Our featured presenter, Scott Klososky, presented this morning to a packed room about how to foster innovation through the adoption of technology. Although his presentation only lasted for about an hour, the themes he addressed are the talk of the corridors and meeting rooms.
As he took the audience on a tour of some of the trendier applications in technology, the constant challenge was for us to see how these trends could impact our businesses. Some of the applications may seem plain silly. Twittering, Cyber Twin, Second Life, and mash-ups may not be widely adopted in the corporate world, but the principles they represent can give us some insight in how to develop a culture of innovation within our organizations. Getting the people that know the business to interact effectively with those that understand the technology is the key to uncovering innovations.
Klososky provided some concrete ways to encourage the people that new the business, but have little understanding of technology to interact with those who may not understand the business, but are experts in the use of technology. Round organizational charts provide a different way for people to understand their role and position within an organization. “Ranks off” meetings have the potential to remove the psychological barriers that may prevent some smart, but green colleagues from offering ideas. Geek seeding, distributing IT talent throughout an organization, puts the technology gurus in close proximity to end-users to foster innovation where it is needed most. Technology training is the second part of the technology investment that many companies have already made.
Klososky’s unique style, which included a few dance steps that would get votes on Dancing with the Stars, kept the audience in rapt attention, and his suggestions for developing innovation sparked ideas among the attendees that will surely be discussed in board rooms and around water coolers when attendees return to their workplaces.
