(Disclaimer: Though this does not relate very directly to issues of Technology & Education, if you try hard, you could draw some tangential links [smile]).
While on the subject of creativity, thought I'd devote a few bits n bytes to its close friend 'Innovation' .
The cover story of the latest issue of Business Week is about the World's Most Innovative Companies. (The rest of the issue also dedicates much real estate to the subject of Innovation.) The usual suspects all made the cut - Google, Apple, IBM, Starbucks...
Funnily though, while the main story states that (unlike in the 1990s) "Innovation (today) does not have to have anything to do with technology", most of the products/ideas that featured in the slide-show of innovations (about 16 out of 25) had much to do with technology!
Open Innovation is a big theme that is being talked about and touted as the way to go. "These days the world is your R&D lab. Customers are co-opting technology and morphing products into their own inventions. Many companies are scouting for outside ideas they can develop in-house, embracing the open-source movement, and joining up with suppliers or even competitors on big projects that will make them more efficient and more powerful."
Interestingly, according to the article, India (at par with China) is being viewed as a major "source" of innovation and companies are looking to set up product development centers here. So, how should schools produce and prepare this generation of Indian innovators that the world is pinning its hopes on? "Teaching for creativity" (as opposed to "creative teaching") might well have some answers - instilling in our students that skill of possibility thinking ...
1 comment:
This is interesting! Desi firms are finally being recognized in global forums.
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