DEFINITIONS FOR: Sustainable Innovation, Leadership Ecology, Collaborative Design, Learning Evolution … and other weird phrases we use around here

Below you will find a growing set of definitions of topics or concepts that are related to the categories above. For most of us, our our blobs of gray matter seem to learn best when are comparing the -differences- between two or more things. Thus, you’ll find here that we often try to use opposites or comparisons to help clarify the understanding of a concept, which we call ‘comparative language‘. We find this approach useful in helping people to understand (or gain clarity) on various words or phrases that deal with new or abstract concepts. This method also keeps the learning process dynamic, fluid, and flowing, rather than static and ‘locked behind a dam’, as it were. Not that volume or capacity isn’t important (i.e. the ‘fill’ of water contained behind the dam). But, when we speak of organization change, regular pulsating movement is essential. It’s kinda like a river without a lake … You’ll never see it because neither can exist without the other. That is, developing a capacity for learning requires continuous input and output flow. Otherwise the knowledge becomes static and stagnant.

Why is this dynamic so important to collaboration and sustainable innovation? Because, we are coming into an time on this planet where change is more important than consistency, where fluid processes are more emphasized than static structures, and where there is a growing focus on collaborative rather than individual design solutions.

So, now then. Let’s continue with the glossary …

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*Collaborative Design

A process where two or more people work together to achieve a common objective, such as the creation of a product or organization. It is an ecology of processes based on social conditions and constructs and used to describe innovative teams and their outcomes. Participants are enabled via a design environment, which can be either an on-site or online gathering. Full collaborative design sessions move from the sharing of ideas, through clarification of values, vision and mission, into strategic planning, and project management; all done in a customized group process. See this definition for more information.

Collective Intelligence

Collective intelligence also known as “The Group Mind” is a form of intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals. Collective intelligence appears in a wide variety of forms of consensus decision making such as in bacteria, insects, animals, humans, and even computers. The theory of multiple intelligences has a strong influence on the power of bringing diversity together into a collective collaborative design experience.

Communities of Practice

This concept (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of learning that occurs when people who have common values and/or goals interact as they strive toward common goals. Learning is viewed as a social participation where the individual is an active participant in defining and creating the practicing community. Through it, the construction of his/her identity emerges as the group of practicing individuals participate in communal activity, continuously experiencing and creating a shared identity through engagement with others and contributing to the practices of their communities. See this link for more information.

Stakeholders

Individuals with an interest in a group or an organization’s success. Stakeholders are made of both influencers and those affected by the decisions of a company’s programs, products, or services. Healthy stakeholder development is crucial to realize a sustainable organization, and results in the blending of many internal and external factions that are connected to the system in some way. Stakeholder development is one of the first steps in creating a useful ‘collaborative design’ process. People (stakeholders) must be identified as all levels of the organization, as well as beyond its walls to effectively resolve a problem or design a sustained solution. Here is some more information on the subject – Note that this link of descriptions do not speak much about the humanity of stakeholder development, which is imperative to for success.

Facilitation

The empowering and guiding of a group of people to realize their own genius and reach their objectives. A facilitator utilizes various forms of facilitation to help a group of people understand their common objectives and assist them in achieving, while remaining relatively neutralin the discussion. The facilitator will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the meeting so that it has a strong basis for future action. The role has been likened to that of a midwife who assists in the birthing process but is not the producer of the end result. A key to facilitation is to recognize energetically that it is the opposite of training. Where training brings in structure process and information, the objective of facilitation is to empower the stakeholders being facilitated using an effective process and design for design sake methodology. Interesting enough, this definition of ecological facilitation most closely resembles the necessary inter-dependencies that are necessary to consider when designing and overseeing a good collaboration process or session.

Innovation

The term innovation may refer to both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in processes or in services. Invention that gets out in to the world is innovation. Usually, something new must be substantially different from what already exist to be innovative. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation that leads to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.

*Leadership Ecology

An ecology of leadership occurs when the hierarchy of authority is recognizes its primary purpose is to recognize, activate, and empower individuals within the organization. Synergistic leadership occurs with multiples of people engaging at a new level of activity and responsibility; each being a part of a greater whole by recognizing when the person with the strongest intention in the moment generates the direction for the group. This is dynamic, not static, meaning that the leadership energy moves through the group and rarely ends up in the ‘boss’s’ lap to make the choice. Decision-making becomes collective and more accurate due to an increased feeling of belonging by each person in the group.

*Learning Evolution

This is an area of knowledge that studies and experiences models and theories about the way an organizations and individuals learn, adapt, evolve, and thrive. Since ‘learning systems’ are actually emerging as I write, this definition will be updated soon with more clarity. Organizational learning is a concept which is strongly influencing the evolution of learning, especially from a collaboration frame of reference. Also influential to this evolution is the internet, which is replacing the way we have learned and gotten educated. Tap into these online videos for more information.

Open Innovation

The central idea behind open innovation is that in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research, but should instead buy or license processes or inventions (i.e. patents) from other companies. In addition, internal inventions not being used in a firm’s business should be taken outside the company (e.g., through licensing, joint ventures, spin-offs). In contrast, closed innovation refers to processes that limit the use of internal knowledge within a company and make little or no use of external knowledge. Some companies promoting open innovation include Procter & Gamble, Innovation Exchange, NineSigma, InnoCentive, and IBM.

*Sustainable Innovation

A term used to describe products and processes that contribute to sustainable “green” development. It is often used to describe a range of related ideas, from environmentally friendly technological advances to socially-acceptable innovation. It can be defined as the ability for any living organism to design, produce, and maintain ecological (or interdependent) processes, functions, biodiversity, and productivity, into the future by either regenerating, reusing, or replacing earth resources. It uses an outlook of providing for the well-being of all living systems for a period of seven future generations. Here’s a (w)holistic categorical overview of sustainable innovation. Tap into these online videos for more information.

Triple Bottom Line

A new accounting term derived from the principles of sustainability, which encourages expanding typical account reporting (financial only) to factor in the effect of a business on the environment as well as the community. An easy way to view this is: People, Planet and Profit. Here’s more about the concept of the triple bottom line.

Sustainability

A strategy by which communities seek economic development approaches that also benefit the local environment and the quality of life for people and animals. It’s also a process of conducting business with conservation of resources in mind so that day to day business operations do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Whole System Innovation

Whole system innovation is all about “Design” – any kind of design – from widgits to group process. The basic premise asserts that to design well, one must start with the entire system. It is the process whereby the connections between the idea, process, or product being designed, related processes, and any patterns that emerge, are recognized and intentionally incorporated into the design process. True innovation therefore, taps into the emergent properties that are latent within all systems and is literally one vast inexauhstable resource that is available to all humanity for creating a sustainable and livable future. See this page for more details.