Collaborative Foreword by Leif Edvinsson,
Hubert Saint-Onge, and
Joachim Doering
Leif Edvinsson
(Sweden) |
Hubert Saint-Onge (Canada) |
Joachim Doering
(Germany) |
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August 2, 2002
We are now embarking upon the Knowledge Economy; in fact, we have all
played a role in its evolution. The opportunities are numerous and the
managerial challenges multifold. The Future is just beyond the bend; and
how are we equipped to take advantage of the opportunities? Do you see
it…and have you envisioned your own role in it? Debra M. Amidon has
outlined the ‘future as an asset’, which goes well beyond the
traditional, Tayloristic forms of management.
In previous publications as a pioneer of
innovation, Debra has defined the core principles and outlined a
methodology for innovating enterprises. In this new publication – The
Innovation SuperHighway, she defines the critical steps in envisioning our
future. In essence, will we see the future as an asset or a liability?
Amidon outlines a constructive path forward.
The news stories of the present are full
of stories of financial crises, failures and fraud. It is also sometimes
referred to as the time of institutional failures, as phrased by the
founder of VISA Mr. Dee W. Hock. We evidently have to step back like the
impressionists and Claude Monet - what Amidon defined in her first book -
and try to see and reshape the larger pattern. This is also what Amidon is
offering in many ways in her work with Entovation - enterprise innovation
– an enterprise comprised of theorists and practitioners from around the
world. She understands the global Gestalt and where it is going; with her
words and collective wisdom, she illuminates our direction.
She is also accompanied by a group of
thought leaders called the Entovation (E 100), among who Dr. Thomas F.
Malone is saying: “We are at a historical choice point – a defining
moment – in determining the kind of world our children will inherit. If
we make these choices based only on the models of our industrial age past,
we will almost certainly miss the true opportunities before us.” We must
learn to convert the future into an asset, not a liability, by addressing
the opportunity cost of not innovating and continuously renewing.
Debra’s assumptions are based upon a
new Knowledge Value Proposition beyond cost, quality and time. There are
many facets of the emerging future to be systematized and leveraged.
Knowledge economics is one of the major patterns, contrasted by the
present stories of the financial economics of failing institutions, where
the economies seem to be shadowed by the lack of perspectives and insights
behind the new intangible economics and intellectual capital. If we miss
the perspectives, we might be the victims of impoverishing ourselves by
forgetting the heritage. Our future always begins with an investment into
what we now call the ‘hidden value’ of the firm. The core of the
knowledge economics is knowledge innovation, or the capacity to shape
future opportunities. It is think-oriented instead of thing-oriented. It
is a momentum of natural evolution. It can also be referred to as a
process of knowledge navigation, i.e. a quest for the enlarged and
knowledge explorative learnings of the not knowing. More and more today
labeled as complexity systems, chaordic systems and bio economics.
Transaction values are replaced by interaction values.
Similarly, the new proposition is a
function of the behavior of the organization – best exemplified by the
emergent communities of knowledge within which new leadership lies. Now,
we are dependent upon a new trust-led leadership based upon values of
openness, knowledge-sharing and respect for the competencies of one
another. Interdependence takes on new meaning between functions, sectors,
industries and even nations. Value is created in the interconnections and
fostered through the quality of conversations – virtually and
face-to-face. No longer are we limited by the hierarchical, control
policies of the past. Our future depends upon our capacity to share
leadership, listen to the inquiries of others and be courageous in our
ability to take responsible risk, and create cultures of
knowledge-sharing. Dare we build institutions that seek collaborative –
not competitive – advantage?
The Innovation SuperHighway is by
definition global. The emergent technology removes all geographical
boundaries. The full potential of these global networks for innovation
largely remains untouched and unexplored. Debra maps it all out for us, a
bit like explorers started to produce maps of the New World. The new
innovation highway is comprised of a series of cross disciplinary forums
where the quality of the conversation enabled by the technology and the
forever expanding bandwidth is providing an unprecedented platform for
innovation. Organizations that miss getting on the train will be
irremediably left behind.
The Information SuperHighway was
perceived as a vehicle of information, computers and technology. Within
few years, it is obvious that the highway is actually one of social
networks in addition to the technical infrastructures. Only through the
motivations of people can the ‘network’ come alive; and only with the
technology can the cultures of nations – industrialized and developing
– realize their full potential. Amidon is right – the innovation
process is what brings knowledge alive and puts it to work. Further, she
has illustrated how the technology is only as useful as how it is
used…and our sustainability as a world is only as effective as is our
weakest nation. We now know that innovation is not a function of the
technology and that knowledge is what drives the enterprise forward. Debra
has placed innovation the central topic of enterprises. More important,
she realizes the value of decentralized (and yet) networked organizations
– something many big organizations are forgetting as they attempt to
control the innovation process.
Once again, Amidon has moved the finish
line – and appropriately so - to stretch our imaginations of how we
might architect our future. She has been the guardian of the knowledge
movement and with this publication steers our efforts toward profitability
and prosperity. This can be viewed as a time element - the longitude
dimensions of an organization. In other words, a lateral networked
collaborative brain expands the frontiers for new knowing by knowledge
insourcing knowledge through new alliances. We’ve more to gain from
learning from, rather than defeating one another. Amidon’s original
concept of Ken – having the knowledge AND a range of vision to apply the
knowledge – shape our current concepts of Intellectual Capital –
something she was publishing in the early 1980’s.
But do not take it from Amidon alone.
This book is rich with the insights and observations of several around the
world that also believe that a new world is emerging and we all have a
role to play.
This might be called intelligent
enterprising, as well as innovative societies. The Innovation Superhighway
provides a tangible highway to serve as the multiplier of intangible value
- the networked competence for shared prosperity. It offers to leverage
the local human capital – primarily the component of the brain such as
intellect, insight and imagination – multiplied by the global technology
tools often called structural capital, into a growth spiral of innovative
value and wealth creation. This will result in emerging intellectual
capital, on individual level, enterprise level as well as society level.
Innovation is what gives purpose to the
exchange of knowledge. Innovation is the outcome of a knowledge-based
interaction. Innovation is about shaping and architecting a desired
future. The Innovation Superhighway tells us how this future will unfold
and shows you how you can be part of it. As someone who lives and works in
global networks, Debra is uniquely positioned to be our guide.
The entovation superhighway is the
bridging process of organizational capital on a global scale - a
springboard opportunity to be grasped. The longitude value of an
organization, enterprise or society is to be found in its capacity to
reach out, connect and leverage the collective competence to take
advantage of the future. How will the intelligence flow through the
logistics of The Innovation SuperHighway? According to Amidon, the
opportunity is ours. Are we ready to accept the challenge?
One step toward ‘innovating your
future’…
Leif Edvinsson, former Senior Vice
President for Intellectual Capital, Skandia AFS, co-author of Intellectual
Capital and author of Corporate Longitude (Sweden).
Hubert Saint-Onge, former Senior Vice
President of Clarica and co-author of Leveraging Communities of Practice
(Canada).
Joachim Doering, Senior Vice President,
Information Communications Networks (ICN), Siemens, AG (Germany).
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