Innovation, Collaboration and Design – together for a distinct Future

2014

There is an article in CoDesign (Fastcompany) on the topic of Innovation, Collaboration and Design, terms which are used together very frequently in business literature these days.

Innovation and Collaboration have been around for a while I think. Design is the newcomer to the lexicon, even though the concept itself is not new. The article does a good job of placing the concepts in an easy-to-understand framework.

To quote:

Innovation is about finding a new way forward. Collaboration is the way to get to innovation. And design is about mapping out a distinct future.

In the context of an enterprise, innovation is necessarily a collective effort. Non-trivial innovation usually requires contribution from diverse entities, who therefore need to collaborate for success.

Much has been written about how to create the conditions for collaboration, but when they do exist, proximity in action spaces and ‘friction’ lead to creativity and in turn innovation.

One aspect of design is indeed mapping a distinct future as the author mentions. However, design, just as in the case of innovation and collaboration is a practice. It is an approach to how one builds solutions, whether they be products, services or businesses. It is something you hone and get better at over time. It alone does not create a distinct future. It is the combination of all three practices that result in a distinct future.

Design in my mind then is the process that is woven into the innovation and collaboration efforts, indistinguishable once mastered. Like they say in Jazz about drumming – you may not hear it, but you can feel its presence.