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Volume 2, No. 1
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All a Matter of Footwork and Timing! To be a successful innovator, you must recognize the culture you are attempting to change. No culture "likes" to be changed. Forced change is often not possible and almost always unwise. It is best to work within the culture to effect change. This may take longer but the results are more durable and it is far easier on the innovator and his or her reputation. N. O. Vant proudly stands in front of the destroyed windmills, completely unscathed. A comrade meanwhile has been beaten badly. While there is some truth to Vant's explanation, "It's all a matter of footwork and timing!" this factor is often exaggerated in success stories. It's very easy to view someone else's success and say that it was luck or a matter of timing, or even that the presenter is a "good dancer," i.e., fast on the feet while making a proposal. In truth, it's understanding the pulse of the culture and coming forward with your concept in sync. It's being prepared for all questions that may arise. It's not meeting force with force, but using the force to your advantage. It's being right. We hope in this series of cartoons and brief essays to show that there are some practices you can follow which will help you to innovate, to be a change master. Purchase the Poster Creativity and the Future Paul Schumann gave a presentation at the American Creativity Association Conference in Austin, Texas on March 31, 2005. The talk was entitled "Creativity and the Future". Creativity and the future are inextricably intertwined. We create the future and creativity is required to perceive the future being created. In today's complex environment, foresight requires the interaction of a number of creative minds with expertise in a variety of fields. Creativity is required to analyze or synthesize data from noise, knowledge from data and wisdom from knowledge. And, that creativity must be tapped and channeled through the use of appropriate futures methodologies. This presentation will cover some concepts of the future and useful ways to utilize the creativity of people to develop foresight. It will also include a discussion of the limits of our ability to forecast. Paul Schumann is a practicing futurist with expertise in creativity and innovation. He has lived long enough to see forecasts fail and succeed, including some of his own. He had a thirty year career with IBM in three very different arenas - as a technologist and technology manager in semiconductor technology, as an internal entrepreneur creating the first independent business unit within IBM, and as a cultural change agent developing a more creative and innovative culture. Since retiring from IBM he has been consultant as a business futurist with programs in creativity and innovation. He is the founding president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society. More information about Paul can be found on the Glocal Vantage and Innovation Road Map web sites. Call 512.302.1935 or send an e-mail to schedule Paul to talk to your audience. Click to Obtain Copy of Slides Free Magazine and Articles The Innovation Road Map Magazine and the Innovation Road Map Archives are available free for a limited time. Read all of the issues and articles of last's years magazine online now. Three editions of the magazine are available with >100 articles and book reviews. The Archive has 150 articles. To read the magazine, click below. To read the Archive, click here. Read the Magazine Free the Beagle: A Journey to Destinae "This is probably one of the most creative business or personal development books you will ever read. Free the Beagle can be interpreted on many levels and can be read by entrepreneurs, business people, innovants, inventors, change agents, children, women and men. Each person who reads it will likely take away a different message, but all the interpretations I've heard are positive." Paul Schumann Read the Review (PDF, 1 page, 117 KB) |
| Paul
Schumann Editor & Publisher The Innovation Road Map Newsletter 4512 Autumn Leaf Hollow, Austin, TX 78731 PO Box 26947, Austin, TX 78755 512.302.1935 Visit The Innovation Road Map Web Site |
