Emergent Innovation and Sustainable Knowledge Co-creation. A Socio-Epistemological Approach to “Innovation from within”

Innovation has become one of the most important issues in modern knowledge society. As opposed to radical innovation this paper introduces the concept of Emergent Innovation: this approach tries to balance and integrate the demand both for radically new knowledge and at the same time for an organic development from within the organization. From a more general perspective one can boil down this problem to the question of how to cope with the new and with profound change (in knowledge). This question will be dealt with in the first part of the paper. As an implication the alternative approach of Emergent Innovation will be presented in the second part: this approach looks at innovation as a socio-epistemological process of “learning from the future” in order to create (radically) new knowledge in a sustainable and “organic” manner. Implications for knowledge society will be discussed.Knowledge society; (radical vs. incremental) innovation; emergent innovation; knowledge creation; change

Emergent Innovation—a Socio-Epistemological Innovation Technology. Creating Profound Change and Radically New Knowledge as Core Challenges in Knowledge Management

This paper introduces an alternative approach to innovation: Emergent Innovation. As opposed to radical innovation Emergent Innovation finds a balance and integrates the demand both for radically new knowledge and at the same time for an organic development from within the organization. From a knowledge management perspective one can boil down this problem to the question of how to cope with the new and with profound change in knowledge. This question will be dealt with in the first part of the paper. As an implication the alternative approach of Emergent Innovation will be presented in the second part: this approach looks at innovation as a socio-epistemological process of “learning from the future”.\ud Keywords:\ud Innovation, radical innovation, emergent innovation, knowledge creation, change

Evolving the future by learning from the future (as it emerges)? Toward an epistemology of change

At the core of Wilson et al.´s paper stands the question of intentional change. We propose to extend this notion by introducing concepts from the domains of innovation and knowledge creation. By going beyond their ACT approach we present a comprehensive framework for a theory of change culminating in the change strategy of “learning from the future as it emerges”

Designing and enabling interfaces for collaborative knowledge creation and innovation. From managing to enabling innovation as socio-epistemological technology

knowledge creation and innovation. We refer to these artifacts as Enabling Spaces, and they comprise architectural, technological (ICT), social, cognitive, organizational, cultural, as well as emotional dimensions. The paper claims that innovation is a highly challenging social and epistemological process which needs to be facilitated and enabled through supporting (infra-)structures. Our starting point is that innovation can no longer be understood as a mechanistic knowledge creation process. The process of enabling is introduced as an alternative to such traditional approaches of innovation. Enabling is the main design principle that underpins Enabling Spaces and ICT plays an important role in it. These concepts will be illustrated by a case study and concrete examples. The paper culminates in the derivation of a set of design principles, ICT based and otherwise, for Enabling Spaces

Why space matters for collaborative innovation networks. On designing enabling spaces for collaborative knowledge creation

As opposed to managing or controlling innovation processes, this paper proposes the notion of enabling as a more suitable approach to innovation. As a consequence, the concept of Enabling Spaces is introduced as a space that is designed in such a way that it enables and facilitates processes of collaborative knowledge creation and innovation. In that context a rather broad notion of space is applied: It goes far beyond architectural/physical space by integrating social, cognitive, emotional, organizational, and epistemological dimensions in an interdisciplinary manner. Both the theoretical background and the methodological approach and design process will be presented. Furthermore, we will discuss a case for an Enabling Space which functions as a collaborative innovation network. It will turn out that Enabling Spaces and Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs) share a lot of characteristics, attitudes, and values

Theory-U and Emergent Innovation. Presencing as a method of bringing forth profoundly new knowledge and realities

Abstract: One of the big challenges in the field of innovation is to create something radically new and at the same time something that has been “waited for”, although nobody has explicitly known or seen it; something that—despite its perhaps radical newness—appears just in the right time at the right place (“kairos”) and organically fits in the existing environment (be it a market, an organization, a culture, or society). This chapter introduces an alternative approach to innovation and presents both its theoretical foundation and a concrete well-proven innovation process: Emergent Innovation. Besides other concepts from the fields of innovation, cognitive science, and epistemology, this approach is based on C.O.Scharmer’s Theory U. It will be shown that a new kind of “cognition and epistemology of potentiality” is necessary in order to accomplish such processes as “learning from the future” and “listening to the future as it emerges”. It involves a whole new set of cognitive abilities, attitudes and epistemological virtues, such as radical openness, deep observation and understanding skills, reframing, etc. The second part of this chapter presents the Emergent Innovation approach that applies these theoretical concepts in a concrete process design. It is a socio-epistemological innovation technology bringing forth profoundly new knowledge and innovations having the qualities explicated above. The practical concepts, the implications as well as the learnings from and for Theory U will be discussed

Spaces enabling game-changing and sustaining innovations: Why space matters for knowledge creation and innovation

Innovation has become one of the key drivers for growth. However, how do we bring about innovation which is both radical and respects the limits of the world? One of our key assumptions is that we have to take into consideration the epistemological and cognitive processes leading to (radically) new knowledge first. We propose an approach that establishes spaces enabling such processes of knowledge creation—we refer to them as Enabling Spaces. This article is concerned with the question of how innovation, and more specifically, profound, radical, and sustainable innovation can be brought about in a more qualitative manner. What are the necessary concepts and attitudes which facilitate the processes of innovation. The notion of enabling as opposed to “managing” or controlling innovation will be developed. Furthermore the concept of situated/extended cognition will be discussed as a key ingredient for Enabling Spaces. The second part gives an overview of the concept of Enabling Spaces and of the design process leading to such spaces. Finally the concrete case of a knowledge creating university will be discussed

Evolving the future by learning from the future (as it emerges)? Toward an epistemology of change

At the core of Wilson et al.´s paper stands the question of intentional change. We propose to extend this notion by introducing concepts from the domains of innovation and knowledge creation. By going beyond their ACT approach we present a comprehensive framework for a theory of change culminating in the change strategy of “learning from the future as it emerges”

Emergent Innovation and Sustainable Knowledge Co-creation. A Socio-Epistemological Approach to “Innovation from within”

Innovation has become one of the most important issues in modern knowledge society. As opposed to radical innovation this paper introduces the concept of Emergent Innovation: this approach tries to balance and integrate the demand both for radically new knowledge and at the same time for an organic development from within the organization. From a more general perspective one can boil down this problem to the question of how to cope with the new and with profound change (in knowledge). This question will be dealt with in the first part of the paper. As an implication the alternative approach of Emergent Innovation will be presented in the second part: this approach looks at innovation as a socio-epistemological process of “learning from the future” in order to create (radically) new knowledge in a sustainable and “organic” manner. Implications for knowledge society will be discussed

Designing and enabling interfaces for collaborative knowledge creation and innovation. From managing to enabling innovation as socio-epistemological technology

knowledge creation and innovation. We refer to these artifacts as Enabling Spaces, and they comprise architectural, technological (ICT), social, cognitive, organizational, cultural, as well as emotional dimensions. The paper claims that innovation is a highly challenging social and epistemological process which needs to be facilitated and enabled through supporting (infra-)structures. Our starting point is that innovation can no longer be understood as a mechanistic knowledge creation process. The process of enabling is introduced as an alternative to such traditional approaches of innovation. Enabling is the main design principle that underpins Enabling Spaces and ICT plays an important role in it. These concepts will be illustrated by a case study and concrete examples. The paper culminates in the derivation of a set of design principles, ICT based and otherwise, for Enabling Spaces