Well this past week has been one of those wonderful times when some of
the themes that I’m particularly passionate about have been coming together in
ways that I thought would probably happen but I didn’t quite know when.
So earlier in the week I was talking with Professor John Bessant with
whom I’m preparing some material on innovation and how to be innovative. He is
somebody who has spent many many years at the forefront of exploring innovation
in organisations and we first met because John was just interested in what he
considered to be the missing piece - namely how to be innovative at an
individual level; what can you do and what can you give people that can enable
them to be more so. That has been the focus of our attention. We’re in fact
going to be doing some work later in the year showing people exactly how to do
this and as team leaders how they can enable others to be more effective too.
A few days ago I was also talking with Professor Patricia Riddell about
neuroplasticity and the ability of the brain to essentially reinvent itself and
the extraordinary potential possibilities that this throws open. Of course this
started with a re-understanding of the field of neuroscience of just what was
possible. Initially it was assumed that the brain was the brain and there you
go: you got what you got. However, what has been so clear in the last ten years
is that essentially the brain can re-invent itself, not just to any degree at
all but beyond our wildest previous imaginings and we really don’t know the
limits.
Now, when you put these two things together; innovation and what is
called neuroplasticity do you think they might just have anything to do with
each other? Well of course, because what we’re taking about with neuroplasticity
is not just people having a new idea once in a while, it is about the brain
literally changing itself at the bio-electrical and chemical level. When you
have, for instance, new insights, you are changing the organic structure of
your brain. It is not just a nice idea, there is something going on internally
laying down new neural pathways.
This has got amazing implications. People recovering from traumatic
injuries? Well clearly this will be good news because much more may be possible
than we thought. In addition, just in ordinary everyday life, pretty much
anybody can learn to become more able to do things that they previously thought
they couldn’t. If that is true for an individual then it is also going to be
true for a group of individuals who might just be known as a team. Or for many
teams who might just be known as an organisation.
Now think about this, what would it be like if we started looking at teams
and organisations as able – or not - to encourage more people to be more
innovative, that is to say, to be become more capable of demonstrating their
own brain’s neuroplasticity. Or are we working in organisations where there’s
an extraordinary kind of rigidity? As in, it must be this way because it has
always been this way. It is not that we don’t want procedures, it is not that
we don’t find protocols useful as they have an enormous role to play in making
sure we don’t wake up every morning and re-invent the wheel. But if you want to
stay stuck make sure you don’t believe that change is possible, that you don’t
believe that your own brain can deliver an extraordinary rate of change that
you can barely imagine - and make sure that you don’t think other people can do
it either. Well who on earth would want to do that?
And of course that is why bringing these different worlds together is so
potentially rewarding and for me incredibly exciting.
We are actually going to be having a Celebration Day on 1st June and
John’s going to be joining us on that day. He and I will be exploring some of
the dimensions of innovation and how to be innovative as an individual. But
before then Trish and I will be exploring the promise of neuroscience as it
relates specifically to this new quality of being able to achieve greater
plasticity - and thus greater flexibility and greater creativity.
Our whole world opens up if we just understand what is possible for our
brain. That’s why I’m looking forward to this coming weekend on
neuroplasticity. So, until the next time.
Also listen to Ian's blog here:
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