A paradox all organisations are facing: A) Growth and B) Sustainability
SEAC and Stanford Center for Professional Development Keynote Speak Andrew Grant
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The Monk & the Mobile represents a paradox all organisations are facing: A) Growth AND B) Sustainability
The need to EXPLORE outwards push boundaries, to innovate (race ahead). But this EXPLORATION needs to be balanced with the need to PRESERVE buy exploiting only what we already have. This tension either fuels innovation in organisations, or tears them apart.
The Mobile & the Monk introduces the paradox theory of innovation by looking at a story from Bhutan. A unique country trying different & bold approach to sustainable innovation. Many years ago the king introduced a new measurement in contrast to our GDP (Gross domestic product) called GNH (Gross National Happiness). They were determined to find a measurement that had meaning beyond (unsustainable) economic growth. They wanted to try a new way of measuring sustainable innovation & happiness. This is not a gimmick, nor a smooth PR exercise or simply a nice idea. “GNH is an aspiration, a set of guiding principles through which we are navigating our path towards a sustainable and equitable society” Bhutan has worked hard to maintain tradition in the face of modernisation, but they know they need both to survive.
The GNH is a genuine mission statement/values/vision that all people know and live by. Bhutan's GNH has 4 pillars, 1) Economic social growth, & 2) Integrity in leadership: EXPLORATION
3) Cultural preservation & 4) Environment conservation: PRESERVATION
Paradox Theory is about identifying potential paradoxes (exploration & exploitation /preservation) behind tensions that arise in complex situations in order to understand and effectively deal with the ambiguities.
It's not a choice of choosing: either one option / or the other, it’s a matter of choosing BOTH. One side and the other simultaneously: a choice of AND . The dynamic tension of the paradox theory applied to sustainable innovation is about balancing both sides in a way that fuels successful innovation. This known as The Innovation Paradoxical Pairings. (Gaia Grant is a researcher at Sydney University Business School, on the Paradox Theory. She is looking at how this can be applied to sustainable innovation. Gaia has delivered several academic papers on this and along with her partner Andrew Grant they have coauthored “The Innovation Race”. Andrew also presented this topic at the APEC CEO Summit (Vietnam) to the APRU forum. The Mobile & the Monk forms part of a larger keynote talk and workshop based on “The Innovation Race.”
The Mobile & the Monk presented by Andrew Grant to the Alumni of the Inaugural “Leading Innovation through Design Thinking” Program by SEAC and Stanford Center for Professional Development.
The Mobile & the Monk The Innovation Race Paradox Keynote Pt 1 Podcast Keynote Talk Excerpts
“Being an Innovative Leader: The Innovation Paradox (Part 1)” Gaia Grant
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Being an Innovative Leader: The Innovation Paradox (Part 1) Keynote Speak Gaia Grant
An Introduction to The Paradox Theory of Innovation: Are you a tourist or a traveller? The ‘Paradox Pairings’ innovation model outlines the need for a balance between ‘Exploration’ for breakthrough innovation, and the need for ‘Preservation’ for more incremental innovation and to support sustainable growth. The tension of this paradox can either provide the dynamic that fuels innovation or rips organizations apart.
Gaia Grant is a lecturer on sustainable innovation culture in international business and with the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and a doctoral (PhD) researcher at the University of Sydney Business School. She also has an MSc in Creative Leadership (State University of New York), along with a Grad Dip Change Leadership, BD (hons), and BA Dip Ed. Gaia is conducting doctoral research on to creating a culture that supports sustainable innovation and is drawing on data she’s collected from more than 1,000 survey responses and 70 interviews with innovation leaders. This has also included a one-year long intensive organisation immersion to share breakthrough insights on innovation leadership and innovation culture.
Podcast: Being an Innovative Leader The Innovation Paradox (Part 1) Podcast Keynote Talk Excerpts
“Has Innovation Killed Creativity?” Vivid Sydney Gaia Grant
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Vivid Sydney ‘Battle of Big ideas’ Debate, ‘Has Innovation Killed Creativity?’ Debater for the affirmative: Gaia Grant.
We need to be creative to be innovative. But the relentless push to innovate faster is producing a toxic culture that may undermine the whole creative process. In our rush for end results fast, we could ironically be killing the very thing that will lead us to innovation: creativity. Creativity and innovation are not interchangeable words, and it’s important for effective businesses to understand why. In this debate Gaia explores why we need both, and the paradoxes behind this that can impact our work. The relentless push to innovate faster is producing a toxic culture that may undermine the whole process.
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Everyone is talking about the need to “breakthrough” with innovative new ideas, so what is holding us back? CEOs say it’s the #1 leadership competency needed for the future – and it is a stronger predictor of life success than IQ. Yet CQ (Creative Quotient) testing shows that creative thinking has been on the decline worldwide over the last generation. Individuals also lose the ability to think creatively over their lifespan – with a dramatic drop from children who score as geniuses on creative thinking tests, to adults who lose that capability. Why does this happen and what can be done about it? An interesting case is woven to reveal the brain’s inherent neurological gaps and demonstrate the subtle but powerful art of the sort of creative thinking that dares to be different and leads to breakthrough innovations.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community and converted to Podcast format.
Podcast: Who Killed Creativity? and How Can We Get it Back? (TEDx Hong Kong) Podcast Keynote Talk Excerpts
Innovation Leader Interview: Thakur Singh Powdyel of Bhutan
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As the only remaining Buddhist kingdom in the world, Bhutan is a unique country. It has consciously taken a different path, implementing a GNH (Gross National Happiness) measure rather than simply measuring GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Focusing on sustaining culture, preserving environment, and ethical leadership with responsibility and integrity – alongside economic growth – this measure is an ambitious attempt to provide guiding values for the country. The amazing thing is that this is not simply a gimmick, it’s the real deal. Everyone in the country knows the GNH principles and tries to live by them.
This is the first part of the interview series with one of the key spokespeople for the GNH, Mr Thakur Singh Powdyel, Former Minister of Education and current Director at the Royal Thimpu College. Mr Powdyel believes that, “The GNH is an aspiration, a set of guiding principles through which we are navigating our path towards a sustainable and equitable society... it’s our North star..."
Most countries and companies have little vision other than to "grow". Most companies also struggle to identify their vision and get buy in to it. For Bhutan, making decisions is different. All decisions are filtered through the GNH. What a breath of fresh air - literally! (With environmental conservation as one of the 4 guiding values, people are told "If you cut a tree down - you must plant 3 more!!!!")
Stand by for a series of inspiring video interviews from people in Bhutan who live their vision, mission and values – even down to an eight-year-old girl.
Podcast Interview: Thakur Singh Powdyel of Bhutan Podcast Interview By
Nabi Baquiri at his orchard (photo originally appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald)
By Gaia Grant and Andrew Grant
While there are those that are focusing on building walls and isolation, this may come at a great cost. Exposure to different cultural experiences and perspectives has been shown to be a boon for innovation. This is particularly true for people who have been through the experience of seeking asylum.
Most now recognise that people who seek asylum go through horrific circumstance to leave their country. But what they might not realise is that these people often bring with them a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives. Learning to cope with their changed circumstances also helps refugees develop a great depth and resilience.
These experiences can not only help them overcome adversity as individuals, but when these perspectives are applied in their adopted country they can also help bring fresh insights. They can teach us how we can all improve as a society.
Supporting people seeking asylum is an essential first step to realising these potential benefits.
From surviving to thriving
Take Mohammad al Baqiri, for example. Mohammad is a minority Hazara Afghan refugee who fled violent persecution and came to Australia on a leaky boat. As a child, he was forced to live in appalling conditions in offshore detention centres and experienced a wide range of traumas.
Since coming to Australia after his seven-year long journey as a refugee, Mohammad has achieved a double commerce/law degree, and has since been working on innovative ways to help asylum seekers to get the help they need.
Mohammed is not the only migrant who has been able to adapt to new circumstances and embrace an innovative approach. Forty per cent of Fortune 500 companies in the US have been founded by immigrants and their children.
Insights from shifting cultures
A key element to innovative thinking is using empathy to identify the complexity of the problems people face. This provides a unique insight into how to solve challenges. For someone who has had to seek asylum and shift cultures, it can be easier to see things from multiple points of view.
People who have had broader experiences more easily develop this empathy. They have been found to be more purpose-driven and more successful – mostly because they have a greater understanding of the reasons why they do what they do.
Empathy is a simple yet potent tool for cultural understanding that takes us beyond our more limited perspectives and into the realm of the possible. By welcoming and providing refugees with the tools they need to realise their unique perspectives, we can all benefit from previously unrecognised insights.
The benefits of enabled optimism
Asylum-seekers can be driven by the knowledge that, in order to change things for the better they need to act. They can bring a powerful optimism that is often missing in more privileged cultures.
These people see setbacks as temporary obstacles and positive learning experiences rather than as indications of failure, which can contrast with a passive fatalistic approach that ‘what will happen will happen’.
Mohammed’s brother Nabi Baquiri, for example, has thrived in the countryside, where he has been working on new ways to grow crops based on his experience back in Afghanistan.
Without being able to draw on past experiences, Mohammed and Nabi may not have been able to make the significant strides they have made. But it will be essential to provide supporting structures to assist with ensuring optimism is enabled and activated.
What’s next?
Where will the best ideas and innovations come from in the future? Some of our best minds might be out there now, on the boats or crossing harsh deserts, on a perilous journey to freedom. They might be living on the fringes of society, challenged by being labelled as outsiders or illegals.
Yet it is their diverse experiences that can really make a difference.
Through supporting refugees as they seek asylum and settle into their new country, we will all have the best opportunity to thrive.
Gaia Grant and Andrew Grant are the authors of The Innovation Race: How to change a culture to change the game (Wiley August 2016) along with a number of other international bestselling books and resources. This article is an adapted excerpt from The Innovation Race. For more information please visit http://the-innovation-race.com.
OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT A UNIQUE REFUGEE PROGRAM
What can you do?
How is it possible to support people seeking asylum?
Tirian is assisting with coordinating a management and teacher training and development program for a refugee school in Indonesia.
The children from the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre, where Mohammed lived in limbo before being sent to offshore detention centres, are also from families who are waiting to get refugee status from the United Nations or waiting to be resettled. Many of them have been waiting for up to 10 years or more, and during this time they are not permitted to work or get an education. There are more than 14,000 refugees in the same situation in Indonesia. The school was set up by the refugees themselves and has provided this community with a great sense of hope and purpose. You can see more about the school here: http://cisarualearning.com/
Tirian Director Gaia Grant and Refugee Development Coordinator Zoe Grant visiting the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre recently to plan for the management and teacher training development program.
A child at Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre
What the school needs
Tirian believes that education is a basic human right. Our team – including Teacher Educator Specialist Robyn Henderson, Refugee Community Development Program Coordinator Zoe Grant, and Tirian Director Gaia Grant – will be working with the school in April to assist with supporting the often untrained teacher and management teams, and we will be bringing with us much needed teaching resources. As part of the program the school has requested up to $3000 of Maths, Science, Geography and English resources which will greatly enhance the learning experience of the 200 students. Robyn has coordinated a volunteer group to make some simple resources to take, but others need to be purchased. Some examples of equipment requested are dice, counters, maps, science equipment, bean bags, measuring scales etc.
How you can help
There is an opportunity for you to assist with contributing to purchasing the resources needed. If you would like to contribute please go to the school’s website and specify the donation is for ‘Australian Teaching Resources’. Send us your donation information at info@tirian.com so we can keep track of the contributions.
Tirian Directors Andrew and Gaia Grant interviewed on TV about The Innovation Race
By Laura Box
A leading researcher at the Business School has warned that innovation is “absolutely essential” if Australia is to sustain its current level of economic well-being in the post mining era.
Gaia Grant, a Business School postgraduate researcher with 20 years’ experience in organisational development consulting with a number of Fortune 500 companies, has co-authored ‘The Innovation Race’ in the hope of inspiring a shift towards innovation in Australia and around the world.
“We might be tired of hearing about the ‘innovation agenda’ and the ‘ideas boom’, but up to 80% of growth typically comes from new ideas and innovation, so we have to take it seriously,” said Ms Grant.
“We can no longer rest on our laurels and rely on the resources that have kept us afloat economically for so long,” she added. “Instead we need to be coming up with new ideas and strategies that will provide sustainable alternative solutions.”
As a founder and managing director of Tirian International Consultancy, Gaia Grant has provided organisational learning and development consulting to high profile clients including Deutsche Bank, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, JP Morgan, Optus, Rolls Royce, and Visa, while also instigating the global expansion of the company.
Ms Grant says that while there is no simple formula for innovation, creating a climate that supports talent, tolerance and technology, can foster the process – and Australia is already excelling in the areas of ‘talent’ and ‘tolerance’.
“An innovation culture can be developed through education programs that focus on talent development, through building supporting diverse communities, and through ensuring we have access to the latest technologies,” said Ms Grant.
She points out that although Australia does not have a top global innovation ranking for technological development, it is seen as having the most innovation potential.
“Out of the 139 countries measured in the 2015 Global Innovation Index, Australia does the best on the specific cultural measures covered,” said Ms Grant.
“Like Singapore, which has not been able to rely on natural resources, we will need to be thinking of more creative ways to innovate,” said Ms Grant.
The ‘Innovation Race’ aims to “find practical strategies for developing an innovation culture” and focuses “on the importance of supporting sustainable and purpose-driven innovation”.
Ms Grant says her current research at the Business School into innovation paradoxes has provided a “critical foundation” for the upcoming book, co-authored by Andrew Grant.
“I am hoping I have been able to build a solid bridge between the theory behind innovation development and practical applications for business in the book,” said Ms Grant.
Do you know which city walks the fastest in the world? Apparently the average walking pace has increased by up to 30 per cent over the last few decades, and Singapore now leads the pack with the fastest walking pace of 18ms per 10.55 seconds.
What’s even more fascinating about this quirky fact is that the cities that walk the fastest have also been found to innovate the fastest, and Singapore has indeed come out on top of a number of innovation measures. As the pace of life gets faster and faster, it becomes apparent that we need to innovate faster and faster, and Singapore has been leading this trend.
So just how innovative is Singapore? How did it get to the position it’s in today, and where could it be headed in the future?
Read the full article here >
