Extending The Spaces You Need To Innovate (Further considerations)

In my previous post about the Spaces You Need to Innovate I explored a range of specific domains of thinking and practice that impact on your ability to innovate.

Each space contributes to the culture and in particular the conditions for innovation. Some spaces are more prominent and noticeable than others, whereas some have a more significant influence than others but cannot be seen.

The ‘spaces‘ I referenced were 

• Physical
• Temporal
• Agentic
• Cognitive
• Emotional

In this follow up post, I share a few further examples of ‘spaces‘ that seem to influence our ability to bring ideas to fruition.

Digital Space

Technology has always been part of my work as a teacher and as a consultant. I have seen how students can work together on ideas from the the very earliest days of collaborative docs to blogging.

More recently there are a whole plethora of tools that allow remote teams to operate and innovate together. Without such a Digital Space remote teams would not exist.

I wonder if a complimentary Digital Space has become a default arena which helps innovation projects. When digital spaces operate effectively, they improve communication (outside of email), facilitate collaboration and allow for improved project management.

I am still not completely convinced you need a Digital Space for creative, innovative work. Although it has become a standard space for us to operate it in, a Digital Space seems a “nice to have” not a “must have”.

That said, asynchronous work needs to occur somewhere and digital spaces offer us great opportunities for staying connected and organised. What do you think?

Relational Space

“I prefer to bounce ideas of other people.” How regularly have you heard colleagues, friends and peers say something similar?

A strong contender for a fundamental space for innovation is the opportunity to share the innovative work with others. Encased within this effort is, of course, the process of collaboration which defines many projects. It is rare for us to have to implement creative projects alone.

The Relational Space for Innovation not only refers to the level of collaboration that fundamental but also to the quality of the relationships that exist.

We might consider these relationships as being central to the work taking place: colleagues you are working with, teams and others you consult directly regarding the project.

Relationships exist obliquely too. These might be the fundamental relationships between the industry and stakeholders, or even those indirectly impacted by your work.

Whichever type the Relational Space for Innovation is a key component; the quality of the relationships at the heart of the innovation process is directly proportional to the likelihood of success.

Developmental Space

My final contender, in this blog post, is the Developmental Space to Innovate. I define this space as the room you have developmentally to explore new projects, programmes or opportunities.

In a previous article (Innovation Compression) I explored the situation when new programmes and initiatives pile up. Despite the best of intentions we need to clear the way for new developmental work.

How much is on your plate right now? Are those who bought the crockery removing stuff as well as piling things on?

Innovation compression might be when good ideas or innovative programmes are introduced [forced] into a space still occupied by previous innovations. Programmes get compacted as nothing is removed, nothing is freed up. This is about new and old(er) innovations attempting to co-exist and it typically leads to a reduction in efficacy
 of the newer innovation. I suppose the incumbent might hold existing ground and resources.

If the Developmental Space is not available we will be fighting for attention, resources and energy at every turn. The Developmental Space for our new thinking, renewal projects and creative ideas is key.

FREE Bonus Innovation Resource

My innovation resource explores the conditions for innovation at different levels of an organisation and offers some great prompts for improving your innovation culture.

The PDF resource includes

• Question and Dialogue Prompt Cards
• Explores the common emotional blocks to creativity
• Extends the ideas through various levels of an organisation
• Builds on known innovation models

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