. But this “endless reframing” is rapidly becoming the real competitive advantage for innovative companies. And this is where the artistic experience can be of great help, with its long-‐lasting confidence with the value of diversity, paradoxes and improvisations. Managers love numbers, 90 degrees corners and straight lines. They organize priorities within recognizable charts and lose their minds over squared competencies. We have bad news for them: whilst art can provide the best business skill, it’s impossible to learn this skill within business schools. But there’s also good news: everyone, without exception, guards this skill in his own soul. Creativity or as we call it, the art of reframing is embodied in our DNA; it’s traceable overtime we use our senses. We simply have to make room for it within our picture perfect Gantt charts. Leonardo Previ is quite passionate about what he does. And if one is Leonardo, who does so many things, it is difficult to find something he is not passionate about. A doctorate in architecture, Leonardo has been teaching since 1989 (he continues to teach Human Resources Management at the Catholic University in Milan). Founded in 1996, his company Trivioquadrivio is among the foremost training firms in Europe, focusing on experiential learning initiatives and events. Leonardo is a Lego Serious Play Certificate Facilitator, one of the founders of the Jazz for Business learning approach. A keen biker, he travels across Europe with his motorbike (a venerable Moto Guzzi 850 T3) to train managers in aesthetic intelligence. He has written five books and is working on the sixth, successfully exploring the confluence of Art and Business.

CONCURRENCE

Happenings

To See, Observe, Connect, Synthesise, Interpret. Based on articles published in Boston.com (20th July 2008) and WGBHN.com (22nd August, 2012)…

At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, a group of 20-‐ and 30-‐somethings crowd around an oil painting of a Spanish dancer... It could be any art appreciation class from one of Boston's many colleges and universities. But these are Harvard medical students. And as they stare at John Singer Sargent's 'el Jaleo', a wall-‐length tableau of Spanish-‐style dancers and musicians, they take turns imagining what's going on in the scene before them. One of the figures in the painting has his head tilted up to the ceiling with his throat exposed. One student says, "I think it looks like he's snoring," and her classmates giggle. But she continues: "I think he has his head back up against the wall, I think he's had a really long day and he's sleeping." These students are spending one afternoon a week at art museums, taking a course called, "Training the Eye" — a course that co-‐creator Alexa Miller hopes will help them become better doctors.

Students and instructors in Harvard's "Training the Eye" course spend a moment just looking at a work of art before beginning the discussion.

Training the Eye

29

In between student observations, Miller encourages them to probe deeper. When one student suggests the "sleeping" man could be singing instead, Miller says, "OK, great, so connecting these two themes that seem to be opposing … what do you see that makes you say you can hear the music?" At Harvard Medical School runs one of the most fascinating ART-‐Based Development practices in the world, with a fantastic objective: the idea is that by making all kinds of observations and being asked to think about why they're seeing what they're seeing, these Harvard students will become more flexible thinkers who can hold different possibilities in their heads before making a diagnosis. Fluidity of thought and getting comfortable with ambiguity are crucial in health care, says Sharon Levine, a professor of medicine at Boston University. "If you don't deal with ambiguity, you will make mistakes," Levine says. "If you become fixated on one thing and don't think about other possibilities based on your physical exam, then you do yourself and your patients a disservice." Think of this in terms of our struggles with the VUCA world -‐ dealing with ambiguous, unclear and sometimes conflicting inputs. Can Art help? A review in 2008 found that students who take "Training the Eye" are able to make nearly 40% more clinical observations than those who haven't taken the course. That can mean fewer tests, cheaper medical care. And more humanness and sensitive. And Joel Katz, a co-‐creator of the Harvard course, observes, "Our anecdotal observation is that students who do this course have come back to us years later and said, 'Oh, I feel much more prepared and much more confident in my ability to do physical exam,'". Katz and his colleagues published a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine showing that after completing the class, students' ability to make accurate observations increased 38%. When shown artwork and photos of patients, students were more likely to notice features such as a patient's eyes being asymmetrical or a tiny, healed sore on an index finger. Observations by a control group of students who did not take the class did not change. The most difficult part of the class for the high-‐achieving Harvard students, Miller said, seems to be letting go of their urge to find the one right answer. "When we get fixated on getting the right answer, we miss the diagnosis because it blocks the ability to think flexibly," Miller said. "We want them to puzzle through things."

Away at Yale, a similar story is unfolding. All first-‐year students at the Yale School of Medicine are required to take an innovative class, which was developed by Yale medical school faculty member Dr. Irwin Braverman and Linda Friedlaender. Ms.Friedlaender is also the curator of education at the Yale Center for British Art, which houses the world's largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom.

CONCURRENCE

The visual tutorial, now marking its 16th anniversary, draws together disciplines that are usually worlds apart — art and medicine — in order to hone the observational skills of future physicians. Braverman and other experts believe that, in an age when physicians rely heavily on high-‐tech imaging and tests, the art of detailed, careful observation is getting short shrift. But detecting small details can make all the difference in coming up with accurate diagnoses, believes the Yale faculty member.

Each student gets 12-‐15 minutes to study a painting, and describe what they see. In detail. A student from Nigeria, Oluwatosin Onibokun, wasn't sure at the outset of the class that her observational skills could improve by looking at the paintings. By the end, after she had painstakingly

considered details in the photographs of patients that Braverman passed around a table for examination, she had no doubt of the museum tutorial's ¬benefit. "I paid more attention to colors, shapes and sizes of skin blotches, lesions and other conditions," she said. Her observational skills had already improved. "It was great," she said of the class. Sounok Sen, a student originally from Maryland, deftly described the details he picked out in the painting. "That was fantastic," Friedlaender told him.

Art in Management Education The relevance of art-‐based initiatives for supporting training processes is highlighted by their ever-‐increasing adoption in the curricula of many business schools, such as the INSEAD Business School, Warwick Business School, University of Glasgow Business School, the IMD Business School Lausanne, the Cranfield School of Management and the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, to name a few. These Business Schools have integrated the use of art initiatives in their MBA’s, Masters’ and Executive courses’ curriculum. For example, INSEAD is continuing to build partnerships outside the business school world through an agreement with Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, in April 2011. The two will launch a dual-‐degree Masters programme from which participants will graduate with both an INSEAD MBA and a Master of Arts from SAIS. The INSEAD-‐SAIS programme is designed for those who want to follow a career that combines international relations and business. Students admitted to both programmes will be able to

Linda Friedlaender (kneeling) leads medical students in a discussion about what they can deduce from one of the paintings at the Yale Center for British Art, where she is curator of education.

31

complete the two degrees in two and a half years, instead of the three years required to complete the degrees separately. INSEAD Dean Dipak Jain said the dual degree would “be especially valuable for those who seek management responsibilities in international corporations, financial institutions, economic and development institutions and government agencies”. At Babson College, students during their first year take arts lessons under the guide of a creative consultant, who is an artist. Students are taught to uses their senses in order to better grasp things happening around them as well as to react to them. While at Cranfield School of Management, students learn how to become more receptive by relaxation in order to be able to let their imagination run free. By exposing students to the arts and art processes, through a hands-‐on approach, they learn to be more in touch with their senses, feelings, emotions and thoughts. Students take classes of puppetry, dance and movement, music, fiction, writing, theatrical improvisation, painting and poetry in order to learn how to handle ambiguity, be more adept in discovering new things and seeing things from different perspectives, take risks, communicate more efficiently and improve problem-‐solving capabilities. Arts are therefore recognised as powerful means to develop students’ imagination and creativity. Why Art-‐Based Trainings Work This is why Art-‐Based trainings are so effective. ABTIs open the eyes of participants to possibilities, to what is often missed or overlooked. The details make the difference. Whether in Design Thinking or Creative Problem Solving, Facilitating Change or Managing Conflicts, ABTIs and similar approaches bring to the fore possibilities and alternatives, as well as allow people to understand and decode the realities better. The experience is novel, enriching and empowering, and as Katz says, the learnings stick! Sources:

1. www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/07/20/monet_gauguin_using_art_to_make_better_doctors/?page=full

2. http://wgbhnews.org/post/learning-‐medicine-‐looking-‐art 3. http://news.yale.edu/2009/04/10/class-‐helping-‐future-‐doctors-‐learn-‐art-‐observation 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL1b1tMNI4E

CONCURRENCE

Point of View

A Culture of

Creativity Innovation and productivity (This article was originally published in HC Capital Magazine Issue No 11.01 2013)

Innovation and productivity Current thinking from governments and professional industry bodies is promoting innovation as the key driver of productivity, wealth creation and the means to a prosperous Australia in the 21st Century. The idea that innovation is critical to creating a more productive and competitive Australia is highlighted by the Australian Government’s ten year innovation agenda Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century (2009) , which is a systems approach to innovation policy, entitled the ‘national innovation system’. There are many reasons given why Australia needs to boost innovation and productivity. One of these reasons is to make Australia more globally competitive which will impact favourably on our standard of living. There are also many reasons given for why Australia’s innovation performance has been considered patchy and which has lead to declining productivity. Areas of concern include lack of government and business investment in research and development and policy setting. The general thinking is that through innovation we can make a better future for Australia and the rest of the world. It is through innovation that as a society we will be able to deal with the challenges in the 21st Century, and also respond to and seize opportunities. Businesses and governments around the world acknowledge that a more creative workforce is necessary for the competitiveness and success of organisations and countries in the global economy. We

With innovation and productivity high on the agenda Cathryn Lloyd explores why it is important for industry and government to foster a learning culture that supports creativity.

Dr Cathryn Lloyd Principal and Creative Entrepreneur of Maverick Mind a professional learning and development consultancy based in Brisbane, Australia

33

are living in complex and uncertain times and therefore our ability to positively act and respond creatively and innovatively is indeed necessary. A recent Australian Institute of Management (AIM) Management Capability Index study (2012) , based on the responses of senior managers from more than 250 Australian organisations indicated a sound governance and financial base across Australian organisations. While there was high confidence across these areas managers consistently rated their performance poorly in areas related to organisational capability, innovation (products and services) and visionary and strategic leadership. While pressure is on for businesses to embrace innovation in the workplace the study proposes that these results provide a solid platform from which to foster creativity and innovation as a central part of business culture.

If we accept the premise that innovation is essentially a good thing for our society then how can industry best support and manage creativity and innovation, foster creative innovation skills, and at the same time improve management and leadership skills? This article focuses on business and management education with a particular emphasis on the need for organisational learning cultures that build creative

capacity. In Educating for the Creative Workforce: Rethinking Arts and Education (2007) creativity is generally described as embodying generic attributes such as communication, team-‐work, problem solving, cultural understanding, and decision-‐making skills. The report states that recent work on innovation across the economy suggests that it is “precisely the habits associated with artistic creativity that are a vital, if neglected, element of current innovation policy.” If we are to develop a creative workforce it makes sense to expose people to learning experiences that allow them to tap into their intellectual and creative potential. Within the context of professional development education I make a distinction between ‘training’ and ‘learning’. From a training perspective it is assumed that industry and government should provide the necessary technical skills-‐based training that people need to do their job. From a learning perspective industry and government need to promote learning cultures that support creativity. Using this as a jumping off point, this article proposes that arts-‐based learning methodologies are integral to contemporary professional management education. There is growing evidence through literature and practice that this type of learning is a unique vehicle for providing experiences that can develop the attributes linked to leadership, as well as the ability to innovate and respond creatively to complex situations.

CONCURRENCE

A National Cultural Policy The development of a new National Cultural Policy in Australia recognises that the arts play an important role in driving innovation across the nation and contributing to productivity. Essentially the idea is that a creative nation is a more productive nation. The policy sets out a framework that embeds creative skills and talent, not just at the heart of cultural life, but at the heart of technological development and national economic growth. It therefore stands to reason that a creative workforce is a more productive workforce. The policy recognises the intrinsic value of arts and creative activity in developing a strong Australian culture, society, and economy. To that end cultural policy is not just about supporting the arts. It is about supporting, enabling and strengthening communities and developing a creative culture that has the capacity and capability to take on the challenges and opportunities before us. This has implications for industry. If a business has a creative and innovative culture it is more likely to be able to successfully respond and adapt to the complex issues of the 21st Century and be more competitive. The future brings great opportunities and many challenges. Businesses that embrace a creative learning culture will reap the rewards of their innovation and productivity.

Creativity and Innovation Creativity and innovation are contested and widely debated terms. Innovation is the process of implementing creative ideas. In New Pathways to Prosperity: a National Innovation Framework for Australia (2006) “innovation is seen as doing new things and drawing on knowledge or creativity to find new and better ways to add value to products, services and processes”. It is also about allocating resources to ensure valuable innovative ideas come to fruition. First and foremost innovation is about people. The starting point for innovation is imagination along with the generation of creative ideas that add value. It is people who have the creative capacity and imagination to generate new ideas and design new products, new services, new processes and solutions as well as making innovative improvements to existing products and services. We can’t really have a conversation about innovation without talking about creativity the two go hand in hand. Creativity is a source of knowledge and personal expression. Within the context of this article, creativity is used in its broadest sense and is captured in the following definitions.

35

PricewaterHouseCoopers describes creativity as a “set of attitudes and behaviours that manifests itself in different ways through both individual and collective actions”. While Kerr and Lloyd suggest it is a set of “attributes and qualities concerned with imagination, inventiveness, improvisation, insight, intuition, and curiosity [in other words] the natural ‘artful’ genius and talent of people” Creativity is often been associated with the arts and cultural activity when it is in fact at the heart of all endeavours. While it is fitting that creativity is part of the conversation, as it is a key component to innovation, what is challenging about this is that creativity is an elusive quality that is hard to pin down and define. The creative process is difficult, complex and confusing and this provides a conundrum for how business can best foster and manage creativity to help improve workplace performance. Creative innovation comes from many sources including the arts, science, business, research and development, and communities. In today’s global economy the arts and creative industries are fundamental to Australia’s identity as a society and nation, and increasingly to our success as a national economy. This links to the Educating for the Creative Workforce: Rethinking Arts and Education report which states that the focus of economic policymakers across the world on all things ‘creative’ is driven essentially by three separate, but interlinked factors. These include (i) the growth of the creative and cultural sectors (currently growing at more than twice the rate of the world economy as a whole) (ii) creative inputs as a part of wider innovation policy (creatively trained labour is in demand -‐ think for instance the use of design across industry sectors) and (iii) the skills, aptitudes, and ways of working that creative practitioners bring to their practice (team work, communication and presentation skills) are increasingly in demand across a range of workplace environments. These factors are relevant as they highlight a changing workforce that has a need for increased creative and emotional intelligence. What is becoming obvious is that the contemporary workplace requires people who can think imaginatively as well as analytically. If this is the case then different types of learning and training are necessary.

CONCURRENCE

Imagining the Future While there are many facets that make up an innovative society and there are no easy fixes there are at least two strategies worth investigating: The first creative act is for businesses to engage in meaningful and realistic discussions around creativity, innovation and productivity with their employees. Simple and clear dialogue is required that outlines what these concepts mean to the organisation and to our society. People need to understand why it might be necessary to embrace this type of thinking. These discussions should include everyone so as to generate understanding as well as to motivate, inspire and empower people so they may be willing to bring their full creative selves to their work. The second creative act is for businesses to provide learning experiences that draw on a range of art-‐based methodologies and to also promote and support organisational cultures that foster and tap into the creative intelligence of people. Good technical skills based training will never be out of fashion and it is essential that businesses and governments provide the necessary and appropriate training. However, if we are to innovate and find solutions to complex issues we need to do more than simply invest in technical training. Given the push for innovation organisations will need to provide a culture where:

• experiential learning and development that utilise arts-‐based learning methodologies are embedded in organisational learning and development

• creativity is recognised as a process • creativity is encouraged throughout the organisation • collaboration and cross fertilisation happens internally and externally • experimentation is encouraged • risk and failure are understood as being part of the creative process • curiosity and ‘what if’ questions are valued • the motivation of individuals is understood • flexibility is offered – creativity is not a tap that can be turned on and off • resources are allocated

The second creative act is for businesses to provide learning

experiences that draw

on a range of art-‐based

methodologies and to also promote and support organisational cultures that foster and

tap into the creative intelligence of people.

37

Looking to the future, for Australia to build a creative workforce will necessitate a creative approach. It no longer serves us to work in a siloed way. New industry relationships, intersections, and dialogues are needed. Given the impending slowing down of the resources boom in Australia real innovation is paramount if we are going to have a productive and competitive economy. The key to this is fostering and valuing a culture of creativity. Dr Cathryn Lloyd is the Principal and creative entrepreneur of Maverick Mind a professional learning and development consultancy. Cathryn holds a Doctoral Degree in Creative Industries (Research). Cathryn is passionate about working with businesses to develop powerful creative learning cultures. She is experienced in the arts, design and business and brings an eclectic approach to her facilitation and design of learning experiences. Sources:

1. Australian Government, Dept Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, 2009: Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century

2. Australian Institute of Management, 2012: Australian Management Capability Index 3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, 2007: Educating for the

Creative Workforce: Rethinking Arts and Education 4. Australian Government, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office for the Arts, 2011:

National Cultural Policy Discussion paper 5. Business Council of Australia, 2006: New Pathways to Prosperity: A National Innovation

Framework for Australia 6. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2005: Cities of the Future: global competition, global leadership 7. Kerr and Lloyd, 2008: Pedagogical learnings for management education: Developing Creative

and Innovation, Journal of Management and Organization 8. ABS 2011 Competition, Innovation and Productivity in Australian Businesses (Research paper)

http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/896C28E59CC4B822CA2579050014C578/$File/1351055035_sep%202011.pdf

9. Business Council of Australia, 2011: Vision and Values (annual review) 10. Business Council of Australia, 2012: One Country. Many Voices (annual review); 11. HCA Online 2012

CONCURRENCE

Book Review

'What If' by Randall Munroe Physics can be Fun! With questions like this: If everyone on the planet stayed away from each other for a couple of weeks, wouldn't the common cold be wiped out? Hmmmm.

Sample this: what would happen if you tried to build a physical model of the periodic table of the elements, in which each element was represented by an actual brick of the substance in question? You could probably construct the first two rows successfully. But then your problems begin. The third row catches fire, and the fourth kills you with toxic gas. The fifth adds a lethal dose of radiation, while the sixth explodes violently. What about the seventh? Follow Randall Munroe's advice: "Do not build the seventh row." With laconic humour and clear thinking Randall Munroe tries to use science to explain absurd questions, raised by five-‐year olds. And makes the book a super read. He not just answers and explains, but goes beyond and connects dots and talks of implications and ramifications. This is creativity of the highest order – simplification and synthesis.

As Steven Poole, author of ‘Yoy Aren’t What You Eat’ points out in the Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Munroe leavens the hard science with whimsical touches. Investigating how far you can throw something vertically, he announces: "I will give these heights in units of giraffes." He enjoys the amusingly brutal payoff. (What would happen if you tried to fly an electrically powered aeroplane on Venus? "Your plane would fly pretty well, except it would be on fire the whole time. . . . Venus is a terrible place.") He also pokes fun at some conventions of Internet-‐age scholarship. Anyone who is familiar with seeing the superscript "[citation needed]" at the end of a sentence on Wikipedia, for example, will enjoy Mr. Munroe's habit of appending it to perfectly uncontroversial claims, such as that "Falling from great heights is dangerous. [citation needed]" or "A mole (the animal) is small enough for me to pick up and throw. [citation needed]."”

39

"What If?" began as a series on Munroe's website, in which he pedantically applied his considerable scientific expertise (he once worked on robots at NASA) to apparently ridiculous questions sent by readers. Some of the best online examples are collected here, along with many new ones. Asked what would happen if you tried to hit a baseball that was moving at 90% of the speed of light, the author states: "I sat down with some physics books, a Nolan Ryan action figure, and a bunch of videotapes of nuclear tests." (The reference to nuclear tests is an early clue that this scenario is not good news for the batter.) And with some terrific illustrations!

I heard a great interview on NPR in September 2014. Here are the excerpts, that say it all! On the best kinds of outlandish questions Some of my favorite questions actually come from parents submitted on behalf of their little kids. ... I find that the questions from adults are more like they're trying to be as wacky as possible, but the kids ask very simple questions that sometimes have kind of surprising consequences. Like, one guy wrote in, he said: My daughter wants to build a billion-‐story building. I haven't been able to convince her ... that this is not possible, and so maybe you can take a crack at it. And so I wrote an article, you know, explaining to her, you know, if you try to build a building progressively higher, here are the problems you're gonna run into: eventually it gets so tall, you know, that it collapses; but then you figure out a way to build it stronger; but then it gets so tall that it's sticking out into orbit and satellites start colliding with it. You know, and then it takes you through all these different interesting physics ideas. On whether his scientific answers take the fun out of a question's fantasy I think, you know, maybe a billion-‐story building there are some logistical problems you run into. But at the same time, you get to paint this picture of these orbiting stations and this

CONCURRENCE

tension on the building, you know, you'd have these cables and these incredibly high-‐speed elevators. ... It ends up painting a wilder picture than what you were originally starting with and I think that, you know, can be even more exciting and more romantic. On what would happen if everyone in the world gathered in one place and jumped at the same time A couple of different people have tackled this — you know, said, "Oh, if everyone jumped at once in one place would it disrupt the Earth's orbit or something?" And the answer to that is a little bit disappointing, which is that not a lot would happen.

"Earth outweighs us by a factor of over ten trillion," Munroe writes. "On average, we humans can vertically jump maybe half a meter on a good day. Even if the Earth were rigid and responded instantly, it would be pushed down by less than an atom's width." Randall Munroe/Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I thought, well, there's not a lot I can say about that, but then I started wondering, like, wait a minute, you've gathered everyone in the world in one place, magically, that's the premise of the question; but then what happens?

After the jump, Munroe writes, "There are a lot of uncomfortable glances. Someone coughs." Randall Munroe/Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

And I started trying to figure out if you gathered everyone, you know, in Rhode Island — they would take up an area about the size of Rhode Island — then, you know, how many people can get out of Rhode Island per hour? What's the capacity of all the ports — you know, the airports, the ships? How many cars are there in Rhode Island? And then it turns out the rate is not that high, so it brings you to another question, which is how much food is there in Rhode Island? Because there's no one working the farms to supply more food to Rhode Island

41

because everyone is already in Rhode Island. It turns out, within a matter of a couple of weeks, Rhode Island would be the graveyard of most of the human race in this scenario.

On the "weird and worrying" questions he includes in the book but doesn't answer, like "How fast would a human have to run in order to be cut in half at the belly button by a cheese-‐cutting wire?" Yeah, that's in a category of question that I haven't answered because I

don't want to think about that. It's just like — my skin crawls imagining that. Another question like that was, "How cold would your teeth have to get in order for a cup of hot coffee to make them shatter on contact?" And that's a question I've never gotten past just the initial mental image. On his own what-‐if questions I'm looking at a studio and I might think, if I'm daydreaming in between taping, you know: What if I filled this studio with water? Would the windows be strong enough? ... How many play pen balls would it take to fill it if you wanted to make a ball pit here? How much would that cost?

______ So his work becomes an illuminating handbook of methods of reasoning from first principles: work by analogy, perform very rough orders-‐of-‐magnitude calculations, or try to flip perspectives. Of course it helps to know some basic science, too. And learning Newtonian mechanics is surely more fun when you are figuring out how to build a jetpack using downward-‐firing machine guns. (Ideally, it turns out, you'd want at least 300 AK-‐47s.) A great, fun read. Sources:

1. https://what-‐if.xkcd.com/ 2. http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-‐review-‐what-‐if-‐by-‐randall-‐munroe-‐1411160673 3. http://www.npr.org/2014/09/07/346082579/what-‐if-‐there-‐were-‐an-‐entire-‐book-‐devoted-‐to-‐

absurd-‐hypotheticals

CONCURRENCE

And in the end

Almost 70 years ago, in 1956, Louis R. Mobley built the IBM Executive School to make IBM senior managers more creative. He focused on 6 key principles to drive home his agenda, that aimed not just at teaching, but also transforming. These principles are highly relevant today – they made IBM a great company. In a Forbes article, August Turakk outlined these principles nicely. Adapted from there: they are simple, and can be adapted by each of us in our daily lives. 1. Creative people rarely rely on traditional teaching methods (reading, lecturing, testing,

memorizing), which are found to be worse than useless; they are counter productive, they build ‘boxes’.

2. Creative people are constatnly on an UNLEARNINg process, not learning – you need to abandon, discard, destroy and trash beloved assumptions.

3. Creative people don’t learn, they become! You cannot learn to become creative. Instead, you BECOME a creative person behaviorally, by your actions. You transform yourself. By action learning, constant effort and practice, you find solutions to problems that are totally unobvious. Practice creative thinking, in everything!

4. Creative people hang around with creative people. That’s the fastest way to generate creative ideas – because creativity is infectious. Association makes an enormous difference.

5. Creative people are honest about themselves. Creativity is highly correlated with self-‐knowledge. If you don’t know what your own inner biases are, you cannot overcome them. Mobley’s school was one “big mirror”.

6. Creative people give themselves permission, and others, TO BE WRONG. Fail fast to succeed early, is the principle. There are no bad ideas, only building blocks to good ideas, as Edison believes and practiced.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/augustturak/2011/05/22/can-‐creativity-‐be-‐taught/

43

For Details, Contributions and Subscriptions, write to [email protected] www.thepaintedsky.com

Bangalore India

Concurrence, April 2015

Documents

Transcript of Concurrence, April 2015