E-Mail"The Future Belongs to Those Who Know How to Create New Things."
Creating things that are novel and valuable is the capability that is most essential to generating value in developed economies of the future. In today's business climate, there is little that cannot be outsourced to a lower-cost provider. But companies cannot sustain a competitive edge solely by becoming more efficient and squeezing more pennies out of their operations.
According to Cutter Fellow, Harvard Business School Professor, Dr. Robert Austin, the future belongs to those who know how to create new things. Austin clarifies, "What I mean by 'new,' though, is something different. By 'new' I mean novel -- that which obtains value because of its difference from what has come before it or what has been previously imagined, not because it conforms to a predefined idea of what it should be. I mean things that are valuable in large part because they are surprising, in delightful ways. New, never-before-seen or experienced products or services. New, never-before-exploited markets or strategies ... The future belongs to those who know how to create things that are new in this sense, not in the manufactured new sense."
How can an enterprise create truly new things? This is the topic of ongoing research by Dr. Austin and his colleagues on Cutter Consortium's new Innovation Practice team. This research, conducted over the last two years, studied men and women who create innovations on a sustainable, day-to-day, routine basis, yielding patterns that can be applied with success to IT and other organizations -- Innovation Mapping. Innovation Mapping is based on the management principles, work processes, and practices of a wide range of expert makers. "By comparing and analyzing the Innovation Maps of organizations, teams, and individuals within an enterprise, we help a firm understand their ability to innovate," explains Austin. "We can then help them devise a process for innovation. Yes, a process. A predictable, reliable methodology to innovate."
Innovation Mapping is one of the cornerstones of the Cutter Innovation Practice, launched today. The practice is directed by Rob Austin and includes expertise from many different disciplines. IT and business strategists include Dr. Richard Nolan, Dr. Stephen Bradley, and Dr. Gabriele Piccoli. IT-enabled innovation practitioners include Borys Stokalski, Dr. Mark Cotteleer, and Erin Sullivan. Artful Making process experts include Prof. of Theater Lee Devin; Paul Robertson, world-class concert violinist, and theater veteran Shannon O'Donnell.
Cutter Innovation clients also have access to a rich resource of research dedicated to innovation and value creation. Reports and articles by Cutter Fellows and Senior Consultants provide strategies, techniques and case studies that can be applied as a baseline for an enterprise's own innovation practices.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Dr. Robert Austin contact Media Relations at press@cutter.com.
