Incremental change is inevitable.
For something revolutionary to occur there needs to be some striking disaster or opportunity. How many organisations face that? To become more innovative and creative someone will need convincing that change is necessary and a move in this direction desirable, either to solve problems and develop an opportunity. Whatever is done will then require evidence of effectiveness.
A change of management and of ownership may lead to a company changing its name, but are the clients the same?
The modus operandi the same?
I’m reminded of the story of the company that made horseshoes at the turn of the century. What does it do? Become a mechanics shop or make the very best horseshoe in a diminishing market? How many blacksmiths survived the motorcar? Many became the garage on the edge of town.
What did it take to see that coming?
Intuition? Enthusiasm?
Thinking of metaphors.
How has an orchard adapted in the last thirty years? By developing new brands, and pears. By becoming an attraction and opening a shop. By diversifying. By taking the lead on selling a wide variety of ciders and peery, for example Middle Farm in East Sussex.
How have corporate video production companies coped?
They realised they were communications businesses and moved into web development. For a period video is back, but this already is shifting towards social platforms. More change? The survivors, for the most part, like Middle Farm, have diversified into eLearning, Websites, Events and now Social Media.
I wonder if competing universities are adding elearning to their mix making them more robust and competitive, as well as meeting student expectations, that, perish the thought (I believe it has been thought about) the OU should offer full-time residential courses?
Its what some people want, turning on a more intensive spell of studying in a residential school away from the distractions of home.
I can’t help but draw on lessons of Silicon Valley, the value of forming a creative or intellectual hub, after all this is how universities and university towns developed. Social Media doesn’t negate face to face interaction, indeed, research shows that it makes it more probable, that participants itch to meet up. In any case, I’ve seen it with my children, coming out of the classroom and straight onto a mobile device to continue conversations they were having.
If the creative activities are kept in house then these departments should model themselves on the creative agencies they aspire to be.
The Bank is a good example, talking of which a video created by CTN or Firehouse was made to show how Deutsche Bank radically changed office layout.
This is the spark that’s required.
For an organisations to be social online, it needs to operate in an environment that is ‘social’ and here the layout of a offices is fundamental.
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