One such way is to “invest but only a little bit.” Companies need to understand that small tweaks and just a comfortable amount of investments are enough to make creative problem solving, iteration, and innovation a part of their DNA.
While the ideation and synthesis phases often require decision-making and discussion, during prototyping a more fluid and organic interaction came into play. The team members were still making decisions, but they did so by visualizing and, quite literally, building on each other’s ideas. To some extent, I would argue that Eastern cultures were more comfortable with this way of working than Western cultures, which tend to be more comfortable in discussing and debating a focus point or idea.
What constitutes “acceptable” has changed throughout the history. The education and empowerment of women is one such area. Before 1920, for example, it was illegal for women in the United States to vote.
The real driver of change will be not one brilliant head but several heads that collaborate. These two powerful terms have crept into mainstream business vocabulary, helping companies like Google and Microsoft seal their reputation as two of the world’s farthest reaching businesses.
A concept at the heart of progress and innovation. Making sure that we pay attention to both our customers’ desires and our colleagues’ ideas means that everyone is journeying together toward a shared destination—and that means we stand a much better chance of achieving success in the long run.
Research shows that disruption can, in fact, be predicted. This makes it easier for companies to create spaces and a culture in the organization that is ready to face disruption and rapid change. Through the case of Robi, the second largest Bangladeshi telecom operator, she outlined how empowering small teams to make quick decisions can shift the power structure of an organization and make employees feel heard.
Leadership is one of those shiny concepts that seems to be so out of reach for the regular Joe. The leaders are the big shots, the bosses, who call the shots and tell everyone else what to do. Many people imagine the leader to be the most active, the most vocal, the most dominant person in the group. But in reality, one key leadership quality is actually the capacity to listen.
Change is the permanent state of life. But how we face being constantly disrupted shows the level of our leadership. The notion of impermanence is something that colors the entire cultural, economic, and psychological landscape. We simply need to learn new ways to adapt to these changes or to use the existing skills we have the best we can.
Buchbinder, who served as a Design Leadership Consultant at the Stanford Design School, shares her experience teaching Asian youth about creative confidence during the Asia Leadership Youth (ALY) Camp in 2015. The full chapter Perceptions of Creativity in Asia can be found in the book Rethinking Asia 2: Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
Singaporean culture has a robust stress on hard work, personal responsibility, and discipline. This is a nation where slacking off is not an option. Read on and discover new insights into how national values translate to public policy and individual behavior.