serendipity and innovation

by Joeri VercammenRullingen IV, 11 januari 2011

Serendipity and Innovation

Just sit down,

relax and enjoy the

ride…

Wathcha talkin’ bout…?

Let’s start with a brief introduction

What in fact is serendipity?

Some famous examples…

Can we innovate by serendipity?

Recognize, act and valorize!

Progress and population

Collaboration between individuals

Recombination of ideas

The power of collectivity

Taken from Matt Ridley (www.ted.com)

When Ideas have Sex…

Dictatorship

Cultural ‘revolutions’

Negative atmosphere

Bad luck?

What we don’t need!

What is Serendipity?

> Sheer incidence and good luck

> Gift to recognize and valorize

“The ability to make accidental discoveries, especially when looking for something unrelated.”

1879. Pasteur observes that the injection of forgotten cholera cultures in chicken does not kill the animals and, moreover, protects them against future infections.

Louis Pasteur discovers the cholera vaccin

« Le hasard dans les découvertes scienti-fiques ne sourit qu’à ceux qui y sont pré-parés »

Quote…

Vulcanization of rubber

The microwave oven

The Post-it note

Viagra

…

Some other

examples

Discover that was not sought

Discover that was being sougth, but unexpectedly

Discover but with a different application

3 serendipity types…

Unfortunately…

Serendipity has contributed to several of the most groundbreaking breakthroughs.> Create the right

atmosphere

> Train yourself

Create the right atmosphere

Careful management of ideas

Transparent structure & communication

Brain storming sessions

Exceed professional boundaries

Train YourselfDespite the factor of luck, serendipous thinking and acting can be taught.

> Think ‘out-of-the-box’

> Recognize systemacy

Example

Classic innovative thinking

Cognitive restrictions prohibit detection of potential innovations in the chaos surrounding us.

Improve & add. Road of least resistance.

Think ‘out-of-the-BOX’

70% of the most successful innovations share no more than five common patterns.

Systematic inventive

thinking…

Remove a vital part

Multiply a vital part

Steel-and-add

Separate vital parts

Introduce (in)dependency

Remove a vital part…

More challenging, not?

That’s the road of more resistance.

TV for blind people

Add-on for deaf people

In-car TV

…

What’s in it for us…?

Everybody can learn to innovate!

Share ideas

Learn to listen, listen to learn

Expand your horizon

Dare to take risks

thank you for your attention!