Emily Davila, our Beyond Profit Guest Blogger, reports from the Clinton Global Initiative.
Is it possible to be an expert in innovation?
If so, Ashoka, the leading organization for social entrepreneurs, is an expert. Founder Bill Drayton defines innovation as a combination of change making, empathy, teamwork, and leadership.
Drayton believes that the world is currently going through a breakthrough – from being run by just a few people, to a world that is being run by teams of teams.
John Kao, the founder of the Institute for Large Scale Innovation, believes that innovation cannot be learned, instead it is a
combination of factors that all have to be woven together. He thinks of innovation as a ”property of society, as a set of muscles or capabilities to drive progress.”
It seems the discussion becomes, not what is innovation, but how can we build infrastructures of innovation? Here’s the criteria I heard from various speakers at Clinton Global Initiative:
- technology
- globalization & interconnectedness
- universities, research, subsidies and venture capitol,
- rotating leadership and teams,
- multi-disciplinary and horizontal approaches,
- policies that support for small and medium businesses,
- coalitions of private sectors, NGOs, government
- crowd-sourcing, user-generated and design thinking
Sarah Jefferson Said,
September 25, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
I’d like to add two more: A flexible legal environment that allows social enterprises to thrive (not just business enterprises); and opportunities for children and youth to learn empathy, be creative and problem solve.